Today we drove just north of Munich to Dachau. We had experienced driving on the autobahn but we took notice of different things this day.
The speed limit signs are digital. I guess they can change it as needed.
Our driver (Dad) wasn't sure what the different signs meant all the time so he just drove with the "flow of the traffic in the fast lane". Since everything is in kilometers, we never knew exactly how fast we were going. But our van was almost flying at times!
The trucks in Europe look so small. Well, everything is smaller in Europe. But what we liked the most was that they stayed in the right hand lane all the time. If they did pass, they got back over immediately to the right lane.
Some road signs looked similar to home.
Dachau was the site of a concentration camp before and during World War II. It is now an International Memorial site. We took a guided tour so that we could hear and see about it. It was opened as a concentration camp for political prisoners in March, 1933. The last prisoners were liberated on April 29, 1945.
Our tour guide was from China but had married a German and he spoke perfect English. Folks, everyone we met in Europe spoke more than one language. That is normal! Anyway, back to the tour. Our guide stopped at some of the displays to explain different aspects of the camp. The left side of this photo shows the path the prisoners had to walk from the train station to the camp. Locals who lived along the path were required to stand outside their homes and ridicule the prisoners as they passed. If you did not do this, you could find yourself thrown into the group being taken to the camp.
The entrance into the camp. Our guide explained that the door is to always remain open since the prisoners were freed.
So then I told one of my kids to go close the gate so I could get a good photo of it with the words on it. We reopened it right away though. The words translate, "Work will make you free." However, very few ever realized freedom from their work. And even if they were "freed", they were watched and many were taken as prisoners again within a short amount of time.
This is the yard where the prisoners had to line up for roll call several times a day.
Notice some things about the prisoners in the photo. They are all looking down. Many have no shoes. They must keep their hands by their sides. They may not put anything in their pockets. (The Nazi's would put lots of pockets on the uniforms just to tease the prisoners.) Their heads are shaven. Their clothes are worn.
A map of Europe with all the concentration camps on it - I could not fit the entire map in my camera lens from where I was standing. I never knew there were so many.
This is one of the first rooms where the prisoners would enter once arriving at the camp. You can see some of the original floor. Much of the space has been transformed into a museum showing photos and facts.
The administration building from where the barracks begin. This is the yard where the prisoners would line up from a different angle.
One of the many (reconstructed) guard towers at the end of the administration building.
Part of a bathroom inside one of the reconstructed barracks.
The other part of the bathroom.
Each barrack was built to hold about 200 prisoners. At the end of the war, they had as many as 1000 prisoners in each one. They were not allowed to sleep on the floor. They had to be in a bed. Many died of suffocation due to sleeping conditions. They were too weak to move with so many people on top of them. Disease was also widespread due to their living conditions.
Only two barracks have been reconstructed. The rest just show the foundation where they stood. I think there were 34 total. Again, there is a guard tower.
This is the path the prisoners walked each day to the roll call yard (in background). As I walked it, I wondered how many had died on that path.
Imagine thousands of prisoners walking this path in the coldest part of winter with no shoes and few clothes to wear.
There are five memorials on the grounds today. This is the Jewish memorial.
A view of one side of barrack foundations from near the memorials.
The original crematorium. It could not keep up with the demand as the war progressed as it only had one furnace.
A new crematorium was built as a result of the increasing deaths at the camp.
This was the room where the prisoners had to undress and they were promised a shower.
This was the gas chamber. (In defense of our smiling boy, this was a difficult place for our kids to visit. His attempt to "photo bomb" his dad's photo was his way of pressing through all the hard things he was hearing.)
The new crematorium had five furnaces compared to the one furnace at the old crematorium.
Even with five furnaces, they still could not keep up with the demand toward the end of the war.
The old crematorium
Up close view of the old crematorium
So many unnecessary deaths
A statue to honor the prisoners - notice things about the man on the statue. He's wearing a coat. He has shoes. His hands are in his pockets. His head is held high. All the freedoms he "lost" while a prisoner at Dachau. The inscription on the monument loosely translates, "Honor the dead. The living must remember." In other words, we must never forget what happened.
The Protestant Memorial - We did not have a chance to go inside.
Another view of the barrack foundations as we were leaving on the side path.
Although this was not a "fun" day, it was one that we felt was important for our family to experience. We must not forget what happened in Europe before and during World War II. We hope that as we study about this war and other wars, they will remember the time we spent at Dachau Concentration Camp.
After a somewhat full day at Dachau, we decided to go back to the resort so the kids could swim in the pool and we could get the rest of our laundry done.
We passed this soccer stadium in Munich several times during our time there.
I was intrigued by the signs on the road. Thankfully, Mrs. GPS got us where we needed to be when I couldn't read the signs fast enough.
The country road we traveled to our resort in Schliersee.
This one is a bit blurry from the windshield but we loved seeing all the farm houses.
Entering one of the villages to get to Schliersee. Notice the steeple? And the speed limit sign?
The fall colors we enjoyed are forever etched in my mind even though our photos don't show the vivid colors.
"Downtown Schliersee"
Enjoying a short walk in Schliersee to get some dinner.
We ate at this pizzeria more than once.
"Unusually warm weather means we open our windows." Beautiful lake in the background.
Ah, rare proof that Mom was with them!
Waffles with warm caramel drizzled over gelato (ice cream) and bananas
Nutella waffles with gelato (Have I mentioned how much better gelato is than "ice cream"?)
Yummy sandwich for Dad
No more Nutella waffles!
We loved this little village of Schliersee!
The view from our apartment
The main building is to the left in this photo. That's where the laundry room and swimming pool were. Parking was close and convenient to our apartment which we enjoyed.
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