The Allisons

On a more somber note, we visited Dachau. It is the first concentration camp set up by the Nazi regime. The first picture on the right is where the prisoners arrived. Then, they made their way through this gate under the words "Arbeit macht frei", which means "Work will make you free". The next picture is of a guard tower. Here, everything is as it was when the concentration camp was active. There is a barbed wire fence, trip wire, and a trench. Next on the left was a reconstructed barracks in which inmates stayed. Between the trees is the main camp road and on either side of that were the rows of barracks. The infirmary took up the first 3 rows. The sick did not go here to get better, but to die. This is also where horrific medical experiments were carried out on prisoners.

These are pictures of the toilet room inside the barracks. And the 3-tier bunk beds.

We also walked over to the crematorium. This is the bigger of the two. The number of people they were killing quickly exceeded the capacity of the old crematorium. We had the gut wrenching experiencing of walking through the rooms where they stored the bodies waiting to be cremated. There was also a "shower" room. The showers were built with gassing capabilities, but for some reason at this particular camp they were never utilized.

I wouldn't exactly call this experience fun, but I was glad we could honor the people who were murdered here, by not forgetting the horrors they experienced.