Dachau was a concentration camp of the Third Reich from 1933-1945. The camp office files showed a total of more than 206,000 prisoners registered in those years, though many prisoners were taken to Dachau without being registered. About 31,000 deaths of prisoners and 6,000 deaths of Russian soldiers were recorded but the number is believed to be much higher. It is difficult to explain the emotions that run through you as you are standing in the middle of the roll call yard.
The Wirtschaftsgebaude contained the kitchen, the laundry, storage rooms for prisoners' clothing and personal belongings, and the notorious shower baths where the SS would torture prisoners by flogging and hanging then at the stake. In front is a memorial sculpture depicting bodies in the shape of barbed wire. The Wirtschaftsgebaude is now a museum.
The Jourhaus was the only entrance to the camp. "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("Work Makes One Free") was the slogan the prisoners saw on the gates as they arrived. The building housed the SS guard rooms and the camp administration offices.
One of the barracks was rebuilt according to original specifications. Originally, it was meant to house 208 prisoners but toward the end, about 1600 prisoners lived in one of the barracks.
The Krematorium was built in 1942. A gas chamber was also installed at Dachau but never used. The prisoners selected for gassing were transported to other concentration camps.
This statue stands outside of the Krematorium. It is a memorial to those who died at Dachau and also a warning to future generations. I find it ironic that we were visiting Dachau as the atrocities in Kosovo were being revealed. It seems that mankind sure hasn't learned much.