DACHAU

 The First POW Camp

At Dachau, the WW II concentration camp, just outside Munich, there are no docents so it is a self-guided tour. 

Dachau was being built in 1933, even before the war started! It was the first concentration camp and the only one that lasted the whole twelve years. It was constructed under the direction of Heimlich Himmler. There were only 30,000 documented deaths; the operative word here is documented. At the time of liberation it is estimated that at least 67,000 deaths had occurred.

Dachau became the model for other camps. It occupied a closed munitions factory. The first prisoners had to make electrical and plumbing repairs, build a fence, lookout towers and kitchen. By the end of 1933 prisoners numbered 2700. The camp was planned for 6000.

Looking at a map on display I counted 75 camps had been built by the end of 1935! Nine more were added between 1936-1939.  After 1939 and the start of the war, conditions within the Dachau deteriorated considerably.

On arrival each prisoner surrendered his property, his rights, and his human dignity. Men from 26 countries found themselves inside the walls of Dachau. At times 400 men were in a room meant for 50. The camp was liberated on May 1, 1945 and 2226 prisoners died after that from illness and starvation.

A memorial plaque in the front courtyard at Dachau reads: May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933-1945, because they resisted Nazism help to unite the living for the defense of peace and freedom and in respect for their fellow man. The message is written in four languages on the black marble plaque.

Solidarity and brotherly love within the camp meant survival. For some reason the gas chamber at this camp was never used. No one seems to know why. All priests imprisoned were sent to Dachau and there were over 2000 of them. They were not prisoners, they were just sent there for protective custody!

Since this was my fourth concentration camp visit, I felt Dachau was rather sterile and of the four camps I found it the least compelling; maybe because this is a reconstructed memorial rather than the original camp. Others did not agree with me, especially those who had seen only Dachau.

Only one barracks was erected. Behind it was the foundation outline of others.

I have been unable to find how the original camp was destroyed or to what extent it was destroyed.  But the present memorial is from the efforts of those imprisoned there who somehow formed an organized effort to memorialize the camp after the war.