Dachau

Quick Facts

• Location: Dachau, Bavaria, Germany
• Operational: 22 March 1933 - 29 April 1945
• Type: Concentration camp and forced labor camp
• Founder: Heinrich Himmler
• Prisoners: Approximately 188.000
• Victims: At least 41.500
• Liberated: 29 April 1945
• Known for: First major Nazi concentration camp and model for the Nazi camp system

Origins and Construction

Following the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933, the Nazi regime quickly moved to eliminate political opposition. On 22 March 1933, the first prisoners arrived at a newly established concentration camp on the grounds of a former munitions factory near Dachau. The camp was established under the authority of Heinrich Himmler, then Police President of Munich and later Reichsführer-SS. Initially intended for political prisoners, including communists, social democrats, trade unionists and other opponents of the Nazi regime, Dachau soon became a symbol of Nazi repression.

Unlike many later camps, Dachau remained in operation throughout the entire twelve years of Nazi rule, making it unique within the concentration camp system.

Dachau as the Model Concentration Camp

After Operation Hummingbird, commonly known as the Night of the Long Knives (30 June - 2 July 1934), during which the leadership of the SA (including Ernst Röhm) was purged, Heinrich Himmler expanded Dachau significantly. New prison facilities and administrative buildings were constructed adjacent to the original camp. The organizational structure, guard regulations, punishment system and camp layout developed at Dachau became the model for future concentration camps across Nazi Germany and occupied Europe. SS officers and camp personnel received training there before being assigned to camps such as Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald, Mauthausen and many others.

As the concentration camp system expanded during the 1930s and the Second World War, Dachau became the training ground for thousands of SS guards and administrators. Among the senior officials who later oversaw the camp system was Richard Glücks, who succeeded Theodor Eicke as  Inspector of Concentration Camps in november 1939. Under Glücks' administration, the concentration camp network expanded dramatically across Germany and occupied Europe.

The Nazi regime frequently showcased Dachau as an "exemplary camp" while concealing the brutal reality experienced by its prisoners.

Expansion of the Prisoner Population

As Germany expanded its territory, the prisoner population at Dachau grew dramatically. Following the Anschluss of Austria on 12 March 1938, Austrian political opponents and Jews were deported to the camp. Later that year, after Germany annexed the Sudetenland on 1 October 1938, Czech resistance members, political opponents and Jews were imprisoned in Dachau. Similar arrests occurred throughout occupied Europe during the following years.

Among the prisoners were Germans, Austrians, Poles, French, Dutch, Belgians, Czechs, Yugoslavs, Italians, Soviets and many other nationalities. The camp held political prisoners, clergy, resistance fighters, Jews, Roma and Sinti, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals and prisoners of war.

Prisoner Groups in Dachau

The first prisoners included communists, social democrats, trade unionists and other individuals considered enemies of the state. Over time, the prisoner population expanded dramatically as Nazi persecution spread across Germany and occupied Europe.

During its twelve years of operation, Dachau imprisoned a wide variety of groups. These included political prisoners, Jews, Roma and Sinti, Jehovah's Witnesses, Catholic and Protestant clergy, homosexuals, resistance fighters, prisoners of war and civilians from occupied countries. Prisoners came from more than thirty nations across Europe.

One of the largest special prisoner groups held in Dachau was the clergy. More than 2.700 clergymen were imprisoned there, the vast majority of them Roman Catholic priests. Because of this, Dachau became known as the camp with the largest concentration of imprisoned clergy within the Nazi concentration camp system.

Although Dachau was not primarily established as an extermination camp, thousands of Jewish prisoners were deported there, particularly following events such as the Kristallnacht pogrom of November 1938. Many Jewish inmates later died in the camp or were transferred to other concentration and extermination camps.

By the time of liberation on 29 April 1945, the prisoners held in Dachau represented almost every group targeted by Nazi persecution policies.

Dutch Prisoners in Dachau

Many Dutch citizens were imprisoned in Dachau. Most were members of the resistance, political prisoners or individuals persecuted because of their Jewish background. Approximately 1.935 non-Jewish Dutch men and around 200 non-Jewish Dutch women were imprisoned in Dachau. The exact number of Dutch Jewish prisoners remains unknown due to incomplete wartime records, transfers between camps and the chaotic conditions of the final months of the war.

On 5 October 1942, Heinrich Himmler ordered that Jewish prisoners held in Dachau be transferred to Auschwitz and other camps in occupied Poland.

Conditions Inside the Camp

Life in Dachau was characterized by overcrowding, forced labor, starvation, disease and brutal punishment. Prisoners were subjected to constant intimidation and violence by SS guards. Inmates worked in workshops, factories, construction projects and later in numerous satellite camps that supplied labor for the German war effort. Food rations were inadequate and sanitary conditions were poor, leading to widespread illness and death. Executions were carried out by shooting, hanging and other methods. Thousands of prisoners also died from exhaustion, disease and malnutrition.

Medical Experiments

Dachau became one of the principal locations for Nazi medical experiments. Prisoners were used as unwilling subjects in experiments involving hypothermia, high-altitude survival, malaria, seawater consumption and infectious diseases. Many prisoners suffered permanent injuries or died as a result of these experiments, which violated every principle of medical ethics.

Victims and Death Toll

More than 188.000 prisoners passed through Dachau and its network of subcamps between 1933 and 1945. Modern historical research estimates that at least 41.500 prisoners died as a result of executions, disease, starvation, forced labor, medical experiments and the harsh conditions imposed by the SS. The true number may never be known with complete certainty due to missing records and the destruction of documents during the final stages of the war.

Eyewitness stories

To learn more about the people imprisoned in Dachau, read this personal story preserved on Normandy1944.info. These eyewitness accounts help illustrate the human impact behind the statistics and historical facts.

• Kate Mueller Slonim

The Death Marches

As Allied forces advanced into Germany during the spring of 1945, the SS began evacuating concentration camps and attempting to conceal evidence of their crimes. Thousands of prisoners from camps across the collapsing Reich arrived in Dachau during the final weeks of the war, placing enormous strain on the already overcrowded camp.

On 26 April 1945, the SS began evacuating approximately 7.000 prisoners from Dachau. These prisoners were forced onto death marches toward southern Germany.

Many prisoners, already weakened by years of imprisonment, collapsed along the route. Those unable to continue were frequently shot by SS guards. Countless others died from exhaustion, starvation, dehydration and exposure.

Liberation of Dachau

As the situation deteriorated, the final Lagerälteste (senior prisoner), Oskar Müller, feared that the SS might massacre the remaining inmates before Allied forces arrived. He arranged for contact to be made with advancing American troops. On 29 April 1945, soldiers of the US 45th Infantry Division and elements of the US 42nd Infantry Division reached Dachau. Before entering the camp, American troops discovered a train from Buchenwald. Approximately 2.000 corpses lay inside the freight cars. Within the camp itself they found thousands more dead prisoners near the crematorium and throughout the camp grounds.

The horrific scenes shocked the liberators. In the immediate aftermath of liberation, several captured SS guards were summarily executed by American soldiers, an event that remains the subject of historical debate.

Approximately 32.000 surviving prisoners were liberated from Dachau that day.

The Legacy of Dachau

Dachau occupies a unique place in Holocaust and concentration camp history. As the first major Nazi concentration camp, it served as the blueprint for the vast network of camps that followed. The infamous slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("Work Sets You Free"), displayed above the entrance gate, became one of the most recognizable symbols of Nazi deception and cruelty.

In 1965, a memorial site was established at the former camp. Today, the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site welcomes visitors from around the world who come to learn about the crimes committed there and to honor the memory of the victims. Dachau remains a powerful reminder of the dangers of dictatorship, antisemitism, racism, political extremism and the abuse of state power. Its preservation ensures that future generations continue to remember the victims and learn from the lessons of history.