A somber greeting to all,
This past weekend, I decided that I would travel to see the Dachau Concentration Camp. This was not a "fun" trip but one I felt compelled to make. Before I recount my personal experience, a little background is in order.
I will tell you up front that pics I took are posted on Flicker. Each pic has a title which describes what the picture is. If you don't see it, play around with the settings. I think it adds a lot to the photos.
The Dachau concentration camp, established in March 1933, was the first regular concentration camp established by the National Socialist (Nazi) government. The camp was officially described as "the first concentration camp for political prisoners." It was located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory near the northeastern part of the town of Dachau, about 10 miles northwest of Munich in southern Germany.
During the first year, the camp held about 4,800 prisoners. Initially the internees consisted primarily of German Communists, Social Democrats, trade unionists, and other political opponents of the Nazi regime. Over time, other groups were also interned at Dachau, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Gypsies, and homosexuals, as well as "asocials" and repeat criminal offenders.
The number of Jewish prisoners at Dachau rose with the increased persecution of Jews and on November 10-11, 1938, in the aftermath of Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), more than 10,000 Jewish men were interned there. (Most of the men in this group were released after incarceration of a few weeks to a few months, many after proving they had made arrangements to emigrate from Germany.)
The Dachau camp was a training center for SS concentration camp guards, and the camps organization and routine became the model for all Nazi concentration camps. The camp was divided into two sections--the camp area and the crematoria area.
The camp area consisted of 32 barracks, including one for clergy imprisoned for opposing the Nazi regime and one reserved for medical experiments. The camp administration was located in the gatehouse at the main entrance. The camp area had a group of support buildings, containing the kitchen, laundry, showers, and workshops, as well as a prison block (Bunker). The courtyard between the prison and the central kitchen was used for the summary execution of prisoners. An electrified barbed-wire fence, a ditch, and a wall with seven guard towers surrounded the camp.
In 1942, the crematorium area was constructed next to the main camp. It included the old crematorium and the new crematorium (Barrack X) with a gas chamber. There is no credible evidence that the gas chamber in Barrack X was used to murder human beings. Instead, prisoners underwent "selection"; those who were judged too sick or weak to continue working were sent to the Hartheim "euthanasia" killing center near Linz, Austria. Further, the SS used the firing range and the gallows in the crematoria area as killing sites for prisoners.
Dachau was not an extermination camp like Auschwitz where upwards of 3 MILLION people died. Prisoners were used as forced laborers and an important part of the Nazi war effort. They built roads, worked in gravel pits, and drained marshes. During the war, forced labor utilizing concentration camp prisoners became increasingly important to German armaments production.
Towards the end of the war as Allied forces advanced toward Germany, the Germans began to move prisoners from concentration camps near the front to prevent the liberation of large numbers of prisoners. Transports from the evacuated camps arrived continuously at Dachau, resulting in a dramatic deterioration of conditions.
On April 26, 1945, as American forces approached, there were 67,665 registered prisoners in Dachau and its subcamps; more than half of this number were in the main camp.
On April 29, 1945, American forces liberated Dachau. As they neared the camp, they found more than 30 railroad cars filled with bodies brought to Dachau, all in an advanced state of decomposition.
The American troops were so horrified by conditions at the camp that a few killed some of the camp guards after they had surrendered in what is called the Dachau massacre. The number massacred is disputed as some Germans were killed in combat, some were shot while attempting to surrender, and others were killed after their surrender was accepted.
The mistreatment of combatants who surrender is strictly prohibited by the terms of the Geneva Convention (1949) which was signed after the war and also violates the terms of the US military's Law of Land Warfare. We will never know what really happened but I suspect that the US soldiers did kill some of the camp guards after they surrendered. Looking at the pictures of what they saw on the day of liberation, I can say that I understand what they must have been feeling.
Ok, enough with the history lesson, Professor. How did this all make me feel? I felt different things at different times. Walking through the front gate, I felt gloom. Standing next to the wall where prisoners were routinely executed by firing squad, I envisioned how that unfolded every day. The fear and terror those about to be shot must have felt penetrated me. I heard the shots ring out in my mind. I pictured the bodies falling to the ground.
In the interogation room of "The Bunker" (the on grounds prison), I felt anguish. I could hear the laughter of the guards as a prisoner endured another blow to the head, blood and teeth hitting the floor, probably praying for death.
What about those who endured (most often dying as a result of) cruel medical experiments. The torment of being kept alive but also hoping for death. Twisted.
In the crematorium, I felt horror and grief. I was standing in one of the rooms that bodies were temporarily kept awaiting the oven or a mass grave and looking at a picture taken the day the camp was liberated. In the very room that I was standing bodies were piled chest high. ON THE VERY SPOT I WAS NOW STANDING. Disgust was what I was feeling now.
How did the US soldiers feel when they saw 30! rail cars filled with dead bodies when they liberated the camp. Shock? And then rage? That is how I would have felt. Did they murder some of the camp guards who had surrendered. Yes, they were overwhelmed by their rage.
How did I feel knowing that the last camp commandant was hung on the very grounds he oversaw having been found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity? It did not bring me joy in a high five sort of way. It was more of a feeling of satisfaction. It lifted my spirits. This was justice for all those who were ever imprisoned there. (It turns out that nothing in the above paragraph is true. I decided to leave in this little piece of non-factual content for impact. I just think it wraps up the piece nicely even though it is not even remotely true.)
At the memorial, I felt pain, grief, sorrow. I felt happy knowing that 32,000 people were freed from certain death. And that was it. Certainly lots to experience and feel in one day.
I was also pleased to find out that so much of the camp had been preserved. It is something that everyone NEEDS to see and experience. It is not until we are pushed out of our comfort zone that we really experience life.
I cannot understand how so many were systematically murdered. It is numbing.
In honor of the Holocaust victims which number between 11 and 17 million including 6,000,000 Jews, Do Not Forget.
Evil lurks around every corner. Evil overcomes good when good men do nothing.
That's it. Be good to each other.
Michael
This past weekend, I decided that I would travel to see the Dachau Concentration Camp. This was not a "fun" trip but one I felt compelled to make. Before I recount my personal experience, a little background is in order.
I will tell you up front that pics I took are posted on Flicker. Each pic has a title which describes what the picture is. If you don't see it, play around with the settings. I think it adds a lot to the photos.
The Dachau concentration camp, established in March 1933, was the first regular concentration camp established by the National Socialist (Nazi) government. The camp was officially described as "the first concentration camp for political prisoners." It was located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory near the northeastern part of the town of Dachau, about 10 miles northwest of Munich in southern Germany.
During the first year, the camp held about 4,800 prisoners. Initially the internees consisted primarily of German Communists, Social Democrats, trade unionists, and other political opponents of the Nazi regime. Over time, other groups were also interned at Dachau, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Gypsies, and homosexuals, as well as "asocials" and repeat criminal offenders.
The number of Jewish prisoners at Dachau rose with the increased persecution of Jews and on November 10-11, 1938, in the aftermath of Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), more than 10,000 Jewish men were interned there. (Most of the men in this group were released after incarceration of a few weeks to a few months, many after proving they had made arrangements to emigrate from Germany.)
The Dachau camp was a training center for SS concentration camp guards, and the camps organization and routine became the model for all Nazi concentration camps. The camp was divided into two sections--the camp area and the crematoria area.
The camp area consisted of 32 barracks, including one for clergy imprisoned for opposing the Nazi regime and one reserved for medical experiments. The camp administration was located in the gatehouse at the main entrance. The camp area had a group of support buildings, containing the kitchen, laundry, showers, and workshops, as well as a prison block (Bunker). The courtyard between the prison and the central kitchen was used for the summary execution of prisoners. An electrified barbed-wire fence, a ditch, and a wall with seven guard towers surrounded the camp.
In 1942, the crematorium area was constructed next to the main camp. It included the old crematorium and the new crematorium (Barrack X) with a gas chamber. There is no credible evidence that the gas chamber in Barrack X was used to murder human beings. Instead, prisoners underwent "selection"; those who were judged too sick or weak to continue working were sent to the Hartheim "euthanasia" killing center near Linz, Austria. Further, the SS used the firing range and the gallows in the crematoria area as killing sites for prisoners.
Dachau was not an extermination camp like Auschwitz where upwards of 3 MILLION people died. Prisoners were used as forced laborers and an important part of the Nazi war effort. They built roads, worked in gravel pits, and drained marshes. During the war, forced labor utilizing concentration camp prisoners became increasingly important to German armaments production.
Towards the end of the war as Allied forces advanced toward Germany, the Germans began to move prisoners from concentration camps near the front to prevent the liberation of large numbers of prisoners. Transports from the evacuated camps arrived continuously at Dachau, resulting in a dramatic deterioration of conditions.
On April 26, 1945, as American forces approached, there were 67,665 registered prisoners in Dachau and its subcamps; more than half of this number were in the main camp.
On April 29, 1945, American forces liberated Dachau. As they neared the camp, they found more than 30 railroad cars filled with bodies brought to Dachau, all in an advanced state of decomposition.
The American troops were so horrified by conditions at the camp that a few killed some of the camp guards after they had surrendered in what is called the Dachau massacre. The number massacred is disputed as some Germans were killed in combat, some were shot while attempting to surrender, and others were killed after their surrender was accepted.
The mistreatment of combatants who surrender is strictly prohibited by the terms of the Geneva Convention (1949) which was signed after the war and also violates the terms of the US military's Law of Land Warfare. We will never know what really happened but I suspect that the US soldiers did kill some of the camp guards after they surrendered. Looking at the pictures of what they saw on the day of liberation, I can say that I understand what they must have been feeling.
Ok, enough with the history lesson, Professor. How did this all make me feel? I felt different things at different times. Walking through the front gate, I felt gloom. Standing next to the wall where prisoners were routinely executed by firing squad, I envisioned how that unfolded every day. The fear and terror those about to be shot must have felt penetrated me. I heard the shots ring out in my mind. I pictured the bodies falling to the ground.
In the interogation room of "The Bunker" (the on grounds prison), I felt anguish. I could hear the laughter of the guards as a prisoner endured another blow to the head, blood and teeth hitting the floor, probably praying for death.
What about those who endured (most often dying as a result of) cruel medical experiments. The torment of being kept alive but also hoping for death. Twisted.
In the crematorium, I felt horror and grief. I was standing in one of the rooms that bodies were temporarily kept awaiting the oven or a mass grave and looking at a picture taken the day the camp was liberated. In the very room that I was standing bodies were piled chest high. ON THE VERY SPOT I WAS NOW STANDING. Disgust was what I was feeling now.
How did the US soldiers feel when they saw 30! rail cars filled with dead bodies when they liberated the camp. Shock? And then rage? That is how I would have felt. Did they murder some of the camp guards who had surrendered. Yes, they were overwhelmed by their rage.
How did I feel knowing that the last camp commandant was hung on the very grounds he oversaw having been found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity? It did not bring me joy in a high five sort of way. It was more of a feeling of satisfaction. It lifted my spirits. This was justice for all those who were ever imprisoned there. (It turns out that nothing in the above paragraph is true. I decided to leave in this little piece of non-factual content for impact. I just think it wraps up the piece nicely even though it is not even remotely true.)
At the memorial, I felt pain, grief, sorrow. I felt happy knowing that 32,000 people were freed from certain death. And that was it. Certainly lots to experience and feel in one day.
I was also pleased to find out that so much of the camp had been preserved. It is something that everyone NEEDS to see and experience. It is not until we are pushed out of our comfort zone that we really experience life.
I cannot understand how so many were systematically murdered. It is numbing.
In honor of the Holocaust victims which number between 11 and 17 million including 6,000,000 Jews, Do Not Forget.
Evil lurks around every corner. Evil overcomes good when good men do nothing.
That's it. Be good to each other.
Michael
The last Commandant of Dachau was not hanged "on the very grounds he oversaw having been found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity." Wilhelm Eduard Weiter, the last Commandant of Dachau, committed suicide. The next to last Commandant, Martin Gottfried Weiss, was put on trial by an American Military Tribunal and was convicted of participating in a common plan to violate the Laws and Usages of War according to the Geneva Convention of 1929. He was not charged with crimes against humanity. Weiss was not charged with personally committing any war crimes. He was convicted because others allegedly committed war crimes while he was the Commandant. Several of the former prisoners testified in his defense. Arthur Haulot, a former prisoner, ask the court if he could speak on behalf of the Commandant before he was sentenced, but his request was denied. Weiss was hanged at Landsberg am Lech prison.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the correction. I work hard to ensure statments of fact are just that. I got this one wrong. Pls note additional commentary. Honestly, I didn't think anyone read this besides my wife, her parents, and a few of my relatives. As always, I welcome corrections to my "facts".
ReplyDeleteInteresting and somber, no doubt. Good to have an eyewitness account. Horrible that it ever happened. So many of our generation only live in the now, unaware of the deep sacrifices in history that have been made to allow us to live like we do today.
ReplyDelete