Dachau
Concentration Camp
In March 1933 the
Nazi government established its first official concentration camp (KZ-Lager) at Dachau, a
town just northwest of Munich. The camp was established for political prisoners,
and during its early operations, many prisoners served a specific time and were
then released (in contrast to later concentration camps, from which few were
released by the Nazis). Dachau was not an extermination or death camp such as Auschwitz,
and the number of Jews interned in Dachau was actually rather small, compared to
the numbers of political prisoners, prisoners of war,
and detainees from all over Europe who were sent to Dachau. It is estimated that some 35,000-43,000
prisoners died at Dachau and its numerous subcamps (the number for the main
Dachau camp itself was some 31,000; check the Dachau
Memorial webpage for revisions). Dachau was liberated by the
U.S. Army (elements of the 45th and 42nd Infantry Divisions) on 29 April 1945.
Unfortunately, numerous SS camp guards and Waffen-SS soldiers who had
surrendered were shot by American soldiers and some were killed by liberated
camp inmates. (See the links at the bottom of this page for further info
about this.)
The Dachau site
included not only the concentration camp barracks and areas for prisoners (which were enlarged
in 1937), but also an SS Kaserne and training complex, buildings of a World War
I munitions factory, the so-called "plantation," and other nearby
sites. Although many of these other buildings still remain today, they are not
included in the present Dachau Memorial site. (Google
Maps link to entry)

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My
father, U.S. Army Air Forces Lt. Delbert R. Walden, visited the Dachau
concentration camp in 1945-46, while he was stationed in the Munich area.
When these photos were taken, Dachau was being used by the U.S. Third Army
to detain Nazi prisoners. Dachau was the scene of war crimes trials
against those members of the camp administration and guard force who had
been captured by the Allies, and later for the notorious "Malmedy
Massacre" trial of 1st SS Panzer Division members. The cylindrical
structure in the photo above was a "Moll System"
concrete bunker (used as guard positions at Dachau). The buildings shown
here were in the SS Kaserne part of the site, which is now used by the
Bavarian Police (closed to the public). (G.R. and G.A. Walden
collection; modern photo appears courtesy of the Bayerische
Bereitschaftspolizei Abteilung VI. Dachau) |
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This
gate led into the Appellplatz, or roll call site, of the prisoner
compound. The view on the left was taken on 3 May 1945 from the top of the
Jourhaus gate building. The building on the right, which served as a
kitchen, laundry, and shower building, now houses the Dachau museum. The
original prisoner barracks were all torn down after the war, but some have
been rebuilt as part of the memorial site (below). (U.S. National Archives) |

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At one end of the Appelplatz was
the largest building of the Dachau camp, often called the Maintenance
Building today, which housed kitchen, laundry, and shower facilities, and
is now the Dachau museum. The slogan on the roof (which also appeared on
the roof of the kitchen building in the Auschwitz
main camp) was "Es gibt einen Weg zur Freiheit. Seine Meilensteine
heißen: Gehorsam, Ehrlichkeit, Sauberkeit, Nüchternheit, Fleiß, Ordnung,
Opfersinn, Wahrhaftigkeit, Liebe zum Vaterland" - "There is one
path to freedom. Its milestones are obedience, honesty, cleanliness,
sobriety, hard work, discipline, sacrifice, truthfulness, love of the
fatherland." (Dachau-Archiv) |

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The original Dachau crematorium
was a small Fachwerk (half-timbered) building with only one
2-chamber oven. My father took a picture of it in 1946 (above left), and it has
been preserved as part of the memorial (the modern photo shows the other
side of the building because the side that my father photographed is
covered by vegetation today). (G.R. and G.A. Walden) |
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A larger crematorium was built in
1943, and has also been preserved. In the photo on the left below, U.S.
Army soldiers are examining a stack of bodies found outside the
crematorium during the libration of the camp. (U.S. Army photos) |
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Dachau crematorium ovens as seen
shortly after the liberation of the camp by the U.S. 42nd and 45th
Infantry Divisions, on 29 April 1945, and the same view today. (Dachau-Archiv) |

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The new
crematorium complex included a series of disinfecting chambers. In 1945 it
was assumed that these were gas chambers, but there is no evidence that prisoners
were gassed here. Although the chambers did use poison gas, their purpose
was to disinfect and delouse prisoners' clothing. (U.S. Army
photos) |
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There was
a gas chamber at Dachau (inside the new crematorium), and it may have been tested on prisoners, but
there was no large-scale murder of prisoners there, as Dachau was not a
death camp. (Most of the prisoners who died at Dachau died of disease,
malnutrition, and overwork, and the new crematorium was built to dispose
of their bodies.) (U.S. Army photo) |

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Looking
across the Würm river canal toward the camp. On the opposite bank is a
concrete machinegun bunker, some of which can still be found at the site
today (right). Some of the original camp electrical fencing has also been
preserved (below). Some of the fencing at Dachau, such as that seen on the
right below, was reproduced after the war. (42nd "Rainbow" Infantry
Division. Baton Rouge, LA, Army & Navy Publishing Co., 1946) |
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Other
bunkers around the perimeter of the Dachau camp were provided as emergency
air raid shelters for the guard force. This line of small concrete bunkers
is found along the southern side of the camp, behind the Maintenance
Building and "Bunker," between the wire fence and the exterior
concrete fence. In the May 1945 view above, taken from a guard tower, note
the camouflage pattern painting on the roof of the Maintenance Building
and adjacent "Bunker" (dark one-story building just inside the
wire fence). (U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum) |
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The
Dachau Kommandantur (headquarters). The original building still stands, just
outside the Dachau memorial site. The main building of the SS Kaserne can
be seen in the left distance. (Dachau-Archiv; thanks to Prof. Harold
Marcuse for info) |

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Looking
out from the Jourhaus Gate, one views the route walked by the prisoners into the camp (directly behind this point of view). The
current memorial site ends at the end of this cobblestone walk, and beyond
it can be seen the Kommandantur building, former workshop buildings,
and the SS Kaserne, which are all outside the memorial site today. On the
right is an aerial view of some of these buildings. The Kommandantur
is at the bottom center, with the workshop buildings to its left, and the
L-shaped SS barracks building beyond. Contrary to what some guides say,
the concrete structure seen in the modern photos was not a rail
siding where the prisoners were let off the trains, just outside the
Jourhaus Gate. The prisoners were actually let off the trains at the other
side of the SS compound (out of view of these photos - see below),
and they were forced to walk through the compound to enter the Jourhaus
Gate. The narrow-gauge rail line seen here today was actually used by the
workshop buildings (there were originally two more workshop buildings here,
just to either side where the earthen berms are today). (Dachau-Archiv) |
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Period
views of the main SS barracks buildings seen in the aerial photo above.
The U.S. Army occupied this compound as Eastman Barracks from 1948-1973,
and the complex is now used as a training site for the Bavarian
Police. (above - period postcard, below - Dachau-Archiv;
modern photos appear courtesy of the Bayerische Bereitschaftspolizei
Abteilung VI. Dachau) |
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The large bronze
eagles over the entries were left intact by the U.S. Army (with the
swastikas removed). The eagles were removed when the Bavarian Police
took over the compound, and donated to the Dachau Concentration Camp
Memorial, where they remain in storage. (courtesy Michael
Basin) |
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The main
entrance to the SS Compound was near the Kommandantur building
seen above. This gate building figured prominently during the liberation
by the U.S. Army on 29 April 1945 (the formal surrender took place near
here), but it was later torn down and only the foundations can be seen
today. The photo on the right above shows SS concentration camp guards surrendering
to soldiers of the U.S. 42nd Infantry Division. (left - Yad
Vashem Collections; right - U.S. Army photo) |
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These
views show the back side of the gate building. An adjacent bridge over the
Pollnbach stream had a column with a stone swastika on top (see enlarged
inset at right). The bridge and column are still there, but the swastika
is long gone. The bridge was called the Samoa Brücke, and the original
letters of the sign can still be faintly seen. (courtesy Michael
Basin; modern photo appears courtesy of the Bayerische
Bereitschaftspolizei Abteilung VI. Dachau) |
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Adjacent
to this gate building was the entrance actually used by concentration camp
prisoners. The main rail line into the former munitions factory ran
through here, and this is where prisoners got off the rail cars and were
then marched through the SS compound to enter the prisoner compound
through the Jourhaus Gate. The period photo shows the infamous "Death
Train" from Buchenwald, in which many prisoners had died from Allied
air strafing, malnutrition, and neglect during a weeks-long journey, and
which was discovered by soldiers of the 45th Infantry Division as they reached the area of
the Dachau compound on 29 April 1945. The sight of these prisoner corpses
raised a fury in some of the U.S. soldiers that was only quenched by
shortly thereafter shooting some SS soldiers who had surrendered (see below).
The modern photo shows a short section of the original track that has been
excavated at the entry gate, but the viewpoint of the 1945 photo was some
distance back down the tracks, behind where the modern photo was
taken. (U.S. National Archives, Army Signal Corps Collection,
RG111SC-207475) |

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The
period image is said to show the first bus load of prisoners being taken
into Dachau in March 1933 (these would have been political prisoners and
dissidents, not Jews). The royal Bavarian coat of arms can still be seen
above the entry archway of the gate building, which was part of the World
War I gunpowder and munitions factory. (Stadtarchiv München) |

This aerial view shows most of the
original Dachau compound, including the buildings shown on this webpage. From
the left: #1 - Jourhaus Gate, #2 - prisoner compound,
#3 - crematorium area, #4 - Kommandantur, #5 - workshop buildings, #6 - SS
Kaserne barracks building (with bunker just to the right), #7 - old gunpowder
and munitions
factory headquarters buildings (Avenue of the SS),
#8 (on right side) - "Holländer Hall" of the original gunpowder and munitions
factory area.
The only part of the site open to the public today is the memorial area
at #s 1-2-3. (Dachau-Archiv)

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Above,
prisoners are released through a side gate near the workshop buildings in
the winter of 1933. Below - later, prisoners
were put to work in some of the old workshop buildings during the war. These partially deserted
buildings are right outside the prisoner compound near the Jourhaus Gate
(#5 in the aerial view above). (Bundesarchiv, courtesy of the Bayerische Bereitschaftspolizei Abteilung
VI. Dachau) |
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The
"Holländer Hall," one of the
original large buildings of the 1915 Bavarian government gunpowder and munitions factory,
can still be seen on the northern edge of the site (the building is in
very bad condition today and is off-limits). This building is
marked #8 on the aerial view above. (photo below appears
courtesy of the Bayerische Bereitschaftspolizei Abteilung VI. Dachau) |
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One of the
controversial and unfortunate incidents during the liberation of Dachau on
29 April 1945 was the execution/murder of Waffen-SS soldiers and SS camp
guards who had surrendered to the liberating forces. Period accounts
differ, but there is no question that U.S. Army soldiers allowed camp
inmates to murder SS guards who had surrendered, or that U.S. Army
soldiers themselves murdered Waffen-SS soldiers who had surrendered. Part
of the SS training compound, on the other side of the SS area from the
concentration camp itself, was used late in the war as a hospital for Waffen-SS soldiers who had
been fighting on the Eastern Front (note the large Red Cross banner on the
roof of one of the buildings in the period photo). Soldiers of the U.S.
45th Infantry Division,
having passed the "Death Train" on their way into the Dachau
compound, came upon these hospital patients and forced them outside,
where many were stood up against a wall and shot, as the photo above shows
(numbers of the executed range from a total of 12 to over 350). (Click here
to read
a webpage with much more detailed information on these executions.)
(U.S. National Archives, Army Signal Corps Collection, RG111SC)
This execution took place in a coal yard adjacent
to the main power plant of the former munitions factory. The location today is inside the Bavarian Police training compound.
The original buildings (somewhat modified) are still there (as are the
trees in the view below), but the coal yard wall used for the executions
is gone. (modern photos appear courtesy of the Bayerische
Bereitschaftspolizei Abteilung VI. Dachau)
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A concrete air raid shelter is
located next to the main barracks building of the SS Kaserne. Although
this shelter could be used by personnel, that was not its primary
function. The bunker was actually built to protect the SS pay records archive, because the central SS
pay department was located in a nearby building (photos
appear courtesy of the Bayerische Bereitschaftspolizei Abteilung VI.
Dachau)
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One of the buildings of the former
SS training compound was used after the war for U.S. Army war crimes
trials, 1945-48. These trials included camp personnel who had served at
Dachau, Buchenwald, Nordhausen-Dora,
Mauthausen, Mühldorf,
and Flossenbürg. One of the
most notorious proceedings was against leadership and soldiers of the 1st
SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler," accused of
murdering American prisoners of war in the "Malmedy
Massacre." (modern photo appears courtesy of the
Bayerische Bereitschaftspolizei Abteilung VI. Dachau)
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Various decorations and relics
from the SS still exist in the former SS compound. On the left, the SS
painted a quote from Frederick the Great, "Daß ich lebe, ist nicht
notwendig, wohl aber daß ich tätig bin" (That I live is not
necessary, but rather that I am acrive). The purpose and even time period
of the concrete sculpture on the right is not known. It is located near a
ruined swimming pool and bathhouse, hence the nautical theme (as some
believe). Some think this predated the SS use of the area, while others
believe that this was an SS pool and the use of the word "Führer"
in the inscription supports this (even though the inscription is supposed
to be a quote from a Norse Edda). (photos appear courtesy of
the Bayerische Bereitschaftspolizei Abteilung VI. Dachau)
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One of the outlying sites of the
Dachau camp, not located with the main area (although nearby), was the
so-called "plantation." In 1938, under the direction of the SS,
camp prisoners built an herb garden near the camp. These buildings still
exist (as a nursery and greenhouse) on the street appropriately called Am
Kräutergarten, northeast of the main camp. (Google
Maps link)
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North
of Dachau, near the village of Hebertshausen, the SS had a range complex for
firearms training. This site became infamous during Word War II, as the SS
executed some 4000 Russian prisoners of war there. This part of the range consisted of
two shooting lanes for pistols and submachineguns with a concrete bunker at the end for a bullet
trap. The much longer rifle range is adjacent. (Dachau-Archiv)
(Google
Maps link) |

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A
memorial to the murdered Soviet soldiers stands on the site (left). The
curious explorer can also find the entrance to the underground room for
the target scorers on the rifle range (right). |

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Nearby
was the SS building for range control (sometimes called a guard house).
Today it serves as a homeless shelter. |

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The
gateposts at the entrance to the range complex once displayed large SS
runes, and the attachment sites for these can still be seen. (Dachau-Archiv;
photo by Karel Kasák) |
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I wish to express my thanks to the personnel
of the Bayerische Bereitschaftspolizei Abteilung VI. Dachau for permission
to photograph inside their Dachau post.
Official Dachau Webpage -- www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de/english.html
Other Webpages about Dachau --
http://www.scrapbookpages.com/DachauScrapbook/index.html
(extremely detailed page with many subpages of info on Dachau - highly
recommended!)
http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/dachau.htm
http://www.humanitas-international.org/archive/dachau-liberation/
Follow these links to visit other Third Reich in Ruins pages on concentration
camp sites -- Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen,
Nordhausen (Dora), Flossenbürg, S/III Jonastal, Mauthausen (includes Gusen), Ebensee
(Austria).
Back
to the Munich page
Back to the Third Reich in Ruins homepage
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