Guest JudgeMental Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 we are passing near Munich on our way to Croatia this summer and I noticed the town of Dachau is on route with its infamous concentration camp.....Has any one visited this site? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Hi Judge, Yes last year , a lot to take in , hard to believe this happened, well worth a visit. Parking no problem signposted for motorhomes, nice campsite close is Camping-Nord-west. Lovely for an overnight. Again well worth a visit when you are in that "neck of the woods" Also Camping Service Riedel is in the town. You can walk from the camp site over the river to the concentration camp (15/20Min) or cycle. Sat 48.262570 11.431320 Regards, Brendan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ina Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 We visited it about 13 years ago, we took a while to decide whether to or not. In the end we went and it was very thought provoking. At that time there was an exhibition with photos etc. We have a friend who lives north of Munich, he has never been able to bring himself to visit it at all. Everybody is different. We stayed at Camping Obermenzing, quite near the Autobahn, so rather noisy, a very busy site, but served our purpose. Ina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian0354 Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Judge, We went to Dachau when en-route to Salzburg 2009. Very worth giving this a visit to see just what was perpetrated against so many people during the war. As stated above the parking is easily available and only a very short walk into the camp memorial. If (when) going again I would book a tour so that you get a guide to explain what the various areas were used for; find the tours through a Google search, groups we saw were about ten to twelve people in each. When you visit the last thing you get to see is the crematoria where EVERYTHING is still as it was when it was liberated in 1945: it is very moving. Hope you enjoy your trip and the new MH. Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek pringle Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Hi Judge, Never been but would really like to go. If you do go will you be kind enough to post a thread with comments /details etc. as it will probably be early next year for us. cheers derek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 We had mixed emotions when we went. No problems parking the motorhome though. There was a party of Spanish children on an exchange visit to a German school. I gather this was the first time the Spanish children had seen anything to do with the holocaust and were visibly upset. Some sat around crying, others held hands, and one group sang gentle songs. Their German children hosts were also upset. I have no idea why this trip took place but it was an emotional experience for me to see children from two countries sharing their feelings in that atmosphere. We did hear one American tourist shout across a yard to his wife, "Gee honey, look the ovens. This is where they burnt them." Quite a number of people walked away in disgust, including his fellow Americans. I did not feel any emotion from the place itself. I found it a sterile experience compared to the World War 1 cemeteries in Belgium. I am not sure whether my generation has seen so much of these horrors already that the site could offer me no more or it was because I was numbed by the reality of being there. Like any monument to mankind's ability to inflict horrors on others, it is worthwhile to take time out to remember so please visit and think of those who suffered. There is space for private thought nd the horrors are displayed sensitively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Not Dachau, but we visited Belsen about 30 years ago and it was a sobering, haunting memorial to man's inhumanity to mankind. I think that maybe everyone should visit one such place in their lifetime - as well as the war cemetaries and Normandy beach heads - as, for most of us, the emotions and horror of it all will reverberate in your head for the rest of your life, and even now the memory of these visits brings a tear. It brings into perspective the true horror, hatred and human cost of war and the real tragedy is that mankind seems to have learnt nothing from that era as genocide and mass killings still continue to this day in parts of the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ina Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Tracker - 2011-04-29 10:34 AM ........ and the real tragedy is that mankind seems to have learnt nothing from that era as genocide and mass killings still continue to this day in parts of the world. That is exactly what I always think, the only concentration camp we have visited is Dachau, but I have also read various books written by people who have survived concentration camps, yet, as you say, mankind seems to have learnt nothing from it all. Ina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggyd Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 We called in last year, it had a definate atmosphere :-S but I thought it was very sanitised and had been done up for the tourists, of course it had to be but the most moving for me was walking through those gates and remembering what is must have felt like to be herded through them. I didnt get to see all of it as it was a very hot day and the dog wasnt allowed in so I went back and let hubby take photos and have a look around by himself :-S I had seen enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postnote Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Yes, we visited it about two weeks ago! Although there is a museum there the Germans are diluting the horrors that were carried out there. Can I suggest two places to reflect, the original ditch and barbed wire fencing, they have kept two sections on either side of the camp. Imagine those poor people looking over the ditch and out for hope! And the crematoria, reflects just how efficient the Germans where. One I would recommend is Belson, with the NATO tank range just behind you can imagine the horrors of being a prisoner there. (!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borderer Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Visited about 8 years ago whilst on a day trip to Munich from Seefeld on an organised bus trip (a bit weird really, but you could opt out and go shopping in Munich all day instead) Very Powerful. It is worth a visit just to recognise how evil the whole Holocaust was. There are synagogues and churches on site for quiet reflection. It was Hitler's first concentration camp opened in the early 1930s, initially for political prisoners. The museum in the main block is thoughtful and extensive. The high security unit behind the main block is truly creepy with thought of what happened there. The ovens were used, but not the gas chambers apparently. Prisoners were hung in front of their families/friends in front of the ovensand their bodies, sometimes still alive fed into the ovens. So evil! . The camp was used as a displaced persons camp until well after the endof the war..into the early 1960s I think. It is said you hear no birdsong when in the camp, despite there being many trees. We never heard any. A very moving place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 I & my team "The L'aimeDucks" will be passing very close to Dachau on way back from a 3 day charity "Crumball Rally" ( a banger rally - I'll grow up one day!") in September themed on "The Great Escape" Film. (Proceeds to Lymphoma Research Trust) We will be visiting Antwerp, Leipzig, Colditz, Sagan ( Stalag Luft 111) & Dresden before ending up in Munich after a visit to Berchtesgaden. We then have 4 days to relax & get back home. Would be interested to see Dachau, but it may be a bit too much both in mileage & emotions after the other stops. Anyone been to the other places on our route & any suggestions for what to see? Jeremy the L'aimeDuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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