Dachau Concentration Camp

I debated whether to post on our visit to the Dachau Concentration Camp during our trip to Germany but felt that I could do so tactfully and let you see a glimpse into one of the camps.

I felt sick almost the entire day at the brutal carelessness and disregard for the sanctity of human life. I pray that we have learned our lesson and I am thankful to the American soldiers who so bravely fight to free enslaved people like the prisoners at this and other concentration camps. It was amazing reading all of the tributes to the American soldiers and military throughout the museum. I apologize if any of this is offensive to you, please don't view this post if you think you will be unable to handle it. There are no graphic pictures but some descriptions.

The writing on this poster says, "Prisoners welcome the American soldiers, April 29th, 1945". If you are able to zoom in, the faces on these prisoners will bring you to tears.

The famous Hitler saying, "Work will set you free" on the door entering Dachau. Hitler used to tell his prisonrs that if they worked hard enough they would be set free. Rarely did this occur but it gave them some hope.


Walking alongside the special prisoner cells and the museum. The museum had a 20 minute video that we weren't allowed to see because of Molly. Children under 12 are not allowed to view the graphic images. The museum was great because it showed the history leading up to Hitler taking over and on how any human being could possibly follow such a ruthless man and do the things that were done in these camps. I also learned a lot about the horrible medical experiments carried out on the prisoners and just how much they contributed to modern medicine.

We were also able to go into the barracks and see the disguisting conditions there. These are the bunk beds. Initially, there was 1 person per bed but by the end, they were cramming 3 and 4 into each bunk.


As you can see, the beds are about the width of two-three benches. Hardly room for 3 people.

This picture is of the doorway leading into the gas chamber. For those of us who don't speak German, it says 'shower'. The Nazi's told the prisoners that they were going to be sent to bathe and then they sealed them in and executed them. The room beyond that is the incinerator where they burned the bodies and the last room in the building was where they stacked the bodies once they had been killed. This building was absolutely the most appalling thing I have ever been in. I won't show any other pictures but I felt you couldn't truly understand how horrific the whole place was without a glimpse into this building.

This is the famous memorial that you've probably seen in text books portraying the days of the Nazi regime and concentration camps.

This memorial was positioned in the center of Dachau and powerfully states, "Never Again". I pray that nothing this horrendous never happens again.