Salzburg Global Seminar: A Day At Dachau 2

When we arrived at Dachau, we were issued with individual audio guides and with mine in hand, I set out to walk along a path that thousands had walked, some to their death, and fortunately, many others to safety and freedom. I choose to walk alone because I did not want to talk to anyone in a time I place I felt I had no reason to talk.
I can never truly express what I felt as I walk through the grounds, the museum, and the various memorials that have been erected on the site. I can never understand how we can allow ourselves to reach to a point where we kill our friends, neighbours, and even relatives because someone tells us that we are better than them, and that they are worse than animals. Even as it happens today, all over the world, it seems that we will never learn that we are one and the same, no matter that we are black or white, bond or free, Jew or Gentile.
It broke my heart to think so many had to suffer and die because a nation followed a leader who made them feel superior but all that is history, and in spite of "Never Again," many around the world have not learned from this brutal part of our history. Hopefully, we ca all play a part in changing the way the world thinks and sees itself.


A picture of the pile of bodies that was awaiting cremation outside the ovens on the day the camp was liberated


The entrance of the site...such a small entrance for the thousands who entered.


The Russian Orthodox Memorial, one of a few on the site


The Jewish Memorial erected on the site


Not the best day for pictures, I could barely muster a smile




This is a memorial site representing the thousands whose ashed was dumped unceremoniously after cremation. It is only one of a few on the site.


The ovens where the bodies of the dead prisoners were cremated. Just overhead, at the front of the ovens, there are rafters that were used to hang prisoners. No one knows for sure how many died this way.


At a glance, it can be easily mistaken for a shower but no water ever came out of these jets. This was the gas chamber of Dachau. It was never used to kill prisoners but it is reported that officers would gas a few prisoners that they wanted to get rid of.


Another memorial to the thousands who died. This is located opposite the gas chamber and oven room.