Dachau

The concentration camp at Dachau, opened in 1933, was used at first for political prisoners and as a work camp. Over time, it expanded. Most of the concentration camps built by the be Nazis followed the layout developed at Dachau.
The 1st picture is the gatehouse with it's familiar sign in the 2nd picture: "work makes you free" (it can be translated other ways, but this is the essence). The 3rd is the main yard were morning and evening roll call formations were held. The 4th picture looks through the window to one of the barracks which were closed due to covid.
The camp was originally built for 6,000 prisoners, but got to a terribly overcrowded 30,000. Due to increased deaths, a crematorium was added. Then it was turned into an extermination camp. The 5th picture is of the gas chamber, and the 6th is the crematorium.
I found it extremely hard to imagine the crowded conditions, let alone the cruelty of the place and the abject fear the prisoners must have lived with. The camp as it is today seems to me to have been prettified, perhaps as a memorial; perhaps to soften edges. Yet, there are plenty of pictures of the horror that I have not included here.
A sign recalls a quote from a US Army liberator: "the most horrible sight I have ever seen." I believe it.
I can only see this a a mild preparation for Auschwitz. I will be there in a couple weeksLue lisää