Everything about Dachau Concentration Camp totally explained
Dachau was a
Nazi German concentration camp, and the first one opened in Germany, located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions
factory near the medieval town of
Dachau, about 16 km (10 miles) northwest of
Munich in the state of
Bavaria which is located in southern Germany.
Opened in March 1933, it was the first regular concentration camp established by the coalition government of National Socialist (Nazi) NSDAP party and the Catholic
Zentrum party (dissolved on
6 July 1933).
Heinrich Himmler, Chief of Police of Munich, officially described the camp as "the first concentration camp for
political prisoners."
Dachau served as a
prototype and model for the other
Nazi concentration camps that followed. Its basic organization, camp layout as well as the plan for the buildings were developed by
Kommandant Theodor Eicke and were applied to all later camps. He had a separate secure camp near the command center, which consisted of living quarters, administration, and army camps. Eicke himself became the chief inspector for all concentration camps, responsible for molding the others according to his model.
In total, over 200,000 prisoners from more than 30 countries were housed in Dachau of whom two-thirds were
political prisoners and nearly one-third were
Jews. 25,613 prisoners are believed to have died in the camp and almost another 10,000 in its subcamps, primarily from
disease,
malnutrition and
suicide. In early 1945, there was a
typhus epidemic in the camp followed by an evacuation, in which large numbers of the weaker prisoners died.
Together with the much larger
Auschwitz, Dachau has come to symbolize the Nazi concentration camps to many people. Konzentrationslager (KZ) Dachau holds a significant place in public memory because it was the second camp to be liberated by
British or
American forces. Therefore, it was one of the first places where the
West was exposed to the reality of
Nazi brutality through firsthand
journalist accounts and through
newsreels.
Organization
In early 1937, the SS, using prisoner labor, initiated construction of a large complex of buildings on the grounds of the original camp. Prisoners were forced to do this work, starting with the destruction of the old munitions factory, under terrible conditions. The construction was officially completed in mid-August 1938 and the camp remained essentially unchanged and in operation until 1945. Dachau thus was the longest running concentration camp of the Third Reich. The area in Dachau included other SS facilities beside the concentration camp—a leader school of the economic and civil service, the medical school of the SS, etc. The KZ at that time was called a "protective custody camp," and occupied less than half of the area of the entire complex.
Dachau also served as the central camp for
Christian religious prisoners. According to records of the
Roman Catholic Church, at least 3,000
religious,
deacons,
priests, and
bishops were imprisoned there.
In August 1944 a women's camp opened inside Dachau. Its first shipment of women came from Auschwitz Birkenau. Only 19
women guards served at Dachau, most of them until liberation.
In the last months of the war, the conditions at Dachau became even worse. As Allied forces advanced toward Germany, the Germans began to move prisoners in concentration camps near the front to more centrally located camps. They hoped to prevent the liberation of large numbers of prisoners. Transports from the evacuated camps arrived continuously at Dachau. After days of travel with little or no food or water, the prisoners arrived weak and exhausted, often near death. Typhus epidemics became a serious problem as a result of overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions, insufficient provisions, and the weakened state of the prisoners.
Owing to continual new transportations from the front, the camp was constantly overcrowded and the hygiene conditions were beneath human dignity. Starting from the end of 1944 up to the day of liberation, 15,000 people died, about half of all victims in KZ Dachau. Five hundred Soviet POWs were executed by firing squad.
On
27 April 1945 Victor Maurer, delegate of the International Committee of the
Red Cross, was allowed to enter camps and distribute food. In the evening of the same day a prisoner transport arrived from
Buchenwald. Only 800 survivors were brought from the original 4,480 to 4,800 prisoners in transit. Over 2,300 corpses were left lying in and around the train. The last regular commander of the KZ,
Obersturmbannführer Eduard Weiter, had fled on 26 April. He probably followed Obersturmbannführer
Martin Gottfried Weiss, who had led the camp from September 1942 until November 1943.
On
28 April 1945, the day before the surrender, Camp Commandant Martin Gottfried Weiss had left the Dachau camp, along with most of the regular guards and administrators in the camp. On that same day, Victor Maurer, a representative of the Red Cross, had tried to persuade
Untersturmführer Johannes Otto, the adjutant of Commandant Weiss, not to abandon the camp, but to leave guards posted to keep the prisoners inside until the Americans arrived. Maurer feared that the prisoners would escape
en masse and spread the active typhus fever epidemic. Lt. Otto declined to remain and fled.
Commanders
Liberation
On
29 April 1945 the watchtowers of the Dachau camp remained occupied and a white flag was hoisted. Red Cross representative Maurer persuaded SS-
Sturmscharführer Heinrich Wicker, an officer in the SS-Totenkopfverbände, to accompany him to the main gate of the complex to surrender the camp formally.
Late in the afternoon of
29 April 1945 KZ Dachau was surrendered to the American Army by SS-
Sturmscharführer Heinrich Wicker. A vivid description of the surrender appears in Brig. Gen. Henning Linden's official "Report on Surrender of Dachau Concentration Camp":
As we moved down along the west side of the concentration camp and approached the southwest corner, three people approached down the road under a flag of truce. We met these people about 75 yards north of the southwest entrance to the camp. These three people were a Swiss Red Cross representative and two SS troopers who said they were the camp commander and assistant camp commander and that they'd come into the camp on the night of the 28th to take over from the regular camp personnel for the purpose of turning the camp over to the advancing Americans. The Swiss Red Cross representative acted as interpreter and stated that there were about 100 SS guards in the camp who had their arms stacked except for the people in the tower. He said he'd given instructions that there would be no shots fired and it would take about 50 men to relieve the guards, as there were 42,000 half-crazed prisoners of war in the camp, many of them typhus infected. He asked if I were an officer of the American army, to which I replied, "Yes, I'm Assistant Division Commander of the 42d Division and will accept the surrender of the camp in the name of the Rainbow Division for the American army."
General
Dwight D. Eisenhower, issued a communique over the capture of Dachau concentration "Our forces liberated and mopped up the infamous concentration camp at Dachau. Approximately 32,000 prisoners were liberated; 300 SS camp guards were quickly neutralized."
A tablet at the camp commemorates the liberation of Dachau by the
42nd Infantry Division of the
U.S. Seventh Army on
29 April 1945. Other claim that the first forces to enter the main camp were a battalion of the 157th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Infantry Division commanded by
Felix L. Sparks. There is an on-going disagreement as to which division, the 42nd or the 45th, actually liberated Dachau because they seem to have approached by different routes and by the American Army's definition, anyone arriving at such a camp within 48 hours was a liberator. General Patton visited the Buchenwald camp after it was liberated, but not Dachau.
The Americans found approximately 32,000 prisoners, crammed 1,600 to each of 20 barracks, which had been designed to house 250 people each.
The American troops were so horrified by conditions at the camp that a few shot some of the camp guards after they'd surrendered in what is called the
Dachau massacre. The number massacred is disputed as some Germans were killed in combat, some were killed while attempting to surrender, and others were killed after their surrender was accepted. Felix L. Sparks, the commander of a battalion that captured the camp, has stated that "The total number of German guards killed at Dachau during that day most certainly not exceed fifty, with thirty probably being a more accurate figure. The regimental records [ofthe 57th Infantry Regiment] for that date indicate that over a thousand German prisoners were brought to the regimental collecting point. Since my task force was leading the regimental attack, almost all the prisoners were taken by the task force, including several hundred from Dachau". The "[AmericanArmy] Investigation of Alleged Mistreatment of German Guards at Dachau" found that about 15 Germans were killed (with another 4 or 5 wounded) after their surrender had been accepted. Two other reports collated years after the incident put the figure between 122 and 520 Germans killed after their surrender had been accepted.
As a result of the American Army investigation
court-martial charges were drawn up against Sparks and several other men under his command, but as
General Patton, the recently appointed military governor of Bavaria, chose to dismiss the charges so the witnesses to the massacre were never cross examined in court and no one was found guilty.
The memorial site
Between 1945 and 1948 when the camp was handed over to the Bavarian authorities, many accused war criminals and members of the SS were imprisoned at the camp. After this period, due to a severe housing shortage and the arrival of many thousands of refugees from Eastern Germany, the camp was used as temporary housing until the 1950s. During this time, former prisoners banded together to erect a
memorial on the site of the camp, finding it unbelievable that there were still people (refugees) living in the former camp.
The display, which was reworked in 2003, takes the visitor through the path of new arrivals to the camp. Special presentations of some of the notable prisoners are also provided. Two of the
barracks have been rebuilt and one shows a cross-section of the entire history of the camp, since the original barracks had to be torn down due to their poor condition when the memorial was built. The other 28 barracks are indicated by concrete foundations.
The memorial includes four chapels for the various religions represented among the prisoners.
The local government resisted designating the complete site a memorial. The former SS barracks adjacent to the camp are now occupied by the Bavarian
Bereitschaftspolizei (rapid response police unit).
Notable prisoners of Dachau
Jewish political prisoners
Bruno Bettelheim, imprisoned in 1938, freed in 1939; left Germany
David Ludwig Bloch, painter, arrested in November 1938 in connection with Kristallnacht
Jakob Ehrlich, Member of Vienna's City Council (Rat der Stadt Wien), died in Dachau 17 May 1938.
Viktor Frankl, neurologist and psychiatrist from Vienna, Austria
Alfred Gruenebaum, father of the prominent US obstetrician Amos Grunebaum
Hans Litten anti-Nazi lawyer, died in 1938 by apparent suicide.
Aaron Miller, rabbi, chazzan, mohel
Benzion Miller, born at the camp, son of Aaron*
Moshe Sanbar, Governor of the Bank of Israel
Vladek Spiegelman, a survivor whose story was portrayed in the book Maus by Art Spiegelman
The mother and father of Rush frontman Geddy Lee.
Resistance fighters
Arthur Haulot
Franc Karo, partisan
Georg Elser, who tried to assassinate Hitler in 1939, murdered April 9 1945
Georges Charpak, who in 1992 received the Nobel Prize in Physics
Kurt Nehrling, murdered in 1943
Noor Inayat Khan, the George's Cross awardee of Indian origin who served as a clandestine radio operator for the Special Operations Executive in Paris, murdered 13 September 1944 when she and her SOE colleagues were shot in the back of the head and cremated.
Yolande Beekman, Special Operations Executive Agent, murdered 13 September 1944
Madeleine Damerment, Special Operations Executive Agent, murdered 13 September 1944
Eliane Plewman, Special Operations Executive Agent, murdered 13 September 1944
Clergymen
Dachau had a special "priest block." Of the 2720 priests (among them 2579 Catholic) held in Dachau, 1034 didn't survive the camp. The majority were Polish (1780), of whom 868 died in Dachau.
a number of the 108 Martyrs of World War Two:
Hilary Paweł Januszewski
Adam Kozlowiecki, Polish Cardinal.
Lawrence Wnuk
Blessed Michał Kozal
Aloys Scholze, died 1 September 1942.
Anton Fränznick, in Dachau since 1942, died 27 January 1944.
Blessed Stefan Grelewski, Catholic priest, prisoner No. 25281, starved to death in Dachau on 9 May 1941.
Blessed Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski Catholic priest, died 23 February 1945.
Hermann Scheipers
Hermanus Knoop, Pastor of the Reformed (Gereformeerd) Church of Rotterdam-Delfshaven, arrested 19 November 1941 for praying for "bringing politics to the pulpit"
Joseph Kentenich, founder of the Schoenstatt Movement, spent three and a half years in Dachau.
Blessed Karl Leisner, in Dachau since 14 December 1941, freed 4 May 1945, but died on 12 August from the tuberculosis contracted in the camp.
Martin Niemöller, imprisoned in 1941, freed 4 May 1945.
Nanne Zwiep, Pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church in Enschede, spoke out from the pulpit against Nazis and their treatment of Dutch Citizens and anti-semitism, arrested 20 April 1942, died in Dachau of exhaustion and malnutrition 24 November 1942.
Norbert Čapek (1870-1942) founder of the Unitarian Church in the Czech Republic.
Richard Schneider, in Dachau since 22 November 1940, freed 29 March 1945
Blessed Titus Brandsma, Dutch Carmelite priest and professor of philosophy, died 26 July 1942.
Father Jean Bernard (1907-1994), Catholic priest from Luxembourg who was imprisoned from May 1941 to August 1942. Father Bernard wrote the compelling book "Pfarrerblock 25487" about his experiences in Dachau. The movie "The Ninth Day" directed by Volker Schlöndorff is based on his diary. "Pfarrerblock 25487" was recently translated into English by Deborah Lucas Schneider. The English-language translation is entitled "Priestblock 25487: A Memoir of Dachau" (ISBN 978-0972598170) and was released in 2007. It is published by Zaccheus Press. It features a Foreword by Archbishop O'Malley of Boston, and an Introduction by Robert Royal.
Nikolai Velimirović (1880-1956), Serbian bishop and an influential theological writer, On 14 December 1944 he was sent to Dachau, together with Serbian Patriarch Gavrilo.
Politicians
Alois Hundhammer, arrested 21 June 1933, freed 6 July 1933
Hjalmar Schacht, arrested 1944, released April 1945
Jan Buzek, murdered in November 1940
Kurt Schuschnigg, the last fascist chancellor of Austria before the Austrian Nazi Party was installed by Hitler, shortly before the Anschluss.
Kurt Schumacher, in Dachau since July 1935, sent to Flossenbürg concentration camp in 1939, returned to Dachau in 1940, released due to extreme illness 16 March 1943
Leopold Figl, arrested 1938, released 8 May 1943
Stefan Starzyński, the President of Warsaw, probably murdered in Dachau in 1943
Communists
Alfred Andersch, held 6 months in 1933
Hans Beimler, imprisoned but escaped. Died in the Spanish Civil War.
Emil Carlebach (Jewish), in Dachau since 1937, sent to Buchenwald concentration camp in 1938
Adolf Maislinger
Nikolaos Zachariadis (Greek), from November 1941 to May 1945
Oskar Müller, in Dachau from 1939, freed 1945
Nando Gherghetta (Italian-Istrian), from 1943
Alfred Haag, In Dachau from 1935 to 1939, when moved to Mauthausen
Writers
Fritz Gerlich
Gustaw Morcinek, Polish Silesian writer
Heinrich Eduard Jacob, German writer, in Dachau 6 months in 1938, transferred to Buchenwald
Jura Soyfer, writer, in Dachau 6 months in 1938, transferred to Buchenwald
Raoul Auernheimer, writer, in Dachau 4 months
Stanisław Grzesiuk, Polish writer, poet and singer, Varsavianist, in Dachau since 4 April 1940, later transferred to Mauthausen-Gusen complex
Stefan Kieniewicz, Polish historian
Stevo Žigon (number: 61185), Serbian actor, theatre director, and writer, in Dachau from December 1943 to May 1945
Tadeusz Borowski, writer, survived, but committed suicide in 1951
Franz Roh, German art critic and art historian, for a few months in 1933
Robert Antelme, French writer
Boris Pahor, Slovenian writer
Fran Albreht, Slovenian poet
Viktor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist and writer
Juš Kozak, Slovenian playwright
Royalty
Antonia, Crown Princess of Bavaria
Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria
Franz, Duke of Bavaria
Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria
Franz Wittelsbach, Prinz von Bayern
Maximilian, Duke of Hohenberg
Prince Ernst von Hohenberg
Princess Sophie of Hohenberg
Others
Bogislaw von Bonin, Wehrmacht officer, opponent
Franz Halder, former Chief of Army General Staff
Fritz Thyssen, businessman and early supporter of Hitler, later an opponent
Charles Delestraint, French General and leader of French resistance. Executed by Gestapo in 1945.
Elly Gotz, Lithuanian born engineer and executive, now living in Canada doing public speaking to raise awareness about modern day genocides happening in places such as Darfur.
Zoran Mušič, Slovenian painter.
Boris Kobe, Slovenian architect
Božo Pengov, Slovenian sculptor
Stevo Žigon, a famous Serbian actor, theatre director, and writer. His prisoner number was 61185.
Gallery
Image:Dachau_Memorial_Multi_Language_Two.jpg|Memorial to the victims of Dachau (October 2007)
Image:New_crem.jpg|New crematorium (October 2007)
Image:Old_crem.jpg|Original crematorium used by the Nazis (October 2007)
Image:16JUN2005_Munich_054.jpg|Protestant Church of Reconciliation (June 2005)
Image:16JUN2005_Munich_053.jpg|Catholic Mortal Agony of Christ chapel (June 2005)
Image:16JUN2005_Munich_064.jpg|Jewish Memorial (June 2005)
Image:16JUN2005_Munich_044.jpg|Tower (June 2005)
Image:16JUN2005_Munich_079.jpg|Marker where barracks building #9 stood (June 2005)
Image:16JUN2005_Munich_089.jpg|View of roll-call area from one of the buildings (June 2005)
Image:16JUN2005_Munich_120.jpg|Prisoner bunks (June 2005)
Image:16JUN2005_Munich_122.jpg|Prisoner bunks (June 2005)
Image:16JUN2005_Munich_126.jpg|Prisoner sinks (June 2005)
Image:16JUN2005_Munich_128.jpg|Prisoner bathroom (June 2005)
Image:KZ_Dachau_-_The_Bunker.jpg|The entrance and the northern part of the bunker (September 2007)
Image:KZ Dachau - Inside the Bunker.jpg|The hallway inside the bunker (September 2007)
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