ChristopherDundy

Go to the German concentration camps.
Dachau 3 years ago

I visited Dachau in October or November of 2002. Dachau is north of Munich about twenty or thirty minutes by bus. It was the first camp set up by the Nazis, and it was the “model” for all the other camps. Every guard started at Dachau for “training” before he was moved to other posts. Dachau wasn’t a death camp (those were all in Poland, I believe), but it WAS a work camp, and many thousands of people DID die there.

It was macabre, to say the least. The gas chambers went unused, but the ovens did not. Seeing the smaller original ovens which they started with and then standing next to the enormous, industrial-sized furnaces which they “upgraded” to really helps you get a handle on the evolution of the dehumanization.

This is worth seeing, but go on a day when you have NOT spent the entire previous evening drinking beer in the Hofbrauhaus. Experience this without a hangover! Also, don’t rush through this. Be sure to see it when you have enough time to properly devote to it. The ghosts there deserve at least that much.

Mar 24, 2006, 04:15AM PST | 2 cheers


Comments:

chubacca_alpaca is singing the bubble-head.

Living on the road to Dachau

My partner recently spent 3 months working just outside Munich (to the south). The road he walked along every day to get to and from work was the road that led to Dachau. The first photos he emailed back was of a memorial sculpture of a huddle of what can only be described as tortured souls, staggering along the road.

When he broke the cardinal rule and “mentioned the war” to his German colleagues, they told him that sometimes the prisoners weren’t marched all the way to Dachau, sometimes they were marched to their deaths over a nearby cliff.

At some point we plan to visit Dachau. I’m guessing it will be a terrible and moving experience all at once.

Mar 24, 2006, 05:44AM PST | Thread | Respond to this

ChristopherDundy

Umm...

Well, Dachau is DEFINITELY northwest of Munich, and it definitely isn’t within walking distance. It is also easily reached from most directions, so I guess you could say that “all roads from Munich lead to Dachau” (as horrible a thought as that is). I also don’t remember any cliffs in the area. I don’t even remember any hills that would be big enough to march people to their death off. But I could be wrong and, in any event, the stories probably add to the tourist trade.

There HAS been one change to the camp since I was there, however. The sign by the gas chamber that said it was never used has (apparently) been removed and replaced with a sign stating that inmates DO recall it being used.

Contrary to your friend’s experience, I never found the subject of the Holocaust to be taboo (though I wasn’t quick to bring it up over beer and sausages!). Rather, I found that most of the people that I spoke to were rather matter-of-fact about it. It was a “This-is-our-history-warts-and-all” kind of attitude.

Your friend and I had very different experiences in Germany.

Mar 24, 2006, 02:53PM PST | Respond to this


ChristopherDundy has gotten 2 cheers on this entry.

 

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