Munich and Dachau - Day 3, 1st May 25

 Hi all,

Today we took a short 30 minute S Bahn trip to the Dachau Concentration camp memorial. The memorial is to be highly recommended as a well thought out and sensitive reminder of the sins the Nazi organisation imposed on their fellow members of the human race only 80 to 90 years ago. 

Many thousands passed through these gates from the mid thirties to 1945, and over 40,000 people perished in that period. The 29th April, just a few days ago, was the eighth anniversary of the liberation of Dachau by American army troops - what a nightmare they had before them, in huts designed to hold 200 people, the SS had packed in around 2000 in each it as they transferred many to the camp under the advancing armies.

While this camp did not see the mass exterminations carried out at other camps, the crematorium below was kept busy right to the end, until coal ran out in 1945 and they resorted to mass graves for the executed and those that died of disease or starvation.

It is hard to leave this memorial without a sense of absolute despair on how human beings could treat others in such a systematic, sub-human and cruel way. More disheartening was the fact that only a small number of the SS hierarchy paid for this with their lives - after the Dachau war crimes trials, while many of the perpetrators of this inhumanity were imprisoned, by 1950 the majority were released without a criminal record into German society. 

This visit left us much to ponder on - however, the Munich community should be proud that they have presented this memorial to the world as a lasting lesson for us all.

Today is Labour Day holiday in Munich but we still managed a bit more exploring around the Kalsplatz area, plus a well earned late lunch at a local Bavarian eatery.

Tomorrow we are off on a trip on southern Bavaria, to see some of the postcard castles in that area - more to report after that for sure. 

All our love from the travelers. 🇮🇹⛪️🚇