My first impression of Dachau was how quiet it was when we first entered. Every other place we have visited so far has felt joyful or welcoming, often with a boisterous atmosphere. Dachau was completely different. The size of the camp also seemed much larger than I expected. It is difficult to imagine that there were camps even bigger than this one. We learned that some camps held as few as 30 people, while the largest, Auschwitz, held around 100,000 prisoners. Another shocking fact was that there were approximately 42,500 camps in total.

Dachau also had a large presence of SS soldiers training on site. The SS were soldiers who believed strongly in Hitler’s mission and voluntarily joined that specific branch of the military. In contrast, all German male citizens were generally required to serve in some capacity. One detail I found fascinating was that today the local police academy trains in the same barracks where the SS once trained. That fact rubbed me the wrong way because it seems that Germany wants to both preserve this history as a reminder of guilt and shame while also trying to move beyond it.

We also learned that many camps were connected to private companies. For example, one camp near Munich had ties to BMW. I found it interesting to learn about BMW’s historical connection to aircraft manufacturing, which is reflected in its logo that resembles a spinning airplane propeller. I had never known that before today. What stood out even more was realizing that this was only one of around 400 camps in the Munich area alone, helping put the total number of 42,500 camps into perspective.

Another thing I had never heard about before the tour was how prisoners were divided into categories and forced to wear different patches to identify them. For example, homosexual men and Slavic prisoners were assigned their own symbols as a way to further dehumanize them. The tour guide also discussed the symbolism behind the memorial phrase, “12 million from 60 nations united by one symbol.” The symbol itself resembles barbed wire, but upon closer inspection it is made up of human bodies contorted and crawling over one another. In this case, the 12 million refers to the total number of people killed.

The final thing that stood out to me was the number of religious symbols displayed throughout and around the museum. It seemed that for many prisoners, faith was one of the only things that kept them going through such unimaginable suffering. That is what I will remember most from visiting Dachau.

Above is a church/chapel given to the Dachau memorial site, and it was said to be a sign of continued peace in Europe . This agreement clearly wasn’t kept.