Reese Trip, Day 1: Dachau

 We were so lucky to have Tom’s family came to visit us in Germany.  They flew into Munich so Ainsley, Sam, and I took the train down to Munich to meet them.  Tom unfortunately had to work for a couple of extra days.  It was my first time on the train by myself with the kids.  I was nervous at first because we had to transfer once, but the kids did great.  It was easier than I thought it would be.  We met up in train station and grabbed some lunch.  Then we caught the metro to Dachau Concentration Camp.  Dachau was the first concentration camp that the Nazi's built in Germany.  It was located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory.  It was used as a camp from 1933-1960. At first it held mostly German political prisoners   After the war was over, it was used as a prison for SS guards and Nazi members.  Afterwards it was used as a relocation camp for Czechs. the Dachau administration recorded the intake of 206,206 prisoners and 31,951 deaths.   We toured what remains of the grounds.  There are only a few buildings left.  We toured one of the prisons where they tortured people in individual cells.  It was awful to think about what happened in there.  There is a memorial now that says, “Never again.”  We then toured one of the reconstructed barracks.  There is only the foundations left of all the others.  At the end of the barracks there was several different memorials.  The Jewish memorial was especially harrowing.  Judy and Sue were able to tour the crematorium, but Annie, Rob, and I were just a few minutes late and so we didn’t get inside.  But unlike several concentration camps, Dachau only used their crematorium to burn bodies, they didn’t have any gas chambers.  After we toured the camp, we walked back to the bus station.  It started pouring and we were soaked by the time we made it to the bus.  So we headed back to the train station to get some dinner and then back to the hotel.

 The famous words "Work will Make You Free" on the gates of Dachau

At the hotel, Ainsley and Sam got to open birthday presents.  They both had birthdays since we were in Germany and so their aunts and grandparents spoiled them rotten.  Ainsley got a babysitter Barbie, books, activity books, and lots of cute outfits.  Sam got trucks, toy train, clothes and books.