Dachau is a small medieval town some twenty kilometers from Munich. Although beautiful and with a long history, Dachau is not a place you would be proud of living in. The reason is the WWII concentration camp in its vicinity. But on the other hand, what city is spotless clean in its history?

I have a strange obsession with cities and places that have suffered severe physical or mental injuries so I would like to visit Hiroshima, Chernobyl or some long lost city. Dachau was on that list.

Dachau concentration camp was open at the site of the abandoned ammunition factory in March of 1933 as the “first concentration camp for political prisoners”. Theodor Eicke, who became the chief inspector for all the camps, was responsible for the organization and construction of the Dachau camp.

More than 200,000 inmates were detained in the camp, and it is believed that about 30,000 prisoners died, mainly in the surrounding camps.

In the spring of 1945 around 30,000 Jews and other political prisoners came to freedom after the camp was liberated by British and American soldiers. It was the second camp to be liberated.

The campsite is open daily from 9am to 5pm and the entrance is free. We decided to take a guided tour in English for little over three euros. We didn’t regret it. The guide gave us an objective description of the history of the camp and its present. The original barracks were destroyed due to their bad condition, but for the public a couple of barracks were rebuilt on the remaining foundations.

The visit to the camp leaves a strange and bitter impression, but regardless of the fact that we cannot associate with the tragic stories that have taken place, I think everybody, especially the younger generation, should visit one of the former Nazi camps. If nothing else, at least we have them everywhere.

After the visit to the campsite we strolled around city of Dachau in search for a lunch and some cakes in the castle overlooking the countryside.

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DACHAU

Dachau je mali srednjovjekovni grad udaljen nekih dvadesetak kilometara od Minhena. Iako lijep i s dugom poviješću, zbog koncentracijskog kampa iz Drugog svjetskog u blizini, Dachau nije mjesto s kojim bi se mogli pohvaliti da ste ga posjetili ili pak da živite tamo. Ali opet koji grad je bez trunke krvi na svojim rukama?

Ja imam čudnu opsesiju gradovima i mjestima koja su pretrpila teška fizička ili psihička oštećenja, tako da bih voljela posjetiti Hirošimu, Černobil ili neki davno isčezli grad. Dachau je na tom popisu.

Dachau je otvoren na mjestu napuštene tvornice streljiva u ožujku 1933. kao ”prvi koncentracijski logor za političke zatvorenike”. Theodor Eicke, koji je postao glavnim inspektorom za sve koncentracijske logore bio je odgovoran za organizaciju i izgradnju Dachau sabirnog logora.

 

U logoru je bilo smješteno preko 200 000 zatvorenika, a vjeruje se da je oko 30 000 zatvorenika umrlo, što u glavnom što u okolnim logorima.

Oko 30 000 Židova i drugih političkih zatvorenika izašlo je na slobodu u proljeće 1945. godine nakon što su logor oslobodile britanski i američki vojnici. Bio je to drugi po redu oslobođeni kamp.

Posjet kampu moguć je svaki dan od 9 ujutro do 5 popodne, a ulaz je slobodan. mi smo se odlučili za vođenu turu na engleskom za tri i nešto sitno eura. Nismo požalili. Vodič nam je dao objektivan opis povijesti i sadašnjosti kampa. Originalne barake porušene zbog svog lošeg stanja, ali ostali su njihovi temelji, no za javnost su, po uzoru na originalne, sagrađene dvije barake.

Posjet logoru ostavlja neki neobičan dojam, no bez obzira što se ne možemo povezati s tragičnim pričama koje su se desile, vrijeme čini svoje, mislim da bi svatko, a pogotovo mlađe generacije trebale obavezno posjetiti jedan od nekadašnjih nacističkih logora. Ako ništa drugo, barem ih ima po svuda.

Nakon posjeta, ostalo nam je taman vremena za ručak u gradu i kolače u dvorcu na uzvisini s koje se pruža divan pogled na okolicu.

U Altstadthotel Zieglerbräu jela se svinjetina, teletina, spetzli, semel knedle i pilo se pivo dok smo u dvorcu, taman kad su se penzići razišli, ubili kavu, čaj i kolače.