Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site entrance
On Saturday (22 March), the rain stopped and we took the train just out of the city to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial site. This was the first Nazi concentration camp built in Germany in 1933, and served as a prototype for the other Nazi concentration camps. It was established a few weeks after Hitler became the Reich Chancellor to hold politically prisoners. In total, it is estimated that 200,000 people were imprisoned here, of which one third were Jews. Approximately 40,000 died in Dachau and its sub-camps, largely from disease and malnutrition. In 1945, American troops liberated the survivors.
After hiring audio guides, Mikey and I walked through the camp entrance into the roll call square, where the chilling wind ripped right through us. I felt horrible thinking how cold it was, and here I had the luxury of a coat and gloves. The main barracks on one side of the roll call square held the museum, which outlined the conditions in Germany prior to the war, the events in Europe during World War II, and life in the Dachau camp until its liberation.
On the other side of the roll call square, two prisoner barracks remain on the site and have been recreated to show what they were like when the camp was in use. The rest of the barracks have been removed, so the camp looked and felt extremely desolate.
Dachau – where the prisoners barracks originally stood.
While it was sobering to walk through the camp, I was not prepared for how disturbing it felt to walk through the crematorium. The gas chamber, with fake shower fittings installed to disguise its real purpose, was horrible because of the vivid pictures I saw in my mind’s eye. I struggled to process it. I didn’t want to look, yet I didn’t want to stop in the hope I would find a way to comprehend it and what it meant.
Dachau – fence line
As we walked out, we passed a wall which was inscribed with what seems to be the purpose of this site, established by the camp’s surviving prisoners:
“May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933 – 1945 because they resisted Nazism help to unite the living for the defence of peace and freedom and in respect for their fellow men”.
A memorial at Dachau, with “Never Again” written in several languages.
On Sunday (23 March), we went to Munich’s Englischer Garten (English Garden) – one of the largest city parks in Europe. The light snow ensured the locals kept their clothes on (apparently the locals like to nude sun bake in the gardens in summer).
Englischer Garten
Much to Mikey’s excitement, the river running through the park forms a large natural wave when exiting a particular tunnel in the park. There are more than a few photos (and videos) on our website of some guys making the most of the wave by practicing some surfing.
Surfing in the snow at the Englischer Garten
That night, we went out for a beer before dinner. Mikey found a place in the lonely planet that was nearby, but failed to read the descriptive paragraph. As I walked in, it was clear to me that Mikey had taken me to a gay bar. After ordering some beers, and noticing the art and lack of females, Mikey realised too…Anyway the beer was good.
Before we left Munich on Monday (24 March), we just happened to be strolling through the main square for one last look around Munich as the Glockenspiel (carillon) at the top of the Nues Rathaus was chiming. All these figures came out to dance around the top – including jesters and knights jousting. It was nice of Munich to give us a farewell.
Glockenspiel – Knights jousting