Germany: A Visit to Dachau Concentration Camp

As a young kid, my early association with Germany was Adolf Hitler and Nazism. That explains a must visit to the infamous concentration camp. Dachau is a town off the city of Munich which housed one of the first concentration camps set up to 're-educate' those who did not conform to Nazi ideology and racial policies. They included political opponents, minority groups and of course, towards the late 1930s, the camps increasingly became the center of mass extermination of Jews. It later served as a prototype to other camps set up within and out of Germany.

The plaque greeting the visitors as they alight the bus

The clouds and trees that give the site a dignified air

The memorial site, having demolished the former barracks, now stands bare in the vast acres of land. A magnificent sea of clouds hung above the sky, as if lending some comfort to the solemn, stoic blocks that stand remorseful of its past. Despite the sunny day, any visitors who walk past the iron gate would automatically feel the glumness in the air, struck by the reality of his or her presence on a site of barbarism and death that took place just 70 years ago. The former rows of prisoner barracks that have been torn down perhaps implies the degree of horror that could bear no traces of memory. What is left today are rows of stones marked with numbers. As expected, the memorial site was filled with harrowing details of the ordeal faced by prisoners who were subjected to a regime designed to inflict terror, strip off their rights and dignity. Once entering the gates, prisoners were robbed off their identity and reduced to mere numbers. They begin their lives in constant fear and terror.

Entrance to the compounds

Some examples:

Medical experiments were conducted on the prisoners. These included malaria, altitude and hypothermia experiments. Despite the infirmary wards being technically well-equipped, medical care of prisoners was catastrophic.
Barracks initially fitted for 200 prisoners were overfilled to 2000. Bunks were packed like sardines, exacerbated by lack of hygiene and sanitation. Under such living conditions, prisoners were prone to outbreaks of dysentery and typhus.

Prisoners are required to stand motionless every morning under the baking sun during roll call. Any movements meant harsh beatings and deprivation of meals. Prisoners would collapse out of extreme starvation and exhaustion, but others were not permitted to help.

Daily chores like making bed or cleaning became terrifying deeds. Prisoners would be beaten or hung at the stakes if found the slightest crease or coffee stain.

The roll call area

A boulevard of trees that give a sense of life to the former camp

Former bunkers now converted to a museum

Former barracks now identified
with numbers

The atmosphere was calm and serene, the visitors who entered knew to assume a sense of respect and dignity to the hundred thousands who suffered here. Former bunks were converted to a museum, leaving a few buildings as remnants of the grim past. Rows of trees were grown in the surroundings to provide relief and give a sense of life to the deadening atmosphere that permeate the site.

Interior of the buildings are sanitized, leaving a skeleton of walls unable to be removed from past horrors. Still, the grimness upon entering the buildings are deeply felt. A building that housed the crematorium still stands. As we walk through each room, visitors are given an insight to the process of killing that took place.

The building complex that housed the crematorium

Step 1: This innocent-looking room was the disrobing room.
Prisoners are made to undress before entry to the 'shower room'.

Step 2: Door to the gas chamber, where they will be
suffocated by Zyklon B, the poisonous gas.
Note the sign on top that says 'shower'.


Inside the gas chamber

Step 3: Corpses are transferred to this room before being cremated

Step 4: The ovens that were once busy cremating bodies.

Fumigation rooms where prisoners' clothes
from the disrobing room were disinfected.

With the overwhelming number of deaths, the crematorium was always busy. A room next to the crematorium stands bare. It was the room used to store piles of bodies awaiting to be disposed. The realization of being in a room that once stored piles of bodies sends a chill up my spine. The interior feels heavy and an uncanny vibe still linger. On the other side is the infamous gas chamber which was disguised as a shower room. Unlike the mass extermination camps like Auschwitz, Dachau's gas chamber is a small room that feels like a dungeon. A detailed description tells about the killing mechanics and the usage of fumigation rooms at the side of the building. I wonder about this industrialisation of mass murder and how monumentally distorted it was that the very notion of 'innovation and design' was set to improve the lives of people but here it was dedicated to the extermination of human lives.

Reconstructed barracks showing how the prisoners lived

Three-tiered bunkers where prisoners were squished

Prisoners wash basin

Toilets

How it used to look before the available spaces taken up
to house more prisoners

The museum inside the former bunker

The museum is comprehensive with in-depth explanation of the before, during and after. Amidst the depressing exhibits, the curation offers a perspective into the of degree of human strength, the remarkable kinship and solidarity that sustained the human spirit through such extreme torments. Survivors of the camp recalled their determination to endure the final days when rumours of liberation spread. In one hall, the belongings of prisoners during their detainment are displayed. It was sad and heartwarming at the same time to see photos of babies, cuddling lovers, family portraits and autographs of movie stars which they probably stuffed inside their pillows and took out secretly at night to reminisce the happier times that were robbed off them. This was perhaps, their only brief moments of escape from the daily grisly events, the light they clung on dearly in the sea of insurmountable suffering. Perhaps this was a testament that when deprived of all rights to be human, it is relationships that make one feel human again.

A soldier with his lover

An autograph of a film star that is priceless

A man and his lover

A reminder of happier times

Today, the site is popular with student groups and visitors. It is heartening to see Germany acknowledging the dark chapter in their history and its efforts to educate people about the atrocity inflicted by their forefathers. For it does take enormous courage to face and admit a national crime and the shame of one's history. It was a powerful reminder to the extent of human cruelty and folly.

The electric wire fence that was heavily guarded.

A plaque commemorating the liberation of the
prisoners by the American troops in 1945

As I exit the gate, I felt a wonderful relief of being born in the present day - where the world had made mistakes, learnt their lessons and vowed never to repeat them again. The peace and harmony that we have today are at the expense of millions of lives that had suffered in the past. Today, we can be trivial and wallow in our personal cares and troubles. Perhaps that, is a form of blessing in itself.