Germany – Munich – May 30th

The following day we had breakfast with Alisha & Sai and then parted ways.  We had a short visit, but it was totally worth it since we don’t know when we will see each other again.

Next we drove to the Dachau Concentration Camp, which is something I really wanted to see.  I love WWII history, and was happy that I was able to see and learn more about what so many men and women went through. 

As we drove towards Dachau, I couldn’t help but think how terrible it was that such an evil, dark and ugly place could be in such an incredibly beautiful town.  The trees and fields were absolutely stunning.  It was so ironic. 

"Work will make you free" - what a lie...

Main building used for interrogations and torture 

Memorial created depicting victims who threw themselves, or who were thrown into the electric fences - so sad

Memorial showing the various "types" of prisoners of the camp

"Never Again" on the wall behind a tomb of an unknown victim's ashes

The various perimeter defenses 

A guard tower

Inside one of the barracks.  They actually changed the design 3 times while Dachau was in use

The one wash area for 200-plus men

Toilets for 200-plus men

The courtyard where victims were forced to stand in any weather for hours at a time for "roll call" 

The original foundations of the various barracks

Main walkway between the two sides of barracks

The Catholic memorial built when Dachau was opened as a memorial

The Jewish memorial built

More foundations

The old crematorium

The new crematorium built to accommodate more murders:

Disinfecting rooms for the prisoners clothes when ordered to strip

"Shower-bath" - after WWII the Germans stopped using this word because of the connection with the Holocaust

Dachau has no record of using the gas chambers here.  Nobody knows why, they only know it wasn't out of mercy.  Instead, they would often take victims and would hang them on the beams below, which were directly in front of the crematorium they would then be burned it.  It was absolutely horrific.  Absolutely the most emotional part of our time at Dachau.

Beams victims were hung from

Crematoriums - with hanging beams above

The stretchers used to put bodies on - 2 or 3 bodies on each one.  

 After the camp was liberated, the large ash graves were converted into memorials for the various religions which were represented by the victims.



The Nazis were very meticulous about record keeping when it came to their victims at the concentration camps.  The exception (at least at Dachau) were the Soviet POWs.  These victims were immediately shot at the pistol ranges and cremated.  Their numbers were never recorded.  Because of that, there is no actual record of how many people were slaughtered at Dachau.  Records account for approximately 32,000 deaths at Dachau.  Again, not sure how correct this number is since the Nazis passed off many executions as suicides.

Inside the museum portion at Dachau.  This was the area where new victims were brought to have their heads shaved and to have a number tattooed on their arm.

How a storage cabinet was required to be set up 

After touring Dachau Concentration Camp for about 3 ½ hours we headed into the heart of Munich to see the famous Marienplatz.  It was actually our least favorite place of the entire trip.  It was incredibly crowded, dirty, and all the charm of the small towns we had visited was gone in the midst of the American fast food restaurants which were thrown in our faces everywhere.  We decided not to waste a lot of our time there, and instead started driving in the direction of the Neuschwanstein castle we were planning on visiting the next day.  

We found a random little gasthof about 30 km away from Neuschwanstein and we were so happy with our choice.  The house itself was so fun.  They kept cows in the bottom section of the back of the house and instead of smelling like manure, there was the best aroma of cheese in the air.  It was so heavenly.  We walked around the small town and got our first glimpse of the Alps from a beautiful field there. 

Our fabulous gasthof - it was our favorite

Beautiful meadows

The cows that lived on the back side of the house

After exploring the town a little bit we ate dinner at the gasthof.  The lady who spoke English wasn’t available, so we were definitely on our own when ordering.  Once we placed our orders, we realized Kenneth had basically ordered our typical breakfast (bread, meat and cheese).  I also ordered bread, meat and cheese, but mine was definitely interesting…For instance, I had this nasty red and brown gelatinous stuff with meat in it and a round piece of raw hamburger stuff.  DISGUSTING!  I mostly ate snacks in our room afterwards while we relaxed and watched Harry Potter 7 on our Kindle.  Perfect ending to our tiring day!

Notice my very gelatinous meat slices....yuck

An authentic German pretzel

Tomorrow...Neuschwanstein & Hohenschwangau!