Visiting the Former Concentration Camp Memorial at Dachau near Munich

Dachau is a town about 30 minutes from Munich which is now infamous for having been the location of the first Nazi concentration camp. The camp was established under the supervision of Heinrich Himmler on March 20, 1933 and served as the model after which many other such prisons were subsequently built. Those incarcerated in Dachau were primarily political prisioners, which constituted anyone who resisted the absolute suppression of freedom that the NS (National Socialist) regime was imposing on the population after Hitler’s election as an appointed chancellor in January, 1933. The KZ ("Konzentrationslager", or concentration camp) in Dachau was a slave labor camp and not a "death camp" like Auschwitz or Treblinka, in Poland, where literally millions of Jews were systematically put to death beginning in 1942.

After the Reichskristallnacht on 9 to 11 November, 1938, approximately 10,000 Jews from all over Bavaria were gathered up and brought to Dachau, most of whom were subsequently released after several weeks or months. At that point, those that could, fled the country. When the camp was liberated in the spring of 1945, there were 67,665 registered prisoners of which 22,100 were Jews. Barracks built for 200 prisoners had up to 600 living in them under inhuman conditions.From a total of 206, 206 prisioners, there were 31,591 officially registered deaths, most from starvation, exhaustion and disease. Gas chambers were built, but supposedly never put to use.

Significant parts of the main camp were restored and the entire grounds now serve as a memorial to all the victims of the atrocities committed under NS rule. The theme of the memorial is Nie Wieder, or Never Again. A formal guided tour of the memorial is not necessary and, for some, it can even be too much. There is enough to take in and learn on your own, especially with the self guided Audio Tour, for which a rental fee of € 2.50 is required, but worth the investment. For those hungry for more information, there is also a 21 page booklet for a self guided tour available. The grounds are quite extensive and it takes about two hours to see it all with a good dose of walking. It can be a very draining if not downright depressing experience. If you go,bring something to drink and perhaps a sandwhich, since you will not be able to get anything there. I recommend YORMA’s sandwhich shop outside the main entrance to the Munich train station near the tourist office for a bag lunch.

What you will see there:
The main building is now a museum which features numerous photos with captions. A 22-minute film in English is shown at 11:30 & 3:30, and sometimes also at 2:00. Ask about times at the desk when you arrive. On the grounds there are numerous memorials built by different churches and organizations, a reconstructed barracks, the crematorium (where bodies were burned), gas chambers (which were supposedly never put to use), the wall surrounding the camp with its ditches, barbed wire and reconstructed watch towers, the gatehaus and several other buildings.

Going on your own with Munich mass transit:
Take the S2 to Dachau and from the S-bahn stop in Dachau you must take either bus 724 or 726, then 5 mins walk to the site entrance of the museum. All told, including waiting times, the one-way trip can take up to an hour, even though the ride from the Munich Hauptbahnhof to Dachau is only about 20 minutes. Unless you have Eurail passes which include the S-bahn, two or more persons (up to five) together should get the "Partner Tageskarte" for the Gesamtnetz. This will cost 16 €, but the one ticket is good for up to five adults for the round trip and any other transportation until 6:00 am the next morning. If you are going alone, you need to get the "Single Tageskarte" for the Gesamtnetz, which will cost you 9 €, but is also good for the entire system until the morning of the following day.

NOTES: Ask the driver for a schedule before you get off or check the schedule posted at the bus stop when you arrive to plan to catch a bus back. One of the buses may not be running at all between 2:28 – 3:48. Finally, due to construction on the S-bahn tunnel on Sundays in 2003, the S2 will not be running from any stops east of the Hauptbahnhof, nor from the usual S-Bahn platform in the Hauptbahnhof, rather from a track in the main hall instead.

More Infos: www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de/english/ and www.scrapbookpages.com/Dachauscrapbook/DachauFAQ/