Dachau, Germany

Dachau as far as history goes was the original concentration camp that Heinrich Himmler had first organized in 1933 for enemies of the Reich.  It was a murderous place for the torture and dehumanizing of man.   It also has one of the best museums for seeing and learning the reality of the abilities of humans to be inhumane.  Today I was to see things I would never forget.
The museum is housed in the main building where the SS originally had brought the prisoners in for torture.  Photographs and documents made poster size are lined up to show the rise of the Nazi regime and the SS.  It was impressive that every effort had been made to present the facts, as horrid as they were. I entered the building with a light mood as I had been at the medieval camp earlier and was not ready for what I was about to experience. As I wandered deeper into the maze of actual pictures I was stunned and horrified to see what these men had been subjected to. Blinking back tears and taking deep breaths I tried to keep moving. Brian was giving me my space as I explored not wanting to interject his comments on my realization of what he knew I had go through on my own. But when I faltered and my eyes in a panic would search for him I would find him by my side telling me I needed to see it all. While I knew I needed to it didn't make it easy.
This monument represents the starved men in camp being tortured as hanging them from these poles was one type of torture  practiced in this camp. 

The men held here were considered workers and they were from many different backgrounds but all were considered enemies of the Reich.  Jews, Christians, Catholic, Gypsies were represented as the population of this camp. But the largest amount were Jewish. 

After viewing the Photos and Documents it was time to visit the grounds and other buildings.  There was a reconstructed barrack representive of the size and style of bunks.  It was up to me to imagine the stench of the filth hole that the men had to live in. After the pictures I had seen it was easy.

 I didn't take many photos here as it seemed an invasion of the private moments and I needed to give respect to the grief and respect the many that met death here.  As I passed historical photo after photo I started to feel numb and as I paused at a table to read the sign Brian was immediately by me he already knew I was at a table of torture, a whipping table.  It still makes me shudder  as I remember moving deeper into the museum deeper into the dark side of perverted minds as I saw medical experiments that were documented by photo.  The list of the dead and the new prisoners added.  My breaking point was the photos of the children as my eyes darted looking for Brian he knew I was needing to get out as we exited through a side door. He reaffirmed what I already knew as horrid as it was I needed to see it all.
The last torture I put my mind through was going to the crematorium and showers.  As I entered the showers I was shaken as I thought of men entering alive and then being gassed to death.  Visibly shaken by this thought I rushed by other visitors to get out and be able to breath again. Brian found me outside on a bench and checked to make certain I'd be alright as he continued the tour, asking if I wanted to enter the next building. I asked him to tell me if I wanted to see it. He checked the building and told me no that I was ready to leave.  Trying my best to hold back tears through  deep breathing  I knew I'd never be the same.  And although I didn't have family that passed through here. I did have my heart pass through and it still hurts when I recall the day.
 This inscription reads: 

May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933 -1945.Because they resisted Nazism help to unite the living for the defence of peace and freedom and in respect for their fellow man.

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