Dachau and more Oktoberfest

Since we were only in Germany for a short amount of time, the next day we decided to head out of Munich to Dachau. As you might know, Dachau was the site of a Nazi concentration camp and now has a museum and memorial in that place.  While this is not a "fun" tourist activity by any means, we were looking forward to learning more and understanding more about the history surrounding Dachau.

Dachau is now a thriving suburb of Munich, but unfortunately, is still synonymous with its Nazi past. One interesting fact is that all school children in Bavaria (this area of Germany) are required to visit a concentration camp during their education.  This coupled with the fact that the memorial even exists, Germans (and all of us) choose to adhere to the mantra "Never Again". While the Holocaust would be a hard event to ignore in their history, they could easily choose to never speak of it.  This is not the case, and I think it is important and admirable that subsequent generations can learn from this horrible tragedy.

Here are the gates of the camp- Arbeit Macht Frei means "work sets you free".  Dachau was originally built in 1933 as a "reeducation" camp, for political opponents of the Nazis, only German citizens. They were sent here to essentially be brainwashed/tortured to agree with Nazi ideas. Although thousands died at Dachau, it was never an "extermination camp" (such as Auschwitz). Non-German citizens started arriving in 1938.  

The grounds themselves are haunting.  Here you can see the barracks of the prisoners.

Barracks like these continued.  They are gone now, but the outlines seen here allow you to picture how many men Dachau could hold. (Women were located at another satellite camp.) Towards the end of the war, the Nazis started moving other prisoners to Dachau, putting the camp way over capacity and allowing widespread disease and malnutrition (which was the primary cause of death here).

The former registration rooms and showers now house the museum. This is filled with a history of the Nazis rise to power, and explanation of what each prisoner went through when he arrived in Dachau.  There are terrible photos and stories about the suffering of the prisoners.

Just when you think you've seen enough torture and suffering, there is this great picture of prisoners mingled with U.S. soldiers standing on the "death strip" of grass after they have been liberated in 1945. Of course, many prisoners would have long lasting physical, emotional, and psychological effects because of their time at Dachau.  However, in this one moment, they were smiling knowing they were finally free.

From a statue outside the crematorium:  "Den Toten zur Ehr den Lebenden zur Mahnung" which means "To honor the dead, warn the living".  It was a moving and unforgettable day at Dachau.

Well, in order to end our time in Germany on a high note, we headed back to Oktoberfest. We went to the new Marstall tent, and had a fine time drinking our "mass" and chatting with some Munich locals.  As Scott mentioned in the last blog, Oktoberfest is a wonderful human experience. In fact, it's one of those "slices of heaven" I think God gives us a taste of sometimes on Earth.  People from all walks of life, smiling, laughing, singing, and feasting with each other.  After seeing a concentration camp that morning, we needed this.

Have to leave you with this, the song we heard over and over in the beer tents (and happily attempted to sing in broken German).  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD2-aSbcW0s

The lyrics basically translate to "a toast, a toast to happiness".  However, as we learned from our German friends, the word they translate to happiness- "Gemutlicheit"- is actually one of those great German words that doesn't have a comparable English word. It means more like good cheer and coziness, like you feel at home.