DACHAU

We left Schwangau in the morning, driving part of the Romantic Road. At least for the portion that we drove, I wouldn't go out of my way again to drive it. For gorgeous countryside, drive the Rhine or Mosel Valley.


Our house frau and her husband, the Gorlichs.














The Gorlichs, me, another house guest, Klaus, and Roxy the dog. We had breakfast with Klaus each morning. He was from way up north in Germany. Roxy was a sweet and gentle dog. (You know us and dogs :)







The plan had been to drop the car in Munich and go on to Salzburg, Austria. We were ending in Munich and planned to spend some time visiting Dachau, one of the concentration camps at that time. Don decided he really did NOT want to see Dachau, which was very disappointing to me. One of the ways we decided what to see and do on this trip was, if one of us wanted to do something and the other didn't care one way or the other, it was added to the list. Dachau was something I wanted to see and Don hadn't cared, but over time, he was less inclined to see it and this caused the only 'disagreement' in our plans. As we drove toward Munich, we discussed the situation. Don came up with the idea of driving out to Dachau now, staying briefly, and then continuing on to Munich. I am actually glad we did it this way. Following the original itinerary would have had us in Dachau the day before we left Germany and I now know that I would not have wanted it that fresh in my mind - I wouldn't have wanted it to be the last memory of this trip. It is sobering.




Arbeit Macht Frei = Work makes you free. A rather taunting lie as the captives entered the camp.
























Restored barracks that are now the museum. As part of our bargain, we did not go into the museum.
The courtyard is quite large. The inmates would all be gathered here for head counts.



















































The trench in this section was restored to show how difficult escape would have been. The trench was full of water then, I believe.















Barracks foundations. It was a little mind boggling just how big this place was.












At the far end of the main area there are three memorials. This is the Jewish Memorial and was the most impressive and moving to me.

















The symbolic simplicity really touched me. That is a hole in the ceiling.

















Catholic Memorial


















Part of the Catholic Memorial




















Protestant Memorial












Russian Orthodox Memorial

















The crematorium. When we entered this building, it felt sacred and I could not take pictures.














Den toten zur ehr den lebenden zur mahnung.

To honor the dead, to warn the living.