A Day in Dachau

This morning, I got up earlier than usual, left by 7:15, took my train to Pasing, and met Dr. Veltze by 8:00. After grabbing a very yummy pastry and caffe latte for breakfast, the rest of the group was there and we were off to Dachau, after some deliberation about which train to take.

We arrived in Dachau and then took a bus to the camp, using the same road that the prisoners would have been forced to walk. When we got off the bus, we visited the visitor's center, purchased an audio guide for the student price and were able to share those with the group, so not everyone needed to purchase one. As we approached the camp, we entered through the same gates that the prisoners would have come through for selection. Forged into the gate are the words, "Arbeit Macht Frei" or "Work shall set you free." This was the beginning of the Nazi propaganda that we saw throughout the camp and museum.

We saw the roll call area, where 40,000 to 50,000 prisoners were forced to stand for roll call each day. Often times, those who were too weak to stand would be supported by other prisoners as a sign of solidarity and as a means of saving that person's life for at least another day. We also visited the barracks, which changed in floor plan and structure from the beginning to the end of the camp. The picture here of the gravel areas show outlines of where the barracks once were. The barracks actually pictured are reconstructions. The fences that surrounded the camp were largely made of wire, some electric trip wires, and some barbed wire. Stationed throughout the camp were watch towers, which I've pictured here. The grassy area around the camp was known as the "killing zone", where the guards in the watch towers were allowed to shoot at will any prisoner who stepped into the grassy area. The closer to the wall a prisoner made it and was shot, the more extra pay the guard who shot him received, so it behooved the guard to allow the prisoner to get as close to escaping as possible.

Perhaps the most trying area to visit was the crematorium and the gas chamber. There is an earlier crematorium, and later ones were added toward the end of the war as more and more bodies were needing to be disposed. There is no evidence to prove that the gas chamber that was installed in the Dachau camp was ever used, although there are records to show that prisoners were sent to other camps to be gassed.

On a more positive note were the monuments and memorials that were placed throughout the camp. The main monument in the camp is a sculpture that is created by a survivor of the camp. Other monuments have been added over time to this installation. There are also several religious monuments and memorials at the end of the camp, including a Christian monument and a Jewish memorial.

In the museum portion of the camp, there developers have done an excellent job of highlighting the resistance and solidarity movements among the prisoners and within the community, while showing the reality and tragedy of the situation.

After spending several hours at the camp, we all felt the need to leave and find some lunch, and some rejuvenation (as Lyme said, she needed to "scour and bleach her soul") so we went into the old part of the city of Dachau and had Italian. It seems that Italian is very popular here, and we ordered several pizzas to share and a few salads. The salami pizza was wonderful, but the view from the windows was even more incredible. I've included a picture here of the outside of the restaurant.

From there, we went to Schloss Dachau (Dachau Castle). The fee was two euros, and I paid with a 10, and received three back. When I questioned the woman behind the counter, she insisted that I paid with a five. I decided it wasn't worth making a scene, and kept going, but I am beginning to feel some empathy for those immigrants and travelers who are unsure about the currency. The gardens and views were the best part of the castle. We all assumed that there would be signs, etc. to explain each room and important statues etc., but found that this was not the case. So, if you're ever in Dachau, I would not recommend paying for a visit to Dachau Castle, unless there's nothing else you can do with two (or more) euros.

After visiting the castle, we were headed for the s-bahn, and saw a street fair, so we hopped off the bus and headed down the square. We found that the street fair was being set up for a cover band of ABBA, but the show didn't start until the bus stopped running, so we just browsed the food stands and watched the kids on the rides, etc. It was also fun seeing all of the dogs that were out (we saw several dachshunds today). Oh, and did I mention the fish on a stick? Yep, scales, tail, fins and all, smoked or roasted on a stick and very popular as street food here.

From there, we took the bus back to the station, took the s-bahn to Marienplatz and browsed the shops. We eventually found our way to a beer garden where several people found a beer they liked, a sausage or brat on a roll, and Mary and I split an order of pomme fritze (sp) (french fries), which were very good. Then, after an interesting encounter with some gentlemen at the table beside us, we took the s-bahn back to our respective homes.

I am exhausted today, after so much walking around the camp and towns (even though I wasn't hauling the laptop around). So, it's off to bed for me for some reading a a day tomorrow touring some of the palaces in the Munich area with the group.