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October 18th, part III - The Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, Germany.


Heinrich Himmler observes Russian POWs in the Dachau concentration camp
Heinrich Himmler observes Russian POWs in the Dachau concentration camp
The murder of intollerables

Heinrich Himmler, commander of the Nazi Schtutzstaffel (SS), visits Russian POWs at the Dachau concentration camp.

Although you don't hear as much about them as you do the Jewish and Polish victims, the Russians were brutalized by the millions.

No matter how our countries (Russia, the former Russian states, and the United States) are doing politically, we must never forget the millions of Russians that died in World War II. They deserve our respect and deepest honor.


There were sculptures and art everywhere, and most of the pieces were gruesome (as well they should be, in such a monster's lair).

The first piece was inside the museum.

The second was outside of the museum, looking out upon the roll call grounds. That second one haunts me.

Walking corpses sculpture inside the museum at Dachau
The horrifying sculpture of jumbled skeletons on the roll call grounds
The horrifying sculpture of jumbled skeletons on the roll call grounds

The roll call grounds at Dachau
The roll call grounds at Dachau
The roll call grounds at Dachau

The roll call grounds were huge, stretching from the east and west fencelines, and between the museum to the south and the barracks to the north. The skeleton sculpture is on the southern edge of the roll call grounds.


Two monuments stood out on the roll call grounds... The first was near the entrance to the museum, the other was near the exit. Both were powerful, and I spent quite some time just standing in front of them, reading and re-reading them.

The third picture includes the tomb of the unknown concentration camp prisoner.

The fourth picture is the tomb itself.

The example.
Never again.
Never again, and the tomb of the unknown concentration camp prisoner
The tomb of the unknown concentration camp prisoner at Dachau

Everyone copes with Dachau differently

Touring Dachau is an emotional event. I found myself getting choked up at the oddest of times... It was emotional overload. And everyone copes with it differently - I took pictures, well over two or three hundred of them.

This woman chose to sit all alone on the steps of one of the remaining barracks, to catch her breath and think a little.


Two of the barracks buildings still stand. Within these buildings, the bunks and lockers (or reproductions of them) still stand, a grim testament to not only how densely the prisoners were packed in, but to how bleak the living conditions were.

Bunks at Dachau
I do not know...
Bunks at Dachau

Lockers in the barracks at Dachau
More bunks at Dachau
More bunks at Dachau

The lockers in the barracks.

More bunks.


A few looks at a bathroom in the barracks. No privacy, just functionality.

Two rows of toilets in the barracks at Dachau
The washbasins in the barracks at Dachau

The camp road at Dachau
The camp road at Dachau

The camp road ran north and south between the long rows of barracks. It was flanked by poplar trees, and was an important meeting place for the prisoners.

<-- Oct 18th, part II   Oct 18th, part IV -->

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