A Morning in Hell

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Geo: 50.3118, 11.7712

I truly did get a horrible chill this morning when I walked through the gates at Dachau. Seeing the wrought iron motto “Arbeit Macht Frei” in person was indescribable. There were more gates back in the 30s and 40s, but this was one of the originals. It has not been moved from its original location, nor has it been reconstructed. It is exactly where prisoners – dissidents,
gypsies, homosexuals, Jews – would have entered the camp. Did the motto give them hope, or did they know that as soon as they were inside the wall they were doomed?

What I did not know about Dachau was that it was the very first concentration camp, sort of a model for those to come. It was not, however, an extermination camp. Most prisoners died from malnutrition and disease (typhus was rampant), or they were simply worked to death, but of course some were taken out and shot. Some committed suicide by throwing themselves against the electric fences or by attempting to escape simply so that they would be shot by guards.

There were 2700 priests in the camp, but only the German ones were allowed to conduct a sort of Mass. If non-German priests were caught praying, they were either tortured or executed. Occasionally, prisoners would have their hands chained behind their backs, and then the chain was attached to a hook in the ceiling. They would hang there for up to two hours.

With the exception of the administration building (which currently houses a small theater and a museum), the camp was razed after the war. Two barracks buildings have since been rebuilt so that you can see what the living conditions were like. They were originally constructed to house 50 prisoners, but they routinely held up to 400 prisoners. The toilet and sink facilities were inadequate, and there were no showers. In a film, a former prisoner remembered that they hadn't been allowed to bathe for a year, when suddenly they were allowed to shower. At first, however, they thought they were about to be gassed.

There are crematoria still on the grounds. Eleven thousand dead were burned in one of the ovens. Another building consists of a larger room full of ovens, as well as a disrobing room and a “shower” room. Even though it was built but never used, stepping into the shower room made me shudder. They're not sure why the new ovens and gas chamber were never used,
but it certainly wasn't out of pity for the prisoners.

In general, I knew most of this stuff already. But walking on the parade grounds and between the old foundations of the barracks made it so real. It really does made you wonder how people can tolerate man's inhumanity to man, and it makes you wonder how anyone can possibly deny that the Holocaust happened.

Something that struck me was that today would have been Dad's 88th birthday. I know he had absolutely nothing to do with the liberation, but he did his bit to defeat the evil that held Germany in its grip. And it's thanks to people like him that Dachau is today a memorial to the persecuted and the dead, not a monument to Nazi triumph.

Now we are driving to Austria, and I am making a point of looking out the window at the fields of rape. They are such a happy color.

LATER: We stopped at the Wieskirche, a church built in the middle of a meadow in the 18th century. The outside is pretty enough, but fairly plain; it is the inside that knocks you out. It's baroque at its baroquest. The ceiling is painted to look like heaven, and the pillars – which are plaster – are painted to look like marble. There is gold leaf everywhere, and trompe l'oeil angels cavorting about. The church was originally built because a miracle happened on the spot: a statue of the crucified Christ cried real tears. So the altar has this statue as its centerpiece, topped by a golden swan piercing her own breast to feed her ducklings, and topped finally by a golden lamb. At the other end of the church, above the organ, there is a happy angel inviting the faithful to enter the gates of Heaven. I suppose you have to like baroque to appreciate it all, but I do like baroque.

Outside, there was a dog (possibly a Bernese mountain dog) prancing around, checking everything out, and also acting as babysitter to a little girl pushing a doll in a stroller. I saw the dog later too, and I got the impression he's the caretaker for that area.

We got to Austria and our hotel around 5:30. We were all so excited because the Schluxen offers laundry! I raced to my room, threw open my bag to get out my three long-sleeved shirts that I've been wearing constantly, and raced down to the laundry room. I was first one there, so Reid started up a machine for me. I went back at 6:30, only to find that my washer had finished but someone, while trying to open the door, pushed the green “start” button. So my clothes were going through a second cycle. It wasn't till around 8:30 that I was able to get them into a dryer. Still, at least I'll have some clean clothes for a few days.

Dinner was here at the hotel. We were served a beef noodle soup, and then helped ourselves to the salad bar (such as it was), and then there was a buffet. I had potatoes cooked with bacon, something that looked kind of like macaroni and cheese (spaetzle?), a couple of other things that I've forgotten, and a dumpling, also made with bacon. Everything was very good, and then we had apple strudel with cream for dessert. Yum!

And to cap it all: I don't have to be on the bus till 9:30 tomorrow!

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Photos

Dachau
Sculpture in front of the administration building.

Dachau
Ovens that were never used

Dachau
Arbeit Macht Frei

Dachau
The gatehouse, where prisoners would enter.

My room
Gutshof zum Schluxen

View from my room
Gutshof zum Schluxen