On our last full day in Munich, we took two tours: the first was of the Nazi concentration camp in Dachau, and the other was called the Third Reich Tour - more about that later. Dachau was the first of the concentration camps, the model, or "showcase" of all of the camps, and the only one in operation from its inception until it was liberated by the Allied forces at the end of World War II, a time period lasting from 1933 - 1945. It will stand for all time as one of history's most gruesome symbols of inhumanity. I was nauseous from the time we entered the gate until the time we departed. All German school children are required to tour a concentration camp, and there were many school groups there the day we were there. I personally think it would be good if everyone on earth was required to see it - it is most unsettling. To say that it is horrible is obvious, like saying the grass is green, but it is compelling, and almost necessary, to see it and realize the horror that mankind is capable of inflicting.
The gate at the entry to the camp: Work will make you free.
One of many guard towers around the perimeter of the camp.
A reconstructed barracks, containing three-tiered bunks to house the prisoners, who were crammed in by the thousands.
Rows of toilets in the barracks.
The Crematorium, which consisted of a "changing room," a "shower room," and the cremation ovens.
Along the outer wall of the Crematorium are the "chutes" where poisonous pellets were inserted to gas the inmates when they were in the "shower room."
Notice the "shower heads" in the ceiling: the prisoners were told to enter the room to take a shower. In reality, while there were indeed shower heads mounted in the ceiling, there was no plumbing to them, and once they were stripped and locked in the room, the poison pellets were inserted from the outside and the prisoners died an agonizing death.
There were also drainage grates in the floor of the shower room, but, like the shower heads in the ceiling, these grates were not plumbed - just fakes to make the prisoners think the shower room was legitimate.
After the prisoners were killed, their bodies were crammed, three or four at a time, into the ovens for cremation. Their ashes are buried just outside the building. So... again, a very somber day. We went on the Third Reich tour in the afternoon - more tomorrow about that.
The gate at the entry to the camp: Work will make you free.
One of many guard towers around the perimeter of the camp.
A reconstructed barracks, containing three-tiered bunks to house the prisoners, who were crammed in by the thousands.
Rows of toilets in the barracks.
The Crematorium, which consisted of a "changing room," a "shower room," and the cremation ovens.
Along the outer wall of the Crematorium are the "chutes" where poisonous pellets were inserted to gas the inmates when they were in the "shower room."
Notice the "shower heads" in the ceiling: the prisoners were told to enter the room to take a shower. In reality, while there were indeed shower heads mounted in the ceiling, there was no plumbing to them, and once they were stripped and locked in the room, the poison pellets were inserted from the outside and the prisoners died an agonizing death.
There were also drainage grates in the floor of the shower room, but, like the shower heads in the ceiling, these grates were not plumbed - just fakes to make the prisoners think the shower room was legitimate.
After the prisoners were killed, their bodies were crammed, three or four at a time, into the ovens for cremation. Their ashes are buried just outside the building. So... again, a very somber day. We went on the Third Reich tour in the afternoon - more tomorrow about that.
2 comments:
Wow. I can't believe those photos. They just make me so angry!
very sobering photos. i can't image what it was like for them yrs ago.
on a much lighter note, i just got a chance to check out your vacation..what an incredible time! looks like you covered it all in a short period of time! It's everything that I would hope to do someday!
ps..sorry you lost your hat.
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