Germany: June 17

Today we went into Munich to visit Dachau.  It was a very sobering experience indeed.  It is just unfathomable how many people suffered, and how much they suffered.  It makes my heart hurt.  Dachau was mostly a work camp, not an extermination camp.  But, they still had exterminations as you can see by the pictures.  The thing I found really interesting was that after the camp was liberated, a lot of the people stayed and lived there for a few years because they had no where else to go.  The camp was the first Nazi camp opened in Germany in 1933 By Himmler.  It was liberated by the Americans in 1945.

 The bunks have been rebuilt to show what it would have looked like.

 Original toilets.

 Where the original cell blocks were.  Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the Jewish memorial!  This is the only picture I have of it, and you can hardly see it.  It's back in the top left corner of this picture.  It kind of looks like a slanted brown roof.  That's the Jewish memorial. 

 This is one of the religious memorials at the camp that was built after the liberation.  The two pictures below are the Catholic memorials.  The first memorial doesn't have a cross on top, but more of a crown of thorns, like Jesus wore.

 This is a bell that is rung every day at 2:50 p.m. each day to commemorate the exact time that the Dachau camp was surrendered to the 42nd Rainbow Division of the U.S. Seventh Army.

 This is the Protestant memorial. 

And the Russian Orthodox memorial

 Then we went into the crematorium.

 The "shower" rooms.

 The entrance gate.  It says "work will make you free." 

 The day of liberation.  I can't imagine the emotions those men must have felt!