Blogs from Dachau, Bavaria, Germany, Europe - page 4

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Europe » Germany » Bavaria » Dachau April 27th 2008

In 1933, Hitler had recently gained power in Germany and needed a new place to imprison his political opponents. Thus was the birth of the Dachau Concentration Camp, or KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau. The city of Dachau is over a thousand years old, even older than its close neighbor of Munich, and the buildings of the concentration camp date back to WWI, when they were used as an armaments factory. When Germany lost the Great War, they were no longer allowed to produce armaments, and the factory at Dachau was abandoned. Later, in March of 1933, the Munich Chief of Police announced that the abandoned factory, including the existing barracks, would serve as a concentration camp, though, more specifically, to serve as a Protective Custody Camp for political opponents of Hitler taken as prisoners. It wasn’t long before ... read more
Dachau
Dachau
Dachau

Europe » Germany » Bavaria » Dachau March 19th 2008

Hi it’s Austin again. Tomorrow we get onto the plane to go home. WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I don’t want to go I want to live here! I mean, no offense, I miss you all and it’s not that I don’t like you; it’s just that I could live here I love everything here. I am also a quarter Austrian and a quarter German I think. If you look at me closely and you know what Europeans look like, and can see that I am part European. When I go home, I don’t want you all staring at me so forget it. Well, last night we went walking around Munich, Germany. We went into one of the largest restaurants in the world. If you want to know more about that, read my brother’s blog because he talks about ... read more

Europe » Germany » Bavaria » Dachau January 28th 2008

This is where things take a more serious turn. I'm down at the lake because 1. It's a beautiful day, although a little windy, and 2. It's peaceful. I find that's what you need in order to write about something like that. To be honest, I enjoyed Dachau. You always hear horror stories about the Holocaust, but it's a completely different thing to actually be there and see it. I thought of Helga the whole time. Everything there was gray. Apparently one of the building used to be green, but I don't think I saw it. I remember seeing the place where they lived. It looked like an army barrack. First walking in, the gate has an inscription. It was something about work leading to freedom. Just seeing an iron gate closed when I was about ... read more
Prisoners Road
Holocaust memorial
Memorial to prisoners who were hung from these stakes

Europe » Germany » Bavaria » Dachau January 25th 2008

Warning: This blog is depressing. We did the trip to Dachau on December 25th, and the trip to Prague 5 days later. Throughout our travels in Europe, we have taken time to visit reminders of human-kinds occasionally destructive nature. In the Netherlands, we visited the Anne Frank House, and witnessed the fear, the intimidation, and the spying that infected every day life of those people living under the Nazi regime. In the Munich suburb of Dacchau, we toured the Dacchau Concentration Camp. In Prague, we witnessed the destruction that continues today due to the Holocaust. It should be noted that the Holocaust is not the only example of genocide in our world’s history. While the Nazis systematically murdered 11 million people, including 6 million jews, more than 60 million people died as a result of World ... read more
Dachau Memorial
Dachau monument
Franz Kafka House

Europe » Germany » Bavaria » Dachau January 25th 2008

After the morining in Amsterdam looking at the museum, we got back on the bus and headed towards Germany, on the way we stopped at the Dachau Concentration Camp, we were at little unsure of what to expect. When we arrived it was snowing and it was about minus 2. We all walked up through the gates and Aaron gave a quick talk about the camp. We then went and watch a video on the camp. It was a very raw video and I didn't realise how much people had suffered. We looked around the musuem and went in to the "shower room" where they use to gas people. I had a strange feeling and couldn't stand to be in there very long. I think we all left a little sad. Here is a website of ... read more

Europe » Germany » Bavaria » Dachau October 16th 2007

About 30 minutes outside of Munich, on my way home, was Dachau Concentration Camp so I decided to stop and visit. Parking was 3 Euros and entrance to the memorial site was free. I got there right as they were opening at 9am and was the first one there so it was quiet and pretty cold out since it was still early. Many of the buildings were torn down after the concentration camp was closed but they left several up, such as 2 barracks buildings where the prisoners were housed, the bunker, where the special prisoners were kept and where everyone was inprocessed, and the incinerator and the gas chamber "showers" still remain as well. They've reconstructed the beds that the prisoners slept in and I believe put new flooring in too. You can see just ... read more
The showers
The beds
The prisoners in their bunks

Europe » Germany » Bavaria » Dachau October 8th 2007

Gutten tag! While planning my trip to Germany, I made a conscious decision to see relics of the country’s dark past along with its vibrant culture of today. In Berlin I visited the wall that divided the city physically and the world symbolically, in Nuremburg I visited the site that was the epicenter of Nazi power, and in Munich I walked around the area were extremists took hostage innocent civilians. Even though I had reservations about going to a concentration camp, I decided it would have been irresponsible not to. Just because I knew the day at a camp would be a depressing one didn’t mean it wouldn’t be a worthwhile one. So, I visited Dachau - the first labor camp for the Jews established by the Nazis in 1933. It operated until liberation in April ... read more
Entrance
Main Hall
Message

Europe » Germany » Bavaria » Dachau August 29th 2007

Germany's first concentration camp was opened at Dachau, a village a few miles from Munich. I've taken a few pictures, but the links do a much better job of conveying the camp than I would. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_concentration_camp http://www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de/englisch/content/... read more
Museum - previous barracks grounds
Poster inside the museum
Wall inside the barracks

Europe » Germany » Bavaria » Dachau August 7th 2007

Day 6 Today we visited the concentration camp, Dachau. It was a very emotional experience. You learn about all of the horrors of the Holocaust, and listening to the stories and learning about it is horrible enough. Seeing the place where it happened and actually being there was very difficult to handle. I didn't take any pictures because it was too emotional and it didn't feel right to take pictures of the place where people were being cruelly tortured in unimaginable ways. People were starved to death, dying of disease, worked until they collapse, piled alive with dead bodies and baked in ovens. The words on the entrance gate read "ARBEIT MACHT FREI" or 'work makes free.' After the Dachau we got on the bus to go to our guesthouse up in the Alps. It was ... read more




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