Nazi Concentration Camps in Southern Germany
 

Hi,
I read this about a camp outside berlin
http://noambit.typepad.com/my_weblog...-macht-fr.html
and was wondering which camp anyone would suggest to visit down towards munich. Visiting at least one of these places would be an experience that I wouldn't want to pass up while I'm there.

We visited Dachau which is just outside Munich...a quick and easy train ride. To say one enjoyed a concentration camp doesn't seem appropriate, however I agree with you in that it is something one should experience. I really want to visit Auschwitz someday!

Have fun!

Near Munich is Dachau concentration camp. We visited here in 2002 and took the English tour. Our guide was very good and we learned a lot--probably more than if we just walked around on our own. Dachau was the first concentration camp and was set up for political prisoners. If you are near Munich, I would recommend visiting Dachau. Any visit to a c. camp is very sobering but something you must do if you are in the area.

Thanks! What about Buchenwald...is that too far north?

Buchenwald is just outside of Weimar--about 200 miles north of Munich. it is not as well-preserved as is Dachau. The Russians used Buchenwald as an internment camp during the Cold War.

Jinx Hoover

"something you must do if you are in the area" ... I don't think so! It's been over 60 yrs. Enjoy the new Europe!

So there's some secret rule about not doing historically important things that were 60 or more years ago?

Gee, suddenly that eliminates an awful lot of major sites in Europe!

We took our children to dachau - it was well worth the trip. we did a guided tour from munich that basically drove us out there with commentary and allowed us 2-3 hours to tour the site on our own. Our boys were 13 and 15 at the time- they will never forget.

Pinkyfin, if you go to a concentration camp, it will stay with you forever. I went to Mauthausen in Austria when I was in Europe. You can read all of the texts and see all the pictures, but it's nowhere near as real as when you're actually there. You have a better understanding of how terrifying, hopeless and oppressive the camps were. One of the things I really remember was actually the weather. At the town just a short distance away it was a bright sunny day. At the camp it was dreary, drizzly and crummy. They said that's how it always is, the sun just doesn't shine there.

Truenorth, just because it was 60 years ago doesn't mean we should forget it, even when it's 160 years ago. Seeing one historical aspect of an entire continent shouldn't make you judge the people harshly, but it should give you a perspective on the history and the events that guided the area to what it is currently. Would Europe be what it is today if WWII, the Nazi's and the concentration camps had never happened? Of course not. Some of the things that have shaped history are fun (castles, manor houses, cathedrals) and some aspects just stink (the Plague, multiple wars, and the various parts of WWII including the concentration camps). The horrible parts are as important to the new Europe that you love today as the wonderful parts.

I was 13 when my parents took me to Dachau. I am now 52. I will never forget the experience. Sure, this is a different experience than, "oh, you must see Versailles!"
Give me a break. I strongly suggest a family visit to Dauchau should not be missed. One wishes some of the current adminsitration might have benefited from a visit in their formative years. . . .

I highly reccomend a visit to Dachau too! I was ther two months ago and it was one of the most intense experiences of my life.


You can see my photos from the tour at
www.pbase.com/trsw/dachau

Tom

I have been to Dachau three times. The first time I told my friends, I don't know if I could go in, I did and it was a very emotional experience. Since then I have taken other friends and they all agree it should not be missed. Also, the people in the town of Dachau are great, and it is a great town to stay in for the night.

>"something you must do if you are in the area" ... I don't think so! It's been over 60 yrs.

Gee, an entire 60 years.

There are people still alive who were prisoners in those camps.

Can't you at least wait until they are dead before you dismiss them?

((I))

"Can't you at least wait until they are dead before you dismiss them?"

Gee, ira, why should he/she? If someone is so willing to dismiss 6 million (or many more) others, why should a few survivors bother him?

Let's see if there will be sightseeing tours of Guantanamo in 60 years...

As the OP wrote: Visiting at least one of these places would be an experience that I wouldn't want to pass up while I'm there.

Or do those imprisoned at Guantanamo not have such a strong lobby?

To grr:

Your refernce to "lobby" is very disturbing and ill-placed.

During the course of sveral decades, I have visited many former K-camps throughout Europe. I have written about these visits in two of my books.

I did not feel pressed by any "lobby" to do so. It was merely my interest in history, good or bad, and as sort of a personal homage to those millions of victims. In recent years both my wife and I have interviewed survivors, independently and also as part of the Shoah Foundation's great work in this regard...it has now interviewed (videotaped) more than 60,000 survivor testimonies for posterity ...thanks to Steven Spielberg's massive donation from his personal "Schindler's List" proceeds.

No, there is no lobby involved. I'm certain that any of those survivors still alive, if they could visit Guantanamo, would come away with the idea that comparatively, it is a boy scout camp. Truly.

Why not use "Andersonville", the notorious POW camp in South Carolina as an iota closer example to the well-documented horrors of the Nazi K-camps.

For shame, GRRR...you are both ill-informed and ridiculous in your nasty "lobby" assessment.

True North, your remark doesn't even deserve reference.

Pinky Fin: Please go to Dachau...it's not mandatory, but it's something none of us should ever forget..and that's good for the future of humanity.

Stu T.
(anyone wishing to read my reference K-camp pieces on Auschwitz and Treblinka, please write and I will scan the few pages from my books to send to you.)

[email protected]

Andersonville, Georgia, not SC..here is some info on the hellish War Between the States prison.

stu t.

http://tinyurl.com/6yt246

Last Thursday, I saw Ben Stein's new movie - Expelled.

In it he visited Hadamar which is where the Nazis executed the 'unfit' (mental and physically defective - not the Jews as at other camps). It was really creepy seeing the place, more than the scenes at Dachau which he also visited in the movie.

I searched Fodor's and found no reference to it. For info, look at www.hadamar.de - the town's website. It is located near Limburg on the Lahn river near Koblenz.

My dh saw Ben's movie yesterday and was equally disturbed by that reference bigtyke.

Interesing that dd and I watched "the hiding place" last night. I am planning a trip with her in the spring and it is on the list of places to go. We will be visiting Dachau as well as the Anne Frank house and other World War 11 stops along the way.

Tower - kudos to you for your work.

truenorth - shame on you.

haunting photos Tom. thank you for sharing them.