Rained on and off most of the night, and having started the evening feeling below par, I woke feeling better. Irritating cough, but well.
Felt much better after catching up with Sue on Skype , though the connection was pretty poor.
Headed off soon after breakfast, with a luncheon roll in my pack.
It was raining. In the city, a cup of coffee to contemplate my movements before meeting the group for Dachau.
Once reinforced with caffeine, off to see the New Munich Synagogue, certainly a style outside the scope of most religious buildings, a blockhouse of sandstone slabs surmounted by another block of what looks like chicken wire!!
Off to meet the group in Marienplatz, under the tutelage or Renata. The group assembles, then is swollen by another group who met at the rail station. There are about 20 of us, who head off after Renata to board the train to Dachau station, then the bus out to the memorial site.
It just happens that I sit next to the one New Zealander on the tour, and across the passage from the other Australian. They are both here on business, one with Fujitsu and the NZer here to sell lamb.
At Dachau, it is suitably miserable as we stand in the rain at the entrance gate where prisoners would have waited to enter the concentration camp.
Dachau was the first concentration camp in Germany, set up to concentrate the political prisoners, dissenters etc in one place. It was set up in an old WW1 munitions factory site by Heinrich Himmler.
The prisoners were stripped of their clothing and personal items and given a regulation issue of the bare necessities.
They were allocated a uniform patch, depending on their category, political, criminal, homosexual, asocial and of course Jewish.
The prison was build to house 3000, however by the end of the war over 30,000 were incarcerated there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_concentration_camp
The Wikipaedia article gives estimates of deaths at the camp, however Dachau, whilst the model for most other concentration camps, was not en extermination camp.
The crematorium was to cremate the prisoners who had died, and the gas chamber was never used.
Not that this ameliorates the horror.
We stood for less then 15 minutes in the cold and rain, listening to Renata, with umbrellas and jackets etc. The prisoners stood for roll call, at attention, for up to 2 hours morning and night. Roll call was extended for any infraction, or perceived infraction, with the longest lasting 22 hours just in there prisoners uniforms.
We really don't know how lucky we are.
On a lighter note, I caught the right train, right direction, got out at the right station and walked straight to the YHA, no mistakes.
The Picasa Albums for today
Felt much better after catching up with Sue on Skype , though the connection was pretty poor.
Headed off soon after breakfast, with a luncheon roll in my pack.
It was raining. In the city, a cup of coffee to contemplate my movements before meeting the group for Dachau.
Once reinforced with caffeine, off to see the New Munich Synagogue, certainly a style outside the scope of most religious buildings, a blockhouse of sandstone slabs surmounted by another block of what looks like chicken wire!!
Off to meet the group in Marienplatz, under the tutelage or Renata. The group assembles, then is swollen by another group who met at the rail station. There are about 20 of us, who head off after Renata to board the train to Dachau station, then the bus out to the memorial site.
It just happens that I sit next to the one New Zealander on the tour, and across the passage from the other Australian. They are both here on business, one with Fujitsu and the NZer here to sell lamb.
At Dachau, it is suitably miserable as we stand in the rain at the entrance gate where prisoners would have waited to enter the concentration camp.
Dachau was the first concentration camp in Germany, set up to concentrate the political prisoners, dissenters etc in one place. It was set up in an old WW1 munitions factory site by Heinrich Himmler.
The prisoners were stripped of their clothing and personal items and given a regulation issue of the bare necessities.
They were allocated a uniform patch, depending on their category, political, criminal, homosexual, asocial and of course Jewish.
The prison was build to house 3000, however by the end of the war over 30,000 were incarcerated there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_concentration_camp
The Wikipaedia article gives estimates of deaths at the camp, however Dachau, whilst the model for most other concentration camps, was not en extermination camp.
The crematorium was to cremate the prisoners who had died, and the gas chamber was never used.
Not that this ameliorates the horror.
We stood for less then 15 minutes in the cold and rain, listening to Renata, with umbrellas and jackets etc. The prisoners stood for roll call, at attention, for up to 2 hours morning and night. Roll call was extended for any infraction, or perceived infraction, with the longest lasting 22 hours just in there prisoners uniforms.
We really don't know how lucky we are.
On a lighter note, I caught the right train, right direction, got out at the right station and walked straight to the YHA, no mistakes.
The Picasa Albums for today
No comments:
Post a Comment