Dachau Concentration Camp

We visited the Dachau Concentration Camp just 12 miles north of Munich. It was the first Nazi concentration camp and was the prototype for all the other ones in Germany. We learned at the memorial site that the camp was opened in March 1933 by the Nazi Party. It was originally built to punish political prisoners.

Dachau was in operation for twelve years as a concentration camp and recorded over 200,000 prisoners and about 31,000 deaths. Dachau was the second camp to be liberated by American forces and British forces.

We walked through the courtyard between the prison and the central kitchen. The courtyard was used for executions. The compound was surrounded by an electrified barbed-wire gate, a ditch and several guard towers. Two of the 32 barracks are still standing on the memorial site.