Dachau

It's hard for me to post a blog entry about Dachau, which is why it's last. Most of our blog is light-hearted and upbeat (intentionally, trust me) and yet I can't make light of this experience. I'll try not to make it too depressing, but it's not going to be a Hallmark card. And I really mean it when I say not to look at the pictures if you're in any kind of sad or depressed mood.

Most of you know that all through university, I was fascinated by genocide and the circumstances in which they occur, as well as the mindset of both the perpetrators and the victims, as well as the response of the international community. Almost all aspects of it fascinate me, and I took all of the classes that GVSU offered on the subject. One of my greatest regrets of my university years was not being able to take a trip with a professor of the subject to Poland and Germany and see the sights myself. This trip to Dachau helped lessen that regret, since it was one of the places on the itinerary for that trip.

One of the first things that struck me about Dachau was its proximity to Munich. It is actually able to be reached by city train, and not at the last stop either. Of the four zones radiating from the center of the city, it is in the second-nearest one. A five minute bus ride from the train station and we were there! In my imagination these camps were always far away from civilization, tending to be in the middle of nowhere and easily hidden from the public. This cannot be said about Dachau.

Another aspect is the size. I didn't know it before, but Dachau actually had several dozen sub-camps of various size near to the main camp. Although we toured only a part of the main camp (the remainder, which is huge, by the way), there would have been many other smaller versions scattered nearby as sub-camps.

We chose to do a tour, and we agreed later that it was a great idea. Our tour guide's area of study and expertise was in Munich and the surrounding area from the years 1918-1950, which fit perfectly into the time of the Dachau Concentration Camp. He taught me more in the first ten minutes that I had ever dreamed possible. For example, the idea of concentration camps was to consolidate the power of the Nazi party. After Hitler became Chancellor and began to feel solidly in power, high Nazi officials were actually shutting camps down, seeing them as unnecessary since they had done their jobs and power was solidly in the Nazi's hands. However, Himmler, who lived in Munich, saw the economic potential of these prisoners. Appealing to Hitler's obsession with architecture, he suggested that the camp at Dachau be used to supply Hitler with materials for building (while at the same time Himmler became rich on the profits). Hitler was convinced, and put Himmler in charge of the operation, which quickly spread to other areas. Our guide explained to us that the sites of work camps were all chosen for their proximity to quarries, mines, and other areas of natural resources or manufacturing. Because Dachau was the first of this kind of camp, later camps, such as Auschwitz, are based on the Dachau model that Theodor Eicke developed.

Also of interest was the early history of the camp. It opened March 22, 1933 near abandoned manufacturing plants under the rule of the Bavarian police, who actually had a pretty amicable relationship with the prisoners. By April 10, the SS had taken over and within two days began terrorizing the prisoners. The SS actually had a training school adjacent to the camp. Although some of the recruits were already hard-core Nazis, most of the new recruits were there because of other incentives. For example, many poor local boys joined because they went from not having enough money for shoes to having a Hugo Boss uniform issued to them, three meals a day, and a warm place to sleep. For others, it was the realization that they could become an officer much more quickly if they were an SS official. Promotion to officer positions through the army was difficult, but much easier for SS officials. It was details like this that made our guide stand out from what we had expected of a tour (the same boring information that any well-read person probably already knows).

Probably the most difficult area for me was the "new" crematorium. (Picking a most difficult area is not easy in Dachau.) There was an older crematorium that wasn't big enough, so the SS had priests build another, larger building. What was surprising to me is that it was not used too much, since most of the workers either died from being worked to death or were shot or hanged, not gassed and then cremated. All prisoners who died, no matter the manner in which they did, were supposed to be cremated. As death numbers rose, the need for a larger crematorium became greater. What made this difficult was that this is the original building. Not long after the war ended, there was a movement to tear down the building and get rid of it. Former prisoners put forth a great effort to save it for future generations and as a memorial. Fortunately, they were successful. However, it is very difficult and extremely wrenching to walk through the path that countless prisoners did in their final moments. It's impossible not to think about what they may have been thinking and what their executioners were thinking at each stage. The rooms seem to close in on you, and I really was relieved to get outside and feel that I could breathe again. I've never experienced anything like that before, and while it was disturbing, I also firmly believe that if everyone visited a camp like this, genocide would no longer be allowed to happen in this world.

I don't have much else to say. It was a deeply moving and important trip that we took. I do need to thank Chris, however, for being interested enough to inform me that Dachau was so close to Munich and to suggest that we go. What a great husband. And for anyone who is interested in more information, I have a book of text and photo documentation of the camp from 1933-1945, the twelve years that it was in use (the longest of any camp).