Dachau Memorial Site, Dachau, Germany

My family and I decided to spend one of our mornings making the trip out to Dachau, which was the very first concentration camp erected by the Nazis during World War II, and also the only concentration camp that was operative throughout the course of the entire war.

"Dachau" is actually the name of the town closest to the camp, but the name has also been used to refer to the camp itself. Dachau was a "concentration" camp, rather than an "extermination" camp, which was a prison established for the sole purpose of killing people by the thousands. This is not to say that no one died at Dachau; more than 30,000 of its prisoners perished.

There were many, many people at the site on the day we were there, and yet the place was very, very quiet. Because of the terrible history, there's a heavy feeling in the air; you can't visit without feeling as though it's more appropriate to whisper.

One of the buildings on the site has been converted to a museum, where you can read all about the events that took place there, about the people who were held as prisoners there and about the people who ran the camp. There are posters explaining some of the horrific science experiments that were performed on the prisoners: injections, freezing, air pressure changes and exposure to diseases, among many, many others.

The museum also has under glass a collection of personal possessions that were taken from individuals as they entered the camp, just before they were made to strip down to absolutely nothing. The possession include clothes, combs, wedding bands, books, letters, passports, journals, eyeglasses and photos of friends, relatives and spouses.

I can't describe the effect that seeing visiting the memorial site had on me. It was truly heartbreaking to consider all the horrible, inhumane events that had transpired on the very ground on which I stood. 

However, there was one thing that still provided encouragement, which was reading a number stories about how hard the prisoners had struggled to help one another. Even though they came from different countries, they found ways to communicate and help each other, smuggling items in and around camp, including medical supplies, cameras and paper and pencils. Prisoners who were doctors even tried to treat fellow prisoners who fell ill.

My visit taught me many things, but the most positive of them, was that it is still possible for human beings facing extreme hatred, injustice and tragedy to show love by helping one another to survive. It reminds me of a quote from Anne Frank's diary: "Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart."

Above: The front gates to the Dachau concentration camp. All prisoners were marched through this gate upon entering the camp. The words read "Arbeit macht frei," meaning "work makes you free." This phrase was supposed to reflect the propaganda that the Nazis were spreading, which was that the camps were not prisons -- they were "reform" camps, meant to reform the minds and bodies of those sent there. 

Above: This is the view as you walk through the gates and look left. You can see a rebuilt bunk house (prisoners' sleeping quarters) and beyond that and to the left in the distance, one of the original guard towers (with a triangular roof).

Above: If you walk through the gates and beyond, then turn and look over your shoulder, you will see that you've walked through the "Arbeit macht frei" gates of the Jourhouse, which was an administrative building.

Above: A memorial wall. In French, English, German and Russian, it reads: "May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933 - 1945 because they resisted Nazism help to unite the living for the defence of peace and freedom and in respect for their fellow men."

This building was used as a factory, in which prisoners worked, making soldiers' uniforms, weapons, tools, etc. Sadly, they were even forced to make some of the very materials and tools that would be used to torture and/or kill them later. The sculpture in front of the building is a tribute to those prisoners who died or committed suicide on the camp's fence.

Above: The trees in this photo are Poplar Trees, the very same ones that stood there during the war. On either side of the trees were the bunk houses, and each morning the prisoners were required to line up in the space between the trees for roll call. At the end of the walkway is a chapel that was erected after the site became a memorial.

Above: The path which now leads up to the main facility begins as a straight path and then becomes increasingly crooked, meant to symbolize the way in which the camp and its leaders also became more and more crooked.

Above: Prisoners were made to wear colored triangles representing the "crimes" for which they were imprisoned. This memorial shows the triangles as part of a linked chain, symbolizing unity among the prisoners.

Above: Here is a close-up view of the "fence" sculpture. It was created by a former prisoner.

Above: Another memorial wall, which reads "Never Again" in five languages. The phrase is meant to be a promise, as well as an admonishment.

Above: Here you are standing in front of one side of bunk houses and looking back toward the main facility building.

Above: Entrance to one of the prisoners' bunk houses.

Above: In the beginning, prisoners slept in individual bunk spaces.

Above: As the number of prisoners increased, the dividers were removed to enable more prisoners to sleep, crammed next to each other, on the bunk boards.

Above: Prisoners' bunks. They look like individual beds, but prisoners were made to sleep here three to a bunk board.

Above: This photo looks toward the back of the camp's property and out across where the bunk houses once stood. You can still see the foundation for each building; they have been filled in with gravel to give some idea of size. Virtually all the bunk houses were built entirely by the prisoners themselves.

Above: After Dachau became a memorial site, small religious memorials were erected on the back of the property. Shown here is the Catholic chapel, but there are also Jewish, Protestant and Russian Orthodox memorials/chapels.

Above: Here is the first crematorium that was built at the camp. A gas chamber was also built in this building, but there is some speculation as to whether or not it was actually used.

Above: Inside the "old crematorium."

Above: Later, a "new crematorium" was built.

Above: The "Grave of Thousands Unknown." After liberation, the ashes of unknown persons were buried here.

Above: The "Grave of Many Thousands Unknown." A mass grave site.

Above: "Ashes Were Stored Here." Another mass grave.

Above: Stone marker you will pass on your way walking to and from the crematoria area. It reads: "Crematorium. Think about how we died here."

Above: The edge of the camp. Here you see the trench, the old fence and a guard tower. On the left side of the photo, you can see a collection of gray, horizontal lines. These are the foundations where the bunk houses stood.

For more information and photos of a better quality than I could provide, visit here and here and here. Just a warning: some of the photos are very disturbing. Particularly on the third webpage.

I was told that after the prisoners were liberated by the American army, the soldiers rounded up the German citizens of the town of Dachau and walked them through the camp in an effort to show them what they had allowed to happen just beyond their front yards. Today, new recruits of the German army are required to visit memorial sites such as this one. I wonder, would the world be different if every human being were required?

Photos by Sway Sovay