Today we went to Dachau, the concentration camp outside of Munich. I have already visited the camp before. This was my second time, but it was still just as powerful as the first time I went there. The first time I visited Dachau, we were behind schedule on our itinerary, so we had to cut the trip short, which means I didn’t get to see the whole camp. I’m glad that this time I got to see all of it.
It’s so weird to think that we were walking in a place where such a horrible event occurred. It’s unfathomable even. We were able to see reconstructions of the barracks and it was just awful how prisoners were piled into wooden bunks that were meant for a much smaller capacity. That part always gets me, imagining 100s of people jam packed into on room.
We were also able to see the memorials for the Jews, Catholics and Protestants. Following that, we went to see the gas chamber and the ovens that bodies were burned in. Last time I was at Dachau I did not get the chance to see these parts. Imagining the herding of people into the gas chambers and then pushing the dead ones into the ovens really got to me emotionally.
Lastly, we went into the museum and saw film on Dachau. The museum always has an emotional affect on me. The part which affects me the most is seeing how gaunt and skeleton-like the prisoners all were in the camps. The film gets me very emotional too. Again, it’s seeing the prisoners in such a horrible unhealthy state.
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