Yesterday we arrived in Munich. We took the night train from Florence to Munich...we got on the train at 9:30PM and arrived at about 7AM. We were on a sleeper car which consists of little rooms each with 6 beds (this is how it is for 2nd class anyways). 3 bunks on top of each other on either side. It wasn't too bad though b/c we slept the entire way...made the journey go by really fast! So yesterday we spent the day walking around Munich. We had lunch at a traditional German restaurant.
Today we went to Dachau Concentration Camp. As you can imagine it was very, very sad. I was able to learn a lot from the tour we took and from the sites themselves. Dachau was actually the first Nazi concentration camp. It was opened in March 1933, only 3 months after the National-Socialist Party and Hitler came into power (also 6 years before the way even began). It is very significant because it also served as the model for all other concentration camps. Much of the land at Dachau was actually reserved as training grounds for places like Auschwitz and other mass extermination camps. Dachau was also the very last concentration camp to be liberated in 1945, making it the longest running Nazi concentration camp. I was kind of surprised that they allowed pictures throughout the camp, but our tour guide said that the survivors of the camp have always wanted the world to know and see what they went through in order to prevent something like this from ever happening again. So, here are some pictures of what we saw...
This is the entrance gate to the camp. This was the only entrance to the Dachau so all prisoners would have entered here. The sign on this gate means "Freedom through labor." Through the gate to the left is the registration area. This is where all prisoners would go upon entrance to get their numbers, uniforms, and be categorized. Their heads were also shaved and they were disinfected here.
This is a memorial that was built in 1963. Surrounding the perimeter of Dachau was an electrical fence with 7 guard towers. The fence would kill one immediately if touched. The guards were trained to shoot to kill...they were not allowed to shoot warning shots and would be punished if they did. This eliminated attempts to escape...there are no recorded escapes from Dachau.
This is a picture of a barracks. Each room was meant for 50 people. However, when the Nazi Party started invading more and more countries in the late 1930's and 1940's more prisoners were sent here and up to 400 people would be assigned to one of these rooms! The camp was built for 6,000 people total...in 1945 when U.S. soldiers liberated Dachau 30,000 prisoners and even more bodies were found here.
This is the entrance to a gas chamber. The entire process is very systematic, basically an assembly line. The prisoners were told that they were going to take showers. This was good news for many prisoners who had not showered in months and sometimes years. They were brought into the crematorium building and first told to take of their clothes in the waiting room (everything could be reused for incoming prisoners). From there they were then sent into the gas chamber. You can actually see above the gas chamber door it says "Bathhouse" in German. At this point prisoners still thought they were actually going to shower. After being killed in this gas chamber their bodies were brought to the crematorium.
Finally, this picture is the actual crematorium. It was very hard to stand in this room. What happened here is unimaginable.
George and Angele's Mom, Elizabeth, in the rain!!
Watching one of the chocolate demonstrations...
This is a video of a German men's choir that was singing in the village near the vineyard...
In one of the main squares...you can see the festival in the background...
Look at all of the Bratwursts....
Headed toward our boat tour...there are bridges everywhere in Stockholm b/c of all the islands!
Leaving the Lock (between the lake and the Baltic)...
More boats!
