We spent our Christmas Day at Dachau Concentration Camp. It seems morbid but I think it was an incredibly meaningful way to spend the holiday. All the more reason to be so very thankful for the undeservedly blessed lives we live. The tens of thousands of men who were murdered in this camp and the hundreds of thousands of survivors didn't deserve what happened to them either, why are we spared?
Dachau was the first concentration camp built. It was the only one that was in running order throughout all twelve years of Hitler's Third Reich 1933-1945. This was the camp that all other camps were modeled after. Although Dachau was not technically an extermination camp, thousands of innocent men were indeed murdered here. They were murdered by means of extreme physical labor, gas chamber experiments, malnutrition, rampant infectious disease, not to mention despair and humiliation. In most cases they were literally and intentionally worked to death, not to mention the arbitrary shootings.
I'm sorry if this is really dark and depressing but it was an unforgettable day for us and I believe it is important for everyone to know the reality of what went on all those horrible years.
This map shows where the 1,800 different concentration camps were throughout Europe. Most were scattered throughout Germany, but France, Austria, Switzerland, and Poland (the location of the brutal Auschwitz-Birkenau) could all eventually claim their unique and numerous KZ, or concentration camps.
This is exactly what the victims of Dachau saw as they were led into camp, not knowing why they were there, how long they would stay or what was going to happen inside.
The picture is of men being led into camp. The poster next to it says, "Our last hope: HITLER"
A quote from the camp leader. In case you can't see, it says, "You are without rights, dishonorable and defenseless. You're a pile of shit and that is how you're going to be treated."
When the men entered camp they were required to give up 3 things: Their personal belongings, their human rights and their dignity.
This is a list of the number of men that were registered to Dachau each year it was open.
These are the various markings that were sewn on the prisoner's clothes. The different colors and shapes signified things such as "Bible Researcher" "Jew" "Homosexual" "Pastor" and "Handicapped". If you had a bar above your triangle it meant you had returned for a second time. A circle under your triangle meant you were receiving "special punishment". The purpose of these symbols were for disciplinary efficiency--that is, to aid SS guards from a distance to distinguish "what kind of prisoner they were dealing with" and act accordingly without having to see who the man was. Of course, the men's names were forgotten and they were referred to by a number.
This is just one of many punishment devices. The men were told to lay on their stomachs and count out loud as the guard whipped them. If the man stopped counting, the beating would start over. Realize, not all of the men were German speakers. Some spoke Russian, Polish, Chech, French, etc.
Here is where the prisoners slept. Three beds high and eventually the dividers were removed so more men could be crammed in.
The ditch that bordered the camp. Surrounded by the barbed wire electric fence.
This is the gas chamber. Said to have never been used for "mass murders" but used occasionally for small groups. We were able to walk through the building in the exact way the prisoners met their untimely end. I cannot put into words what that felt like.
Room 1: Disinfection
Room 2: Undressing
Room 3: The prisoners were told this was a shower room. This is the room they died in. It took 20 minutes for them to die after the gas was poured through the vents from the outside.
Room 5: They had to pile the bodies up somewhere while they waited to cremate them
Room 6: The oven room. 3 bodies per oven. It takes 4-6 hours for the human body to completely burn up.
A statue made to represent all of the unnamed victims. It read, "To those who died, in their honor; to those living, a warning."
This is a memorial sculpture designed by a former prisoner of Dachau. The bodies symbolize and gruesomely depict a patch-work human fence. It was not uncommon for prisoners to commit suicide by jumping into the fence. It was said that the electrocution was the fastest way to die.
Directly opposite the body sculpture on the other side of camp was a chapel that was built after the camp was liberated. It was no accident that the structure looks like a large chimney. The prisoners were known to say, "The only way out was through the Chimney." Either kill yourself by means of the fence, or endure the dehumanizing road that inevitably lead to the ovens. Both ways dispatched their bodies as ashes and sent their souls rising from the harrowing camp.
The gate says, "Work makes you free". Initially it's meaning referred to the prisoners being shown mercy if they worked hard. As time went on a new meaning emerged in psyche of the prisoners: only tortuous work that leads to death will liberate the soul from its cruel bondage.
The end of the memorial said, "Never Again" in 5 languages.
This map shows where the 1,800 different concentration camps were throughout Europe. Most were scattered throughout Germany, but France, Austria, Switzerland, and Poland (the location of the brutal Auschwitz-Birkenau) could all eventually claim their unique and numerous KZ, or concentration camps.
The picture is of men being led into camp. The poster next to it says, "Our last hope: HITLER"
This is just one of many punishment devices. The men were told to lay on their stomachs and count out loud as the guard whipped them. If the man stopped counting, the beating would start over. Realize, not all of the men were German speakers. Some spoke Russian, Polish, Chech, French, etc.
Here is where the prisoners slept. Three beds high and eventually the dividers were removed so more men could be crammed in.
This is the gas chamber. Said to have never been used for "mass murders" but used occasionally for small groups. We were able to walk through the building in the exact way the prisoners met their untimely end. I cannot put into words what that felt like. 
A statue made to represent all of the unnamed victims. It read, "To those who died, in their honor; to those living, a warning."
This is a memorial sculpture designed by a former prisoner of Dachau. The bodies symbolize and gruesomely depict a patch-work human fence. It was not uncommon for prisoners to commit suicide by jumping into the fence. It was said that the electrocution was the fastest way to die.
Directly opposite the body sculpture on the other side of camp was a chapel that was built after the camp was liberated. It was no accident that the structure looks like a large chimney. The prisoners were known to say, "The only way out was through the Chimney." Either kill yourself by means of the fence, or endure the dehumanizing road that inevitably lead to the ovens. Both ways dispatched their bodies as ashes and sent their souls rising from the harrowing camp.
The gate says, "Work makes you free". Initially it's meaning referred to the prisoners being shown mercy if they worked hard. As time went on a new meaning emerged in psyche of the prisoners: only tortuous work that leads to death will liberate the soul from its cruel bondage.
The end of the memorial said, "Never Again" in 5 languages.
They build a skating rink there each Winter.
They didn't empty this fountain...
