Dachau the Blueprint
On a fittingly somber day I took a day to visit and understand the harrowing and indeed chilling story of Dachau. While it is impossible to completely grasp the brutality and atrocities committed here I did manage to gain just a little of an idea of how those interned there existed. I would have said lived and survived there, but the simple truth is so many didnt survive Dachau and no one interned there lived, they barely existed, and indeed those that were lucky enough to survive Dachau must have shown extreme levels of determination to outlast the camp.
Dachau was the prototype and the blueprint for all other concentration camps that the Nazis constructed. It is highly likely that every city, town and village in Germany had inhabitants shipped off to these death camps. Newspapers were constantly reporting on the forced relocation of the enemies of the Reich to concentration camps. As early as 1935 there were "jingles" warning: "Lieber Gott, mach mich dumm, damit ich nicht nach Dachau kumm" - Tanslated: "Dear God, make me dumb, that I may not to Dachau come"
Kommandant Theodor Eicke was the principle architect for the camp's basic organization and layout. These building plans were applied to all later camps. He had a separate secure camp near the command center, which consisted of living quarters, administration, and army camps. Eicke himself became the chief inspector for all concentration camps, responsible for ensuring all the others adhered to his model.
The entrance gate to this concentration camp carries the words "Arbeit macht frei", meaning "work will liberate". One of many slogans used by the concentration camps.
The camp was in use from 1933 (Construstion started around Christmas) to 1960 (When the US handed the camp back to the Bavarian Authorities)with the first twelve years as an internment center of the Third Reich. From 1933 to 1938 the prisoners were mainly German nationals detained for political reasons. Subsequently the camp was used for prisoners of all sorts from every nation occupied by the forces of the Third Reich.
The irony coming in the period from 1945 through 1948 when the camp was used as a prison for SS officers awaiting trial, some of which would have most certainly been responsible for some aspect of the running of such camps.
After 1948 the camp served as a refugee camp for German nationals expelled from Czechoslovakia while also serving as a base for the US forces. In 1960 after constant pressure from ex-prisoners, part of the site was turned into a permanent memorial to both the surviviors of the camp and more so those who lost their lives in the camp, there are also various memorials constructed there.
No one will every truly know how many were interned there or lost their lives in Dachau however despite some variation the general consensus puts the number somewhere around 200,000 drawn from more than 30 countries. This number could be divided into roughly two-thirds who were political prisoners and with Jews making up most of the remaining occupants. Around 25,613 prisoners are believed to have died in the camp and almost another 10,000 in its subcamps,with disease, malnutrition and suicide being the noted as the main causes of death. In early 1945, there was a typhus epidemic in the camp due to influx from other camps causing overcrowding. This was followed by a brutal forced march into the alps of roughly 7000 prisoners by the SS in an attempt to cover up some of the attrocities the camp was responsible for, with large numbers of the weaker prisoners dying. Sadly liberation for the camp did not prevent many weaker prisoners who were barely clinging to life dying despite the best efforts of the liberating forces.
Over its twelve years as a concentration camp, the Dachau administration recorded the intake of 206,206 prisoners and 31,951 deaths. Crematoria were constructed to dispose of the deceased. These numbers do not tell the entire story, however. Although there is no evidence of mass murder within the camp — by methods other than poor sanitation, deprivation of medical care, withholding of nutrients, medical experiments, or beatings and shootings for infractions of the rules or at random — beginning in 1942 more than 3166 prisoners in weakened condition were transported to Hartheim Castle near Linz and there were executed by poison gas for reason of their unfitness. In 1941 and 1942 an unknown number of prisoners of war from the Soviet Union were executed by shooting at the camp's surrounding firing ranges, some for target practice and for sport.
The camp was divided into two sections: the camp area and the crematorium. The camp area consisted of 69 barracks, including one for clergy imprisoned for opposing the Nazi regime and one reserved for medical experiments. The courtyard between the prison and the central kitchen was used for the summary execution of prisoners. The camp was surrounded by an eight meter wide dead zone which consisted of a ditch barbed wire and finally an electrified barbed-wire fence with seven guard towers which were manned 24 hours a day by the camps guards who were instructed to shoot anyone stepping foot onto the dead zome.
In early 1937, the SS, using prisoner labor, initiated construction of a large complex of buildings on the grounds of the original camp. The construction was officially completed in mid-August 1938 and the camp remained essentially unchanged and in operation until 1945. Dachau thus was the longest running concentration camp of the Third Reich.
The area in Dachau included other SS facilities beside the concentration camp—a leader school[citation needed] of the economic and civil service, the medical school[citation needed] of the SS, etc. The KZ at that time was called a "protective custody camp,"[citation needed] and occupied less than half of the area of the entire complex.
By the time the camp was liberated the death rate had peaked at 200 per day. However even after liberation the daily death toll could only be reduced to between 50 and 80 deaths per day, this was despite the best efforts of the Allied forces medical teams.
Late in the afternoon of 29 April 1945, KZ Dachau was surrendered to the American Army by SS-Untersturmführer Heinrich Wicker. Below is a vivid description of the surrender as it appears in Brig. Gen. Henning Linden's official report on surrender of Dachau Concentration Camp.
The Americans found approximately 32,000 prisoners, crammed 1,600 to each of 20 barracks, which had been designed to house 250 people each.
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 exactn umber massacred is still disputed as some Germans were killed in combat, some were shot while attempting to surrender, and others were killed after their surrender was accepted.
Many guards were also killed by the liberated prisoners, which made the issue more complex and some SS guards even attempted to disguise themselves as prisoners or indeed play dead in a futile attempt to escape capture.
American troops forced local citizens to the camp to see for themselves the conditions there and to help clean the facilities. Many local residents were shocked about the experience and claimed no knowledge of the activities at the camp.
After liberation, the camp was used by the US Army as an internment camp. It was also the site of the Dachau Trials, a site chosen for its symbolism. In 1948 the Bavarian government established housing for refugees on the site, and this remained for many years.
The former SS barracks adjacent to the camp are now occupied by the Bavarian Bereitschaftspolizei (rapid response police unit).
Sorry for the long intro to this report and I realise the site isn't strictly a derelict place, however it is a site of great significance and hopefully after reading about it you will understand why I felt the report needed to be of such a length.
"We must never forget" to quote one of the memorial inscriptions on site.
The remains of the Camp Train Platform
The first thing the liberating US forces encountered was the Train Platform and a recently arrived train, carrying some 4800 "prisoners"
Only 800 were alive.
The Entrance to Dacau that all prisoners passed through on arrival at the camp
The door reads "Work Makes You Free"
The Fenceline and Towers
The Towers would have been the other side of the fence to make them inaccessible to anyone crossing fromt the dead zone.
The Crematoria
Old
New
The Gas Chamber in the New Crematoria Disguised as a Shower, although it is believed it was never put into full use. The Nazi's claimed the US forced the camp occupants to build this after they liberated the camp, a blatant lie.
The Gas Canister Administration Drops
The Various Execution Areas Around the Crematoria
Rifle Execution Range With Blood Ditch
Pistol Execution Range
The Crematoria Ash Storage Area
The Huts
The Bunker and Admin Block
The Execution Wall at the Bunker in the left hand corner there also stood a gallows, although most who were to be hung would have been hung infront of the Crematoria "ovens".
While we were in the Bunker we commented on the fact it was warmer outside in the windy conditions. There were 3 cells that were divided into 4 smaller units as standing cells. They were so small you had to stand there was no way to sit or lie down.
The Various Memorials now built on Site
The Church of Reconciliation
The Mortal Agony of Christ Chapel
Jewish Memorial
The Unknown Prisoner
The Jewish Memorial at the Crematoria
The Unknown Prisoners
The Russian Orthodox Church Memorial Constructed by Russian troops in 1990.
I would strongly recommend a visit if you are in the Munich area and thanks for looking.
On a fittingly somber day I took a day to visit and understand the harrowing and indeed chilling story of Dachau. While it is impossible to completely grasp the brutality and atrocities committed here I did manage to gain just a little of an idea of how those interned there existed. I would have said lived and survived there, but the simple truth is so many didnt survive Dachau and no one interned there lived, they barely existed, and indeed those that were lucky enough to survive Dachau must have shown extreme levels of determination to outlast the camp.
Dachau was the prototype and the blueprint for all other concentration camps that the Nazis constructed. It is highly likely that every city, town and village in Germany had inhabitants shipped off to these death camps. Newspapers were constantly reporting on the forced relocation of the enemies of the Reich to concentration camps. As early as 1935 there were "jingles" warning: "Lieber Gott, mach mich dumm, damit ich nicht nach Dachau kumm" - Tanslated: "Dear God, make me dumb, that I may not to Dachau come"
Kommandant Theodor Eicke was the principle architect for the camp's basic organization and layout. These building plans were applied to all later camps. He had a separate secure camp near the command center, which consisted of living quarters, administration, and army camps. Eicke himself became the chief inspector for all concentration camps, responsible for ensuring all the others adhered to his model.
The entrance gate to this concentration camp carries the words "Arbeit macht frei", meaning "work will liberate". One of many slogans used by the concentration camps.
The camp was in use from 1933 (Construstion started around Christmas) to 1960 (When the US handed the camp back to the Bavarian Authorities)with the first twelve years as an internment center of the Third Reich. From 1933 to 1938 the prisoners were mainly German nationals detained for political reasons. Subsequently the camp was used for prisoners of all sorts from every nation occupied by the forces of the Third Reich.
The irony coming in the period from 1945 through 1948 when the camp was used as a prison for SS officers awaiting trial, some of which would have most certainly been responsible for some aspect of the running of such camps.
After 1948 the camp served as a refugee camp for German nationals expelled from Czechoslovakia while also serving as a base for the US forces. In 1960 after constant pressure from ex-prisoners, part of the site was turned into a permanent memorial to both the surviviors of the camp and more so those who lost their lives in the camp, there are also various memorials constructed there.
No one will every truly know how many were interned there or lost their lives in Dachau however despite some variation the general consensus puts the number somewhere around 200,000 drawn from more than 30 countries. This number could be divided into roughly two-thirds who were political prisoners and with Jews making up most of the remaining occupants. Around 25,613 prisoners are believed to have died in the camp and almost another 10,000 in its subcamps,with disease, malnutrition and suicide being the noted as the main causes of death. In early 1945, there was a typhus epidemic in the camp due to influx from other camps causing overcrowding. This was followed by a brutal forced march into the alps of roughly 7000 prisoners by the SS in an attempt to cover up some of the attrocities the camp was responsible for, with large numbers of the weaker prisoners dying. Sadly liberation for the camp did not prevent many weaker prisoners who were barely clinging to life dying despite the best efforts of the liberating forces.
Over its twelve years as a concentration camp, the Dachau administration recorded the intake of 206,206 prisoners and 31,951 deaths. Crematoria were constructed to dispose of the deceased. These numbers do not tell the entire story, however. Although there is no evidence of mass murder within the camp — by methods other than poor sanitation, deprivation of medical care, withholding of nutrients, medical experiments, or beatings and shootings for infractions of the rules or at random — beginning in 1942 more than 3166 prisoners in weakened condition were transported to Hartheim Castle near Linz and there were executed by poison gas for reason of their unfitness. In 1941 and 1942 an unknown number of prisoners of war from the Soviet Union were executed by shooting at the camp's surrounding firing ranges, some for target practice and for sport.
The camp was divided into two sections: the camp area and the crematorium. The camp area consisted of 69 barracks, including one for clergy imprisoned for opposing the Nazi regime and one reserved for medical experiments. The courtyard between the prison and the central kitchen was used for the summary execution of prisoners. The camp was surrounded by an eight meter wide dead zone which consisted of a ditch barbed wire and finally an electrified barbed-wire fence with seven guard towers which were manned 24 hours a day by the camps guards who were instructed to shoot anyone stepping foot onto the dead zome.
In early 1937, the SS, using prisoner labor, initiated construction of a large complex of buildings on the grounds of the original camp. The construction was officially completed in mid-August 1938 and the camp remained essentially unchanged and in operation until 1945. Dachau thus was the longest running concentration camp of the Third Reich.
The area in Dachau included other SS facilities beside the concentration camp—a leader school[citation needed] of the economic and civil service, the medical school[citation needed] of the SS, etc. The KZ at that time was called a "protective custody camp,"[citation needed] and occupied less than half of the area of the entire complex.
By the time the camp was liberated the death rate had peaked at 200 per day. However even after liberation the daily death toll could only be reduced to between 50 and 80 deaths per day, this was despite the best efforts of the Allied forces medical teams.
Late in the afternoon of 29 April 1945, KZ Dachau was surrendered to the American Army by SS-Untersturmführer Heinrich Wicker. Below is a vivid description of the surrender as it appears in Brig. Gen. Henning Linden's official report on surrender of Dachau Concentration Camp.
The Americans found approximately 32,000 prisoners, crammed 1,600 to each of 20 barracks, which had been designed to house 250 people each.
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 exactn umber massacred is still disputed as some Germans were killed in combat, some were shot while attempting to surrender, and others were killed after their surrender was accepted.
Many guards were also killed by the liberated prisoners, which made the issue more complex and some SS guards even attempted to disguise themselves as prisoners or indeed play dead in a futile attempt to escape capture.
American troops forced local citizens to the camp to see for themselves the conditions there and to help clean the facilities. Many local residents were shocked about the experience and claimed no knowledge of the activities at the camp.
After liberation, the camp was used by the US Army as an internment camp. It was also the site of the Dachau Trials, a site chosen for its symbolism. In 1948 the Bavarian government established housing for refugees on the site, and this remained for many years.
The former SS barracks adjacent to the camp are now occupied by the Bavarian Bereitschaftspolizei (rapid response police unit).
Sorry for the long intro to this report and I realise the site isn't strictly a derelict place, however it is a site of great significance and hopefully after reading about it you will understand why I felt the report needed to be of such a length.
"We must never forget" to quote one of the memorial inscriptions on site.
The remains of the Camp Train Platform
The first thing the liberating US forces encountered was the Train Platform and a recently arrived train, carrying some 4800 "prisoners"
Only 800 were alive.
The Entrance to Dacau that all prisoners passed through on arrival at the camp
The door reads "Work Makes You Free"
The Fenceline and Towers
The Towers would have been the other side of the fence to make them inaccessible to anyone crossing fromt the dead zone.
The Crematoria
Old
New
The Gas Chamber in the New Crematoria Disguised as a Shower, although it is believed it was never put into full use. The Nazi's claimed the US forced the camp occupants to build this after they liberated the camp, a blatant lie.
The Gas Canister Administration Drops
The Various Execution Areas Around the Crematoria
Rifle Execution Range With Blood Ditch
Pistol Execution Range
The Crematoria Ash Storage Area
The Huts
The Bunker and Admin Block
The Execution Wall at the Bunker in the left hand corner there also stood a gallows, although most who were to be hung would have been hung infront of the Crematoria "ovens".
While we were in the Bunker we commented on the fact it was warmer outside in the windy conditions. There were 3 cells that were divided into 4 smaller units as standing cells. They were so small you had to stand there was no way to sit or lie down.
The Various Memorials now built on Site
The Church of Reconciliation
The Mortal Agony of Christ Chapel
Jewish Memorial
The Unknown Prisoner
The Jewish Memorial at the Crematoria
The Unknown Prisoners
The Russian Orthodox Church Memorial Constructed by Russian troops in 1990.
I would strongly recommend a visit if you are in the Munich area and thanks for looking.
