KZ Gedenkstätte Dachau

"Arbeit macht frei" (lit. "Work makes free" => work sets you free). This was a motto commonly used at most concentration camps and was one of the first things prisoners see when they walk in.

KZ (Konzentrationslager), or concentration camps, have now become one of the representations of life and rule under Nazi Germany. In particular, the one at Dachau was to become the model for the construction of the other concentration camps. On Saturday morning, me, Bernard and Enrique decided to visit this place that now stands as a memorial (Gedenkstätte) to those who've perished.

A whip on the apparatus. Don't need to tell you what this is for.

Many people relate the plight of the Jews when they talk about the concentration camps. However, there were also a large number of political opposition, poles, russians, homosexuals, communists etc. that were captured and placed inside concentration camps.

The original 2 crematories, used to burn corpses. When these couldn't handle the increasing amount, they added 4 more.

In the concentration camps it was very hard to survive. Sometimes you don't get any food, yet you have to toll long hours doing physical work. Death came in many ways: starvation to death, shot, disease, hanged, due to human experiments etc. It was really quite tragic. A learnt a lot more about the situations that the prisoners had to go through than I did in Berlin. There was a museum that explained what happened through the ages at KZ Dachau and what procedures the prisoners went through when they were brought in. We also watched a screened video about KZ Dachau, and there were lots of images of skinny (bony, I would say) people, as well as corpses etc. of those who perished during their stay or on the trains.


However, as much as I pity those who have suffered, a lot of injustice is still going on around the world today. Darfur, Israel/Palestine etc. Concerning the Jewish population...they are much better off now but if they ever think that past brutality towards them has now given them the right to mistreat others, then I think these memorials etc. have not met their objective to enlighten people. I always see the message "Never Again", which I assume calls for an end to atrocities made towards races, people, humans. Yet it is still continuing, and sadly Jews are committing it too. It's a mockery of sorts. To make it work they have to practice what they preach. These thoughts just popped in my head as I was walking around the compound.

The original barracks have been torn down but 2 have since been rebuilt. There were 30 in total. Only the foundations remain for the rest (1oom X 10m each) and the area is filled with gravel.

But anyway, I'm glad that I have improved my knowledge concerning WWII, and I am glad that there are survivors of KZ Dachau who are striving to make the world better.

The memorial sculpture on the site of the former "roll-call" grounds of the KZ Dachau.