Wandering Observations

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Dachau

I had a wonderful day in Barcelona, and I'm appropriately weary from walking half way across the city. I prefer walking to taking the metro... it gives you a much better idea of the city layout and character. Today I visited all the Gaudi sites and spent the evening watching traditional dancing in the square (pictures and video to come). I was contemplating going to a bullfight, although my conscience was nagging me. When I got to the arena, it was very expensive, and there were dozens of protesters. One nice woman came and politely talked me out of it (I didn't need much convincing, and six people killing a bull isn't really entertaining). It turns out 90% of people in Spain are against bullfighting, and it's almost died out. Tourists are really the only reason it stays in business, and many don't really know what they are getting in for when they buy a ticket. Anyway, that's a bit of a tangent. Tomorrow I'm heading to Andorra and I can't wait. Carole and I agree that tiny, obsure countries are the most fun.

These pictures from Munich are a bit on the serious side. I felt it was really important for me to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp while I was in Germany. Obviously I can't explain everything about the camp or what I saw (you can read a summary on wikipedia, though). I booked a long tour when I got there, which was led by a former highschool history teacher from the States. He explained everything in an engaging way, and I was glad I took the time to really understand. This is the gate that everyone entered, translated "Freedom through Work"

One original building on the site, the bunker, contained small cells were "special" prisoners were kept (people they needed to keep alive for political reasons or for information). Some of them experienced up to eight solitary months in total darkness, with food only on every fourth day. One end was full of priests and spiritual leaders, and they were sometimes allowed to hold services with this makeshift alter.

The bunker.

In the regular barracks, the men were housed in crowded and filthy conditions. This, along with lack of food and a brutal work load led to over 25,000 deaths. The camp was built to house 6,000 prisoners, but at liberation it was holding 32,000 men. In a barrack designed for 250, there were 1,600.

There was also a gas chamber on site (labled with the German for "shower room") Dachau was offically a "protective custody camp" and not an extermination camp like Auschwitz, so it wasn't in regular use. But Dachua was the first concentration camp and served as a prototype and training ground for all the other camps.