Dachau was the model for all of the concentration camps used by Hitler’s Nazis to murder more than 6 million Jews and others from 1933 to 1945.
My uncle, Joe Guthmann, was a Nazi war crimes trial prosecutor in Nuremberg after World War II. The United States Army Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) published a report on the atrocities found at the camp after it was liberated in April 1945. It was passed on to me. I have wanted — no, needed — to see Dachau for myself after reading it.
Visitors
I took a train from Prague, Czech Republic, to Munich, then boarded the S2 train to Dachau. The 726 bus took me to the memorial. The bus was full. People of all ages from all over the world came to see this horror.
German high school students must take a class on 20th Century German History. While visits to concentration camps are not required, many classes do tour a nearby camp.
Dachau Memorial
I planned to spend the first hours photographing Dachau and return the next morning to see it in an earlier light. Then, I would have time to tour the museum in the main building. I see the world through my camera, which I carry most places. When I got off the bus, I saw this slab announcing the stop as the Dachau Concentration Memorial Site. My photography of this place of horror began.
I walked past the welcome center on my left onto an unpaved gravel path that prisoners walked leading them into what was likely the place they would die.
I wondered what I would see and remember in photographs. Other than my uncle, I have no personal connection to the camp. Yet I have been compelled to visit and photograph it.
The path is lined with trees and green foliage. Through the weeds and trees, there was a fence, and behind it, the white buildings of the camp were barely visible.
“Work Makes You Free”
Prisoners were herded into Dachau through the Jourhaus.
Dachau was the model for all of the Nazi concentration camps. Every gate on every camp had the words “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work Makes You Free).
Inside Dachau
Once I passed through the gate, I was on the parade grounds. Roll call of prisoners was taken many times every day. I was there in May. The weather was pleasant. I can only imagine the cold of winter there.
The parade grounds were bordered by green grass and trees. In front of the trees are the only barracks that have been left standing.
Guard towers
Concentration camp inmates were surrounded by fencing and guard towers. The towers are a stark reminder of the impossibility of escape.
The prison buildings
Originally, Dachau was built to hold political prisoners. During World War II important prisoners were kept separate from the camp’s population.
Only foundations remain
Today, Dachau only has two prisoner barracks remaining. They are open for visitors to walk through. The rest have been torn down. Their foundations stand as silent markers to the many who died during the camp’s existence from 1933 until it was liberated in 1945.
Photographer Lee Miller was with the 42nd and 45th U.S. Army Infantry when it liberated 32,000 prisoners still in the camp.
The experience of my visit is still profound. Although Dachau is (and was) surrounded by green trees and lawns, I feel that black and white best tells the story of the place.
I could not leave a like as usual for your excellent photography, because this is so disturbing. But it is indeed important to never forget this.
Hi Leah,
I am not sure I “like” them either. I struggled not only making the images but also on how to convey what I felt. And yes. It is important to always remember what happened in the horror camps.
Warmly,
Kevin
I toured the camp back in the late 80’s it still gives me the creeps even today.
I think the Nazis got away with their cruel genocide of the Jews and many millions of others in WWII.
I feel the German people themselves were complicit in these horrific crimes against humanity. They elected Hitler and mostly did what he ordered and wanted.
Just like come this Nov 4th we elect a certain politician who speaks about migrants ” poisoning our blood” like Hitler did,we will be complicit in a coming genocide of our own.
Hi Frank,
It’s important to remember that the Nazi High command that survived the war was prosecuted at the Nuremberg trials. Several of them were hanged.
Students in German schools today are required to learn about the holocaust. Where possible they are taken on tours of the camps.
– Kevin
I went in 1983, there was a crematorium off in the distance that I don’t think was used. I f an old building that had shelves where people slept usmell was so bad and the place so deteriorated I just could not bring myself to make a picture .
Tiefere Schande
Deeper shame indeed.