Dachau, Germany - Aug 20, 2009

This has been the most difficult blog entry to write. Dachau is home to the first Nazi concentration camp. This camp was used as a model for all future camps that would be constructed. It has now been converted into a memorial site and the majority of it is accessible to the public for free. We paid 2.50 for an audio guide and map, but they were optional.

It was pretty tough walking throughout the grounds. It's hard to even imagine how much pain and suffering took place there. The front gate or Jourhaus was the only entrance. The words, "Work Sets You Free" are placed in the middle of the iron gate.

While the camp was in operation over 200,000 prisoners stayed within the walls. It is estimated that close to 26,000 of them died, and over 10,000 were never identified.

There is a museum on the site that had a ton of information on what took place there. It detailed the horrible treatment, medical experiments and savage beatings/torture that the prisoners experienced, with some of the original instruments that they used.

The original barracks where the prisoners were torn down, but the foundations still remain. 2 of the barracks were reconstructed to give a visual example of the conditions.

We walked through the crematorium and gas chamber. We were there early in the morning, before the crowds, so when we walked through, it was only the 2 of us there. It was eerily quiet. We took our time and tried to imagine what must have been going through the minds of the prisoners and the SS soldiers who could even do something like that... It's too hard to put the experience into words, so we won't. Everyone should visit this site for themselves. Here are some of the picture we took.

Barrack X - Crematorium/Gas Chamber:

Entrance to the "Shower":

The Gas Chamber:
To save time, 3 bodies were cremated at the same time:

At the end of our visit we walked through the Bunker. This is where the majority of punishments and executions were carried out in the early years of the camp. The bunkers also had "standing cells" that were only 70cm by 70cm, too small to lay down or even sit down. The prisoner was forced to stand inside, in the dark, with no food... Unimaginable. Prisoners could spend up to 72 straight hours in the cell as a punishment.


The Execution Wall: This was only used during the earlier years. Later on, the killing was performed on the other side of the camp, right in front of the crematorium.


One of the most disturbing things about the camp is how close it was to regular civilians. The camp is right beside the town of Dachau. When prisoners arrived they got off at the town's train station. They were forced to walk down the streets to get to the camp. The prisoners were even forced to help build streets and buildings within the town. So basically the whole town knew about the camp, but no one was willing to stand up and do something about it.

There is just way too much information to write about here. We recommend reading up about the camp online, or if you can, visit it for yourself.