Friday, June 28, 2019
Our first trip after the move to Media, PA meant we had to drive to Cleveland to catch our scheduled flight to München/Munich, Germany!
We arrived early enough in the day to get in some sightseeing. First we took the S-Bahn/
Schnellbahn/ rapid transit train from the airport into the city center, and left our luggage at the hotel.
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Schweinebraten/roast pork with a Kartoffelknödel/potato dumpling
and a Semmelknödel/bread dumpling, and a side of Sauerkraut |
After lunch we took the S-Bahn up to the town of Dachau. Next a bus to the Dachau
Konzentrationslager/Concentration Camp.
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A gateway to the first Nazi concentration camp, opened 3/22/1933,
only two months after Adolf Hitler came to power on 1/30/1933
as chancellor of Germany |
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Kent stands inside the gate that declares Arbeit macht frei/
work sets you free, a slogan repeated at a few other camps |
The camp was established for political prisoners, to be used as forced labor. The camp was expanded in 1937-1938 to hold 6,000 prisoners, but was immediately overcrowded, eventually holding over 30,000 prisoners. Over 30 sub-camps to provide workers were created near armament factories.
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| A look at the vast roll call area in front of the maintenance buildings |
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A photo of the sculpture (1968, by Nandor Glid) that is part of the
International Monument "Never Again," but
currently is covered by scaffolding (for cleaning?) |
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Items from the Porzellanmanufaktur München-Allach/
porcelain factory, an SS enterprise using prison labor |
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A copy of the memorial (1992, by Hubertus von Pilgrim)
to the Death March of prisoners from Dachau,
of which twenty are located along the route they took |
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The original gate, which was stolen in 2014,
then found outside of Bergen, Norway in 2016 |
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Bunker Cell Block/detention building, the only preserved building
in the complex, was used for special prisoners such as
failed Hitler assassins, and those who were rebellious or defiant |
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The interrogation room was surrounded by
thick walls and had double doors |
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A cell with a diagram showing how it was divided
into 2.5 square foot standing cells |
Only two out of thirty barracks were reconstructed.
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Common room of the period of 1938-1944,
with mess tables and lockers |
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| Communal sinks |
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| Communal toilets |
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Rows of bunk beds were replaced with
group bunk beds in 1944 |
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| The rest of the barracks are marked by concrete borders |
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| Jewish Memorial (1967, by Zvi Guttman) is made of black basalt |
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The Roman Catholic Chapel of the Mortal Agony of Christ (1960,
by Josef Wiedemann) with a bell donated by Austrian survivors |
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One guard tower became the entrance to the Carmelite Convent
(1964, by Josef Wiedemann), established as a "convent of atonement"
as offered through prayer by 21 nuns who live in seclusion |
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Protestant Church of Reconciliation (1967, by Helmut Strifler)
has an irregular plan to oppose the regularity of the camp |
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The second crematorium (1942-1943) soon did not have the
capacity to dispose of all the dead of the camp |
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| Coal-fired ovens of the crematorium |
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Sign indicating "showers" to disguise a gas chamber,
although it is said this was never used |
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Russian Orthodox Chapel (1995), built
on a hill of soil from the former Soviet Union |
In high school we had to watch movie after movie on the Nazi concentration camps. Such horror, and of course, we wanted to believe: "Never Again."
So why does there continue to be genocides even today?
We took the bus back to town, and took a walk through Dachau itself.
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| A green Mühlkanal/mill raceway |
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| We climbed the Martin-Huber-Treppe/Steps |
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| Altstadt/Old Town door and windows |
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| Altstadt/Old Town Pfarrplatz/Parish Square |
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St-Florians-Brunnen/Fountain (1954, by
Wilhelm Neuhäuser) to commemorate earlier fires
where every citizen had to provide a fire bucket |
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| Modern mural on Wieningerstrasse |
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| Strange relief on Wieningerstrasse |
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| Is this the Kraisy-Brunnen/Fountain? |
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Jakobskirche/St Jacob's Church (1624-25,
by Hans Krumpper in late Renaissance style) |
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The Dachau Bezirksmuseum/Regional Museum is growing
five kinds of potatoes as part of their special exhibition (KSS) |
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