To honor the dead and warn the living.

"Dachau - the significance of this name will never be erased from German history. It stands for all concentration camps which the Nazis established in their territory."  -Eugen Kogon

Friday, our last day of Semana Santa, was spent at the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial.  I will never forget my visit and am so glad that I was able to see this memorial. 

To honor the dead and warn the living.

Dachau was open from 1933-1945 (12 years) making it the longest functioning concentration camp.  It was the first major concentration camp and also a model for all of the rest.  This sight was chosen because it was close to Munich, the birthplace of the Nazi party, in a city that was very badly effected by the post-war economy in Germany.  Most residents of the city of Dachau were employed at a large ammunition factory, and when the Treaty of Versailles was signed, many citizens lost their jobs and the ammunition factory was no longer making ammunition.  This old ammunition factory was then chosen as the sight for the concentration camp.  This was also the sight of the SS training camp.  Because the SS training camp was located right next to the concentration camp, Dachau was especially awful because new SS Guards would be extremely violent towards prisoners in order to assert themselves as "capable" officers.  Every officer of the SS started their training at Dachau.

Starting in the 1960's, the old concentration camp turned into a memorial.  The SS training buildings are now used by Bavarian police in order to prevent neo-nazis from turning this space into a place of worship.  Though there were many chilling and disgusting aspects of this camp, the most memorable for me was the building that the SS used for torture.  The building was freezing cold and completely dismal.  It was really hard to imagine the horrible acts that had taken place there.  (I am going to spare you the details, even though our tour guide was very specific in describing the disgusting and inhumane acts that took place at this site.)  Dachau also has the last original gas chamber in Germany which I walked through very quickly because it was one of the most eerie places that I have ever stood.  We also walked through a recreation of the barracks.  The original had to be torn down because after their twelve years of use they were in terrible shape.  The recreation showed the changes that took place in the living arrangements as time progressed.  At first, each man had his own bed and about 50 men slept in one room.  Towards the end of the war, up to 500 men were sleeping in one room.  That's 2,000 men living in one building.

Today there are many memorials that honor the 200,000 people that were imprisoned there and 41,500 that were murdered.  The original gate remains, which is always open in order to demonstrate that this is no longer a prison.  

"Work will set you free."

After our day at Dachau we got some gelato to cheer ourselves up and headed to the airport to return home to Madrid.  Our flight was early the next morning, so we had a sleepover at McDonald's before we "slept" on some lovely benches.  

On Easter I had a great afternoon because I was able to Skype with my family while they conducted the Easter egg hunt.  Per usual, Carolyn found the most eggs.  Even though I was feeling a little homesick on Easter, I am really excited to spend my last couple weeks in Madrid!  There is still so much fun to be had.  Tomorrow I have a trip with my Art History professor to the Prado and we are going to her favorite spot for tapas and pinchos after our visit to the museum.  Wednesday is Anna's birthday, Thursday is Liz's flamenco performance, and Friday is Anna's birthday dinner with Gabby and Ro.  Not to mention that Grandma and Ralph will be here this weekend too!  It feels great to be home with Gabby and Ro and this is my last week of classes!  I can't believe how quickly this semester has passed.