Dachau - Arbeit Macht Frei

I awoke this morning to a chilly morning shadowed by angry clouds, threatening to drown the day. Seemed appropriate, since I was heading to the Dachau Concentration Camp. I headed to the Hauptbanhoff and boarded to S - Bahn 2 headed for Dachau. I stepped off the train and caught the next bus to the memorial site. I met a couple of girls from my hostel on the bus, and chatted with them on the way. As the bus slowed to a stop at the entrance, I looked out the window and couldn't help but notice the how harmless it looked. It was deceptively serene. So we got off the bus, stepped firmly onto the gravel path, and headed to the information container. There was a tour in English at 12 pm, so we agreed to go together. I bought a ticket, as well as a book on the Concentration Camp. Then I headed over to the museum. But first, I had to walk through the main gates of the camp. As I rounded the corner, I saw the building which houses the one and only gate into the camp. As I got closer, the words "Arbeit Macht Frei" became clear in horrendous black iron lettering. As I stepped through the gate, just as hundreds of thousands of victims of the Nazi Final Solution had, tears stung my eyes. I stepped through the gate, knowing the fear and pain, and was overwhelmed by the enormity of the place, both physically and emotionally. I slowly made my way to the museum, attempting to grasp the assault on my mind, body, and soul. I stepped into the museum, which was the former administration and maintainance buildings. Almost everything at Dachau is orginal. People lived and died there under horrifying conditions. Every step I took had been taken before. Everything I touched had been touched by homocidal madmen and their victims alike. Tears fell from my cheeks as I made my way through the history of hatred and evil. Of pain and torture and relilence and heroism. Kindness and compassionate even in the deepest shadow of the darkness of man.

Quietly, I stood at the entrance of the museum and waited as people started to mill about. The guide came along promptly. She was a german volunteer who had been doing the tours for years. In Germany, learning about the Holocaust is an important part of their education, and everyone is required to visit at least 1 of the major camps at least once and report on the experience. Many go to Dachau because it is the first major camp, and the one that set the standard for all the rest. The system of identification and mass murder was created and implemented at Dachau.

The tour began outside the main gate. The gravel walkway is the same pth that the prisoners were forced to walk as they were brought into the camp. She explained the role of Dachau and how it began. She also gave the history of how the village of Dachau was kept in the dark about what was really going on. Of course, near the end with liberation rapidly approaching, they were killing people as quickly as possible and the on site crematorium was not sufficient. So, they burned bodies day and night, and still had to create several mass graves in the surrounding area. After the detailed depiction, we all headed back through the gate and soberly made our way to the camp prison, the most feared building in the camp. This was where some of the most horrific torture took place. It was also where all of the priests were placed. They were forced into tiny cells, or worse, the standing cells. They were beaten, tortured, and often were brutally murdered. Sometimes, the guards simply gave the prisoner a length of rope and left them to kill themselves. If a guard was particularly blood thirsty, then they would tie their hands behind their back, then hang them from a pole for at least an hour. This dislocated the prisoners shoulders and, because they were worth nothing at all if they could not work, they were shot in the back of the neck only after the guards had had their fill. They were shot in the back of the neck because people survive being shot in the head, but not when their cv spine has been severed. Quite a few people, men and women, were crying at this point. I was worried about taking a tour, but my concerns were unwarranted. Everyone was respectful.

After she finished speaking, we went into the camp prison and saw the cells. It was overwhelming. I walked the length of the block, including the priests cells. And exited the other side. As the tour continued, it began to rain lightly. I looked up at the dark sky with a heavy heart. They say that if it rains the day you die that the earth is weeping the loss. As the rain mixed with my tears, it seemed right that it was raining. I didn't bother to put on my rain gear. I simply walked on.

The tour took us into the main barracks, where the prisoners were housed. This is one of only a few reconstructed buildings in the memorial, but the effect was the same. We made our way through the cramped darkened rooms and back out into the afternoon. As we looked down the wide gravel pathway, there were long "boxes" that seemed to go on forever. These were the foundations for all of the living quarters. Oh my god. To think of all those innocent lives. ... and at the end of the path stood large memorials to the various victims of the Third Reich. We walked towards these, and consequently, towards the crematorium and the gas chambers.

After about 10 minutes of a gut wrentching stroll through the dark history, we arrived at a small stream. There was barb wire all around and a small bridge to cross. I had walked into the most horrific part of the memorial. I had arrived at the crematorium and the gas chambers. This entire area was completely original and remained largely unchanged. As I stepped across the threshold, a chill went up my spine. I had stepped into the "Waiting Area." This was where prisoners were to wait for the "showers," which was really the gas chamber. The next room was the "Shower Room." Oh my god. With tears streaming down my face, I looked around the small room in horror. All the original fixtures were still in place. I stepped into the next room, which was the 1st "morgue," where they dragged the bodies after gassing them. It was a dead space. In the middle of the building was the crematorium with 5-6 ovens. They were run day and night in an attempt to keep up with the mounting bodies of their victims. They even forced other prisoners to run the ovens. Then, after approximately 3 months, those prisoners were murdered and replaced with new ones. After walking through the rest of the building, I stepped back out into the dreary May afternoon. There was a slight chill in the air, and I shivered as disgust and horror washed over me. This was the end of the tour, just as the Crematorium and Gas Chambers had been the end for countless innocent people. I milled around the memorials for a few moments, trying to absorb all that I had seen and heard during the previous 3 hours. I caught up with Krista and Tania, and we headed back to the museum for the documentary showing. It was an intense 30 minute show which focused on the Dachau installation and ultimate liberation. Fuck. After the film, we headed back towards the bus. I stepped back through the infamous gate and looked back over the camp. How many people entered this gate, but never came out? I slowly closed the gate and pensively made my way to the bus stop.

I must say that there are no words capable of describing a visit to a Concentration Camp Memorial site. No amount of pictures, films, or books can even remotely prepare you for actually being there. To know that people were tortured, humiliated, and murdered in the most horrific ways right where you stand is overwhelming. It becomes very real and undeniable. What if it had been me, or you? If I had been alive and in Germany during the rise of the Third Reich, I certainly would have been sent to a camp. Many of my friends would have been. Not for being Jewish, but for being an "A-Social," for refusing to bow to the twisted demands of the Nazi regime, or for being homosexuial. For one reason or another, most everyone I know would have found themselves behind a gate facing the words " Arbeit Macht Frei" - Work will set you free.