We went to Dachau as part of the
2006 World Travel Club trip to
Munich, Switzerland, and Paris.
The camp was originally set
up in 1933 by the German Government
to be used as a camp for criminals
in
Germany.
It was transformed into a
camp where people were
systematically killed by the Nazis.
The Concentration Camp at Dachau was
opened Wednesday, 22 March 1933,
bringing in about 200 prisoners from
Stadelheim prison in Munich and the
Landsberg fortress. An announcement
made by
Heinrich
Himmler, stated that the
concentration camp could hold up to
5,000 people and its purpose was to
restore calm to Germany and that
having a concentration camp was in
the best interest of the people.
After this announcement, the first
concentration camp of the Third
Reich was officially established. It
became the first regular
concentration camp established by
the coalition government of the
National Socialist Party (Nazi
Party) and the German Nationalist
People's Party (dissolved on
6
July 1933). Heinrich Himmler, then
Chief of Police of Munich,
officially described the camp as
"the first concentration camp
for political prisoners."
The main priority of the Dachau
concentration camp was to serve as a
munition factory along with forced
labor working to expand the camp.
The Dachau concentration camp was
also the training center for SS
guards and was a model for other
concentration camps.
Visitors
web site
Kevin
McGovern
Social
Studies Department
Mansfield
High School