We stopped by Dachau Concentration Camp on our drive back to Munich. The stories of how the people were treated were unbelievable, unfortunately they were true. Opened in March 1933, it was the first regular concentration camp established by the coalition government of National Socialist (Nazi) party. Dachau served as a prototype and model for the other Nazi concentration camps that followed. There was a common jingle saying "Dear God, make me dumb, that I may not to Dachau come."
The words across the front gate read, Arbeit macht frei - meaning"work shall set you free"
The 32 barracks are gone, but the concrete slabs remain. These were build for 200 prisoners, but as time went on they had over 1000 people housed in each barrack.
Six to ten men were sleeping on a hard wooden bed, meant for two.
The camp was surrounded by an electrified barbed-wire gate, a ditch, and a wall with seven guard towers. Many prisoners would commit suicide by running into the forbidden area to get out of the terrible suffering.
The crematorium was set up in an assembly line, with gas chambers in the adjacent room - set up to look like showers. This mass death system was never used at Dachau as it was at other camps. It was difficult to stand in the same place where this kind of brutality occurred. It was a very sad, yet eye-opening experience.
