On a freezing cold, and snowy Saturday morning we traveled to Dachau to visit the concentration camp. Dachau was the first concentration camp to open in 1933 and operated until 1945.During this time period 206,000 people were prisoners here. The camp containted 34 barracks housing up to 2,000 prisoners each.
The first prisoners were political opponents of the Third
Reich. Later German Jews and people from occupied countries, like Poland arrived.This camp was advertised by the Third Reich as a re-education camp. In fact it was a camp where people were executed, tortured and used for scientific experiments.
Our students came to the camp not knowing what to expect. They left with a graphic experience. There was a very heavy emotional impact on some of our students. The lesson learned here is two-fold. First, never let it happen again and second, those who forget history are comdemned to repeat it.
