Without vigilance....Dachau Concentration Camp

Our trip to Dachau started with an incredibly early dash from the house and a crazy demonstration of my brother's mad driving skills!  We had booked a tour online the night before which meant we needed to be at Munich (Munchen) train station at 1000, a good 2.5-3 hr drive from Goetteldorf.

We were on the road at 0715, but did need to go into Ansbach so Andrew to could fuel up his car on base, and we also had to do an obligatory Maccas run on the way (hey, no time for breakfast at home!)
I was most pleasantly surprised to see that they had McCafe with my very favourite chai latte.  Unfortunately, it wasn't the yummy chai from home, somewhat a different blend of spices, but drinkable none-the-less :-)

Yesterday was winter solstice, so the sun didn't rise until after 0900 I think, so we were cruising down the country roads and the autobahn in the dark for much the trip.  Well, although it was snowing, Andrew very safely got us to the train station just in time for us to join our group (they only waited for a few minutes for us after we phoned ahead to let them know that we were having trouble finding a park near the station.

Munich Train Station

Once we were at Dachau Train Station, we transferre to the bus for our journey out to the Concentration Camp.  The bus took the route that the prisoners would have had to walk to the camp.

First Glimpse

We had a tour guide named Allen who took us through the camp and explained some of the history and details of what we were seeing.  It was absolutely freezing, probably the coldest I have been since we have been here.  I am so proud of Sequoia and Pheonix, who were with Andrew, Rachel and I, for their maturity and tenacity in spending the few hours in the snow and rain listening to a lot of information that they probably won't truly understand or appreciate for a few years yet. 

It was a very sombre and moving time, and just the sheer cold, calculted methodology in running the camp is overwhelming.  I have read a lot of literature about the holocaust, but I guess nothing can prepare you for standing on the roll call grounds where the prisoners would have stood in sub-zero weather with little more than rags on their backs in the freezing snow for hours, to be right in the barracks where thousands of bodies were crammed into the bunks where originally only a couple of hundred political prisoners were meant to be kept, and to look through the 'shower room' equipped with zyklon-B administration capabilities and then led into the crematorium ovens for fast efficient disposal.

Entry Gate - Work make Free

The party line is that Dachau was never a 'death camp', part of 'The Final Solution', that the showers that were never used for more than single agitators or rare small groups, although the extermination chamber facilities were constructed a good three years before liberation.  I, personally, do not buy that.  I could not see how this facility sat idly for years when atrocities and murders occurred (why waste a bullet when there is a much quicker, easier and more efficient method so readily available)?

The barracks are a recontruction of the different bunks during the early years of the camp (Dachau was originally opened in 1933 as a prison for political agitators), where the prisoners even had their own lockers for personal belongings and probably straw mats for their bunks....

...to where the beds were contructed for higher numbers...

...and eventually they were made just to cram as many people in as possible...

I can only begin to imagine what it would have been like for the men who endured this....

The memorial site is filled with many post war constructed memorial buildings and sculptures, however, it was mainly the original buildings and accurate reconstruction of the camp buildings and facilities.

Crematorium...

Here are the three of us in the torture barracks

It was a very sobering and thought-provoking visit.

On a high note, we got to catch one of the high-speed double-decker trains back to Munich.

At Dachau train station

Here comes the train

Train Face

Now that we were frozen through and had only had our Maccas breakfast all day (about 1500 when we got back to Munich), we decided to enjoy some more delicious German fare. 

It has become a daily treat for me to warm up with a cup of the warm mulled spiced wine, so once we had grabbed one of these as well as some sugared almonds and cashews from a street vendor, we headed for a little restaurant near the station.

Well, as I was in Germany, my darling little brother 'encouraged' me to attempt a stein of beer with our meal....



...with quite hilarious results!  What does fahrt mean????  You have Einfahrt (entrance), Ausfahrt (autobahn exit) and all sorts of fahrts.  Personally, I'm a little suspicious of all the saurkraut they eat...just saying.

As I was just a little unsteady when we were leaving the restaurant, I asked Rachel to take some photos for me.  I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I think she didn't want any assistance with operating my camera, and without thinking, I called her a camera nazi (re soup nazi)...rather loudly.  Some older gentlemen turned and stared at us, I just kept going out the door.  Oops.... Talk about forgetting where you are....

The kids really enjoyed their meals as well.

We headed back to Goetteldorf, and had a marvellous 80s style music-fest the entire way....air guitar, anyone????

Well, we are just about to head out to Nuremburg to visit the Christmas Markets there and check out the Nazi Rally Ground and maybe the toy museum there.

Have fun.....