Dachau Memorial

Shortly after Hitler’s assumption of power in 1933, a concentration camp was established in Dachau by Heinrich Himmler to dispose of the regime’s political opponents. From this sinister beginning, Dachau developed into a massive prison of 124 subcamps for over 200,000 victims of every nationality and type targeted by the Nazis. Because Dachau Germany’s first camp, it was to become a training ground for implementing the genocide of Europe’s Jews and the murder and torture of so many others deemed racially unfit or identified as enemies of the Reich. In the company of a sensitive and informed historian, you spend three hours at Dachau exploring the memorial site while also learning of the social and political contexts for the rise of National Socialism and the so-called Final Solution. We take in the exhibition center and former compound, the reconstructed barracks, guard houses, cells, crematorium, and administration headquarters, giving ourselves time to reflect on those who passed through Dachau’s Arbeit Macht Frei (Work Sets You Free) gate, including German dissidents, Jews and citizens from nations all over Europe, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, Romany, and thousands of Polish citizens. On the 29th of April 1945, US soldiers liberated Dachau and brought freedom to 30,000 inmates. On this tour, we emphasize stories of individuals (from heinous criminals to desperate victims, defiant heroes, and determined survivors). While the journey to Dachau is inevitably difficult, it always feels important to bear witness and insist on the necessity of historical memory.