Europe Day 4- Dachau Concentration Camp

On this day, we went to Dachau Concentration Camp. This day was different that any other day on our trip. We have all learned and heard so many things about the holocaust, but to actually go and visit a concentration camp and physically see where so much evil took place is a very humbling experience to say the least. When I was in college, two Holocaust survivors came to give a speech. Listening to their stories was horrific and they spoke about things that I couldn't even imagine seeing or going through. One of them spent time at Dachau so the entire time I was there I was thinking of her.

I was nervous about Kade asking questions and wanting to know where we were, but luckily for me he didn't. He just sat quietly in his stroller and Ella napped on our back. 

 

The first thing you do is walk though the gate and see "Work will set you free."

Most of Dachau was bombed by the Allies, so quite a bit was rebuilt. The survivors wanted it rebuilt and a memorial made to act as a reminder of what happened and to prevent this from happening again. 

Dachau was built to hold 6,000 people. At the time of liberation, there were 32,000 people. 32,000. I can't even fathom that. 

 

We walked through the gas chambers, and into the crematorium. The pictures in these rooms of what was found at liberation were gut wrenching.

 

It was emotional, and I remember not talking much and having a ball in the pit of my stomach the entire time we were there. 

After Dachau, we headed back to Nuremberg.  We ended the day on a much lighter note. We stumbled upon this really cool restaurant that was built in the 1400's by a group of nuns! How cool! The food was fantastic and so was our waitress! It was one of our favorite meals from the trip!