On
this date, 29 April 1945, The Dachau concentration camp is liberated by United
States troops. I will post information about the Death Camp from Wikipedia and
other links.
 |
|
American troops
guarding the main entrance to Dachau just after liberation, 1945
|
Location
|
Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany
|
Operated by
|
German Schutzstaffel (SS),
U.S. Army (after World War II) |
Original use
|
Political prison
|
Operational
|
1933–1960
|
Inmates
|
Poles, Jews, Russians, Ukrainians, French, Yugoslavs,
Czechs, Germans, Austrians, Lithuanians
|
Killed
|
31,951 (reported)
|
Liberated by
|
United States, 29 April 1945
|
Website
|
Dachau concentration camp (German: Konzentrationslager
(KZ) Dachau, IPA: [ˈdaxaʊ]) was the first of the Nazi concentration camps opened
in Germany, intended to hold political prisoners. It is located on the grounds
of an abandoned munitions factory near the medieval town of Dachau, about
16 km (9.9 mi) northwest of Munich in the state of Bavaria, in
southern Germany. Opened in 1933 by Heinrich Himmler, its purpose was enlarged
to include forced labor, and eventually, the imprisonment of Jews, ordinary
German and Austrian criminals, and eventually foreign nationals from countries
which Germany occupied or invaded. It was finally liberated in 1945.
Prisoners
lived in constant fear of brutal treatment and terror detention including
standing cells, floggings, the so-called tree or pole hanging, and standing at
attention for extremely long periods. There were 32,000 documented deaths at
the camp, and thousands that are undocumented.
In
the postwar years it served to hold SS soldiers awaiting trial, after 1948, it
held ethnic Germans who had been expelled from eastern Europe and were awaiting
resettlement, and also was used for a time as a United States military base
during the occupation. It was finally closed for use in 1960.
There
are several religious memorials within the Memorial Site, and there is no
charge to visit.
OTHER LINKS:
No comments:
Post a Comment