DACHAU CONCENTRATION CAMP HOLOCAUST MUSEUM
These Ovens Aren't for Baking
I recently heard a discussion if one could put it that way - about the reality of the Holocaust. It only takes a visit to an actual camp for the impact of it to hit and bring the reality home. A trip to the boisterous
song-filled beer halls of the Octoberfest-famous southern Germany state
of Bavaria now seems incomplete without a stop at the semi-preserved
concentration camp at Dachau, one of the first discovered by Allied
Forces at the end of WWII. Dachau is an historic small town now a suburb of the Bavarian
capital city (see Hitler’s
Munich Walking Tours) with its own palace
and a very nice old section, but now mostly known for its dark tourist
attraction and its ashen memories.
Most
of the camp is empty ground with the foundations of former barracks
laid out
on barren earth, surrounded by a pitted and rusted concrete
and barbed wire fence and guard towers. The main building of the
camp which housed the German camp soldiers remains as an original
and
has
been
turned into a Holocaust Museum, with
photographs and the dark story properly told to German schoolchildren
who are dutifully bussed out on field trips for a dose of historical
hard medicine. But the most striking building remaining
is the intact crematorium and “bathhouse”. More bone-chilling
than any horror film is to step into the shower room and look up to
the
metal
outlets in the tile ceiling, a few inches over your head, installed
for Cyclon-B gas. Although placards tell that the gas was never used there,
only
in the death camps elswhere. Dachau was used mostly to house political prisoners, as the Jewish inmates were shipped off to extermination camps. Still, Iwouldn't want to be inside
when they closed the sealed metal doors. Fortunately today, we
are able
to walk out the door on the other side to pass by the ovens of
the crematorium. The experience is properly unforgettable.
Visiting Dachau Holocaust Museum
The
Dachau Concentration Camp is about a 20 minute drive
from the center of Munich. You can take the S2 S-Bahn train
to Dachau Main rail station and a ten minute walk to the camp following
the signs or take the local bus for the short ride. Bus excursion
tours are available in Munich from Grayline tours and other
operators.
The Palaces of Schleissheim (see Schleissheim
Palace and Gardens)
are nearby as well
as the air history museum (see Schleissheim
Aircraft Museum) and the Dachau Palace (see Schloss
Dachau Palace and Garden)
located in the old town of Dachau. © Bargain
Travel Europe
Best vacation deals compare prices in Bavaria at TripAdvisor
Web Info
Dachau
Camp History
These articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel Europe and WLPV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted without permission.
SEE ALSO:
HITLER'S
EAGLES NEST IN BERCHTESGADEN
POLYNESIAN
MUNICH - TRADER VICS
FOOTSTEPS
OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM
AUTOBAHN
160-0
OBSERVATION TOWERS
MEMORIAL TO MURDERED JEWS - BERLIN
