Today was a very interesting and hard day: we went on a tour of the Dachau concentration camp. For a bit of background, Dachau was founded in 1933 and was the first and the foundation for other Nazi concentration camps. It held political leaders, Jews, outcasts, homosexuals, and more. Dachau technically was not a death camp like others we have learned about, but it was more

Our tour started at the entrance where the doors said “Arbeit macht frei” (work will set you free). Our guide did a great job of telling the stories of the prisoners in the camp and what life was life. His endless pictures, experiences, and knowledge really made the tour what it was. It was interesting to walk through the housing situation and see how things changed as it got more crowded.

Hearing how the process went in the concentration camp was truly heartbreaking. How they were treated, sold, and killed. Walking into the crematorium was an out of world experience. Maybe people before walked the same path and did not know their fate. The uncomfortable feeling stuck with me the rest of the trip.

This trip first off paid a strong tribute to those who were involved at the time and served as a reminder to me and others about insuring history never repeats itself. The tour guide really was an amazing asset to have on the tour and I would recommend him to anyone who has the opportunity. I truly appreciated my time with the guide and my fellow students/professors to learn about this first hand.