Dachau Concentration Camps Memorial Site
When a friend from Brazil came to visit, he wanted to see the Dachau Concentration Camps Memorial Site.
At first I was a bit reluctant to go, because the Hitler Concentration Camp is a very depressing place. The last time I had been to the Holocaust Memorial was many years ago with my high school class, and I can still remember the shocking exhibitions and my nightmares after the visit.
But I don't want to discourage you to visit the KZ Gedenkstätte in Dachau.
The National Socialism (Nazi) is a very abhorrent,
yet important part of German history.
Probably every German kid visits one of the Holocaust Concentration Camps during his or her school time. It is part of history education and hopefully will help to never again repeat any of the cruelties that happened during Hitler's Third Reich and World War II.
As you can see on the concentration camp pictures, the weather was appropriate for the occasion: it was raining all day.
Admission to the Memorial Site is free and all descriptions are in English and German. At the entrance you can get an audio guide in several languages.
Central part of the whole site is the museum, which shows very extensive material about the history of the 12 years
of existence of the Dachau
Concentration Camps.
The museum is not recommended for children under 12 years of age.
Apart from the museum you can visit the reconstructed barracks and get a glimpse into the hardships that life in concentration camps meant.
The prisoners, mostly Jews, had to sleep in wooden beds in three storeys.
In the later years of World War II, the concentration camps got overfilled and 3-4 persons had to share one bed, most of the time without matresses and even blankets. And it can become freezing cold here in winter time!
I didn't even want to start imagining how inhuman the living and working conditions had been for the inmates.
And we hadn't yet visited the most gruesome part of the Dachau concentration camp: the ovens and the gas chambers. I was feeling shivers going down my spine when we got there and I was so glad, that the whole Nazi Holocaust aera ended more than 60 years ago.
On the 29th of April 1945 units of the US Army liberated Dachau Concentration Camps.
A day, when more than 30.000 Jewish prisoners were given a new life.
After more than 60 years, the liberation day is still celebrated with flowers to remember the victims of the Holocaust. Concentration camp survivors have helped to keep this memory alive by sharing their painful experiences.
You can reach the Dachau Concentration Camps Memorial Site easily by public transport. Take the S2 in direction to Petershausen and get off at Dachau station. There wait for the bus 726 or 724 that will take you directly to the entrance of the Memorial Site.
If going on your own doesn't appeal to you, take a tour with specially trained guides, who will explain
the history and nature of Dachau concentration camp in detail.
Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Small Group Tour from Munich
Visit the official website of the KZ Gedenkstätte Dachau
I have written a historical fiction novel about a German girl who ended up in a concentration camp. The story depicts very well the conditions of living in such a hellish place and will give you a glimpse at how life really was there.
The labour camp featuring in War Girl Lotte isn't Dachau, but the women's camp Ravensbrück near Berlin. The link below will take you to the book description on Amazon. War Girl Lotte -- Historical Fiction Set in WW2
Return from Dachau concentration camps to more Munich Day Trips