After recovering from our time at Oktoberfest, we (Elen, Andres, and I) decided to visit a concentration camp. So we went to Dachau, but little did we know that it was the VERY FIRST concentration camp. It's the one that started it all. We had a great guide, he was SO knowledgeable, and I couldn't write down everything he said fast enough. But, here is what I did happen to write down:
- The gate at each concentration camp has " Arbeit Macht Frei" on it. It means "work will set you free". Obviously it was a lie, you worked until you were dead.
- Each camp had "Coppolas" and "Block Elders" who were other prisoners that were put in charge of the prisoners in their areas.
- Dachau was 40 acres large.
- Each camp had a "roll call square" where the prisoners would line up twice a day and would be counted by block elders. Sick and dead bodies had to be brought to the roll call as well. Sometimes the roll call would take 22 hours.
- If you were able to escape, it was still 300km to Switzerland. So you were usually recaptured. Once recaptured, you were hanged.
- The say 3 things would be taken from you as soon as you entered: 1) Personal Goods, 2) Civil Rights, 3) Humanity
- Extermination Camps were only in the East, and they were to get rid of the Intellectuals.
- T4 program is where handicaps were sent to die. There were 250,000 people in the T4 program. Mothers protested the program and the program ended.
- The registration process had 4 steps: 1) Line up, 2) Strip naked, 3) Shaved their head, 4) Shower
- The registration table was manned by other prisoners. Since they spoke other languages, they could give tips to the incoming prisoners without the soldiers understanding what they were saying (for example, "learn to count to 25 in German)
- As a form of punishment the prisoners would be whipped 25 times. At each whip, the prisoner had to count off in German. If they said the wrong number, it would start over. If they didn't know German, they would be whipped to death.
- If you were sent to the Infirmary you were given 1/2 rations, and no medical attention.
- Around the perimeter of the camp there was grass, followed by a dry ditch, electric fence, a canal, and SS stations. They soldiers were ordered to kill on sight, so if you stepped on the grass, you were shot at.
- Guards would throw prisoners caps while they were walking, and when the prisoners would go to get the cap from the grass, they would be shot with the excuse "they were running toward the fence"
- Whenever a soldier shot a prisoner "trying to escape" they were given a day off work.
- Barrack X was a "killing via cyanide" barracks. It took 15-20 minutes for the prisoners to die once the cyanide was released.
- There is no evidence that Barrack X was used at Dachau because everyone at the camp died, and the SS doesn't have a statute of limitations (so no one will come forward to confess crimes).
- Germans no longer use the German word for "shower" due to the "shower rooms" from the concentration camps.
- In the barracks the prisoners were separated by nationalities to inflame hatred, but it backfired and the prisoners banded together.
- Prisoners at Dachau could send letters and receive packages.
- Children went with moms to the gas chambers.
- At one point, the soldiers made a brothel on camp with prisoners from women's camp in order to encourage men to work harder. The men refused to go to the brothel so the SS closed it down.
- The memorial at Dachau has the colors/symbols from the nationalities represented on the uniforms. The exceptions are Pink, Green, and Black. The pink represents homosexuals (homosexuality was illegal at the time the memorial was built). The green represented common criminals (which were usually the coppolas and block elders at the camp. The black represented gypsy's and are still discriminated against.
- The "electric fence" statue at Dachau is also in Israel. It depicts what the artist said the prisoners bodies looked like when they threw themselves against the fence to commit suicide.
- At each concentration camp there are the "Ashes of Unknown Concentration Camp Survivor" because German law states that once a cemetery, it will ALWAYS be a cemetery. With the ashes at each camp, the camps can never be torn down and history can never be forgotten.
Being at the camp was definitely eye opening. Walking around, I still couldn't grasp what the prisoners went through, and until I went to Auschwitz, I couldn't grasp the size of the camp.
- Apes
- The gate at each concentration camp has " Arbeit Macht Frei" on it. It means "work will set you free". Obviously it was a lie, you worked until you were dead.
- Each camp had "Coppolas" and "Block Elders" who were other prisoners that were put in charge of the prisoners in their areas.
- Dachau was 40 acres large.
- Each camp had a "roll call square" where the prisoners would line up twice a day and would be counted by block elders. Sick and dead bodies had to be brought to the roll call as well. Sometimes the roll call would take 22 hours.
- If you were able to escape, it was still 300km to Switzerland. So you were usually recaptured. Once recaptured, you were hanged.
- The say 3 things would be taken from you as soon as you entered: 1) Personal Goods, 2) Civil Rights, 3) Humanity
- Extermination Camps were only in the East, and they were to get rid of the Intellectuals.
- T4 program is where handicaps were sent to die. There were 250,000 people in the T4 program. Mothers protested the program and the program ended.
- The registration process had 4 steps: 1) Line up, 2) Strip naked, 3) Shaved their head, 4) Shower
- The registration table was manned by other prisoners. Since they spoke other languages, they could give tips to the incoming prisoners without the soldiers understanding what they were saying (for example, "learn to count to 25 in German)
- As a form of punishment the prisoners would be whipped 25 times. At each whip, the prisoner had to count off in German. If they said the wrong number, it would start over. If they didn't know German, they would be whipped to death.
- If you were sent to the Infirmary you were given 1/2 rations, and no medical attention.
- Around the perimeter of the camp there was grass, followed by a dry ditch, electric fence, a canal, and SS stations. They soldiers were ordered to kill on sight, so if you stepped on the grass, you were shot at.
- Guards would throw prisoners caps while they were walking, and when the prisoners would go to get the cap from the grass, they would be shot with the excuse "they were running toward the fence"
- Whenever a soldier shot a prisoner "trying to escape" they were given a day off work.
- Barrack X was a "killing via cyanide" barracks. It took 15-20 minutes for the prisoners to die once the cyanide was released.
- There is no evidence that Barrack X was used at Dachau because everyone at the camp died, and the SS doesn't have a statute of limitations (so no one will come forward to confess crimes).
- Germans no longer use the German word for "shower" due to the "shower rooms" from the concentration camps.
- In the barracks the prisoners were separated by nationalities to inflame hatred, but it backfired and the prisoners banded together.
- Prisoners at Dachau could send letters and receive packages.
- Children went with moms to the gas chambers.
- At one point, the soldiers made a brothel on camp with prisoners from women's camp in order to encourage men to work harder. The men refused to go to the brothel so the SS closed it down.
- The memorial at Dachau has the colors/symbols from the nationalities represented on the uniforms. The exceptions are Pink, Green, and Black. The pink represents homosexuals (homosexuality was illegal at the time the memorial was built). The green represented common criminals (which were usually the coppolas and block elders at the camp. The black represented gypsy's and are still discriminated against.
- The "electric fence" statue at Dachau is also in Israel. It depicts what the artist said the prisoners bodies looked like when they threw themselves against the fence to commit suicide.
- At each concentration camp there are the "Ashes of Unknown Concentration Camp Survivor" because German law states that once a cemetery, it will ALWAYS be a cemetery. With the ashes at each camp, the camps can never be torn down and history can never be forgotten.
Being at the camp was definitely eye opening. Walking around, I still couldn't grasp what the prisoners went through, and until I went to Auschwitz, I couldn't grasp the size of the camp.
- Apes
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