Dachau Concentration Camp

Today we saw another side of Germany. It was a cruel past led by the Third Reich. Dachau was the first concentration camp established in Germany and other camps were modeled in it's fashion. Veteran Chan Rogers was a liberator of the camp and painted a picture of what it was like in 1945.

Before we got off the bus, one of our tour guides told us that the camp had be "sanatized" and that the changes to the display of the camp were more viewer friendly. When we arrive at Dachau, after a short stop at the visitor's center, we walk to the entrance to the camp.

First, I was taken by the railroad tracks that still led up to the gate entrance. This is where boxcars full of both living and dead Jews would unload. The whole camp was surrounded by concrete walls and towers, with electric fence lacing the tops of the walls. We crossed a small bridge over a creek, and there it was... the phrase "Arbeit Macht Frei," which means "work shall set you free."

This was, of course, a cruel joke that the Nazis played on the prisoners. Thousands and thousands of innocent people lost their lives because of hatred. Seeing the words on the gate simply disgusted me. To think that people excelled in their work, tried to hard to gain freedom, but yet they were denied and often died trying. Everyone has heard they were mistreated and malnourished, but Mr. George Spooner recalled the SS men throwing a bag of potatoes into a fire and watching the Jews jump into the flames for their dinner.

Once in the camp, under the famous Dachau monument all the Veterans gathered for a wreath laying ceremony. After a moment of silence in honor of the innocent lives that were taken and the Veterans that served, a beautiful floral arrangement was laid in front of the monument. Chan Rogers, a liberator of the camp, spoke about the lives of the victims and spoke of gratefulness that changes have been made so nothing like the Holocaust happens again.

We walked through the SS administration building, which is now the documentation center after the wreath laying ceremony. Audio guides led us throughout the building, informing us all about the camp. We then stopped in a small cinema to watch a short film about the Holocaust and the Third Reich. When the video started, you could have heard a pin drop. All eyes were glued to the screen as it showed scaring pictures of the Jewish victims.

The next destination within the camp was the crematorium. This was located in the woods, a short walk from the very far end of the camp. Dachau was not known as an "Extermination Camp," however, most people don't know that it was set up to be. The original crematorium was a single furnace, much too small for accommodating the large amounts of bodies that were being brought to the doors. So the SS had another built.

We then made our way to the back of the camp were a Catholic convent was located. One of the Sisters was there to greet us as we made our way into the chapel. We were able to listen to the nuns chant, which they do five times a day. After we had a "roundtable" discussion, with Chan Rogers leading. He gave us his perspective and what it was like seeing the camp for the first time when it was still in operation.

It was an emotional day, but definitely one that I won't soon forget.