... Views of a dark side of European history... it was the first concentration type camp in Germany and essentially the model for all later camps... it was used as their first experimentation in what would later be the network of thousands of camps, ghettos, and prisons designed for labor, torture, cruel medical experiments, and murder... now a site attracting many tourists but still an emotionally confronting place... it should be treated with respect for all the lives lost both at Dachau itself but also the millions of other lives murdered during the WWII Holocaust... with nice stamp and first day postmark commemorating 70 Years of "International Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem"...Thanks Dustin! (ヅ)
© Photos: Jesef Pröll
When it was first opened in 1933, the primary targets were political opponents to the Nazi Regime but quickly expanded to religious clergy then onto Jewish people, Romas, people with mental disabilities, or anyone considered a “threat” to the Third Reich. Most of the prisoners at Dachau were actual German natives.
The camp was setup to contain 5,000 prisoners but in it’s peak in 1944, held as many as 12,000 prisoners amongst the 30 huts. In it’s 12 year existence as a camp, 206,000 people were imprisoned with almost 32,000 being killed or dying there. However, it is speculated that both of those numbers are actually significantly higher.
Dachau was the longest open concentration camp and was still full and “functional” when the Allied forces came to liberate it in 1945. In the postwar years, Dachau served to hold SS soldiers awaiting trial and after 1948 it held ethnic Germans who had been expelled from eastern Europe and were awaiting resettlement. It was also used for a time as a US military base until it finally closed in 1960. This Memorial Site was opened to the public in 1965.
The 70th Anniversary of Yad Vashed
(Issued 03-08-2023)
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