Dachau concentration camp

The Dachau concentration camp was a Nazi German concentration camp near the city of Dachau, north of Munich, in southern Germany.

1933-1945

Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp and served as a prototype and model for the others that followed. The basic organization, camp layout as well as the plan for the buildings were developed by Kommandant Theodor Eicke and were applied to all later camps. He had a separate secure camp near the command center, which consisted of living quarters, administration, and army camps. Eicke himself became the chief inspector for all concentration camps, responsible for molding the others according to his model.

Related Topics:
Kommandant - Theodor Eicke

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In total, over 200,000 prisoners from more than 30 countries were housed in Dachau. Beginning in 1941, Dachau was also used for extermination purposes. Camp records list 30,000 persons killed in the camp, with thousands more who died due to the conditions in the camp. In early 1945, there was a typhus epidemic in the camp followed by an evacuation, in which large numbers of the weaker prisoners died.

Related Topics:
1941 - 1945 - Typhus

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Due to the number of deaths and killings, the cremation facility had to be expanded, as the existing one was unable to keep up with the number of bodies to be disposed of. At the same time, a gas chamber was added to the camp. This, however, was never put into use, as the prisoners destined for death were transferred to other camps.

Related Topics:
Cremation - Gas chamber

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Among the most famous inmates of the Dachau concentration camp were Hans Litten, Fred Rabinowitz (aka Fred Roberts), and Alfred Gruenebaum.

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Dachau also served as the central camp for Christian religious prisoners. According to records of the Roman Catholic Church, at least 3000 religious, deacons, priests, and bishops were imprisoned there. Particularly notable among the Christian residents are Karl Leisner (Catholic priest ordained while in the camp, beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1996) and Martin Niemöller (Protestant theologian and Nazi resistance leader). In August 1944 a women's camp opened inside Dachau. Its first shipment of women came from Auschwitz Birkenau. Only nineteen women guards served at Dachau, most of them until liberation, and only sixty-three served in the Dachau complex. We know sixteen female overseers by name; Fanny Baur, Leopoldine Bittermann, Ernestine Brenner, Anna Buck, Rosa Dolaschko, Maria Eder, Rosa Grassmann, Betty Hanneschaleger, Ruth Elfriede Hildner, Josefa Keller, Berta Kimplinger, Lieselotte Klaudat, Theresia Kopp, chief wardress Eleonore Bauer, Rosalie Leimboeck, and Thea Miesl{{ref|FemObs}}. Women guards were also staffed at the Augsburg Michelwerke, Burgau, Kaufering, Muhldorf, and Munich Agfa Camera Werke subcamps. In mid-April 1945 many female subcamps at Kaufering, Augsburg and Munich closed, and the SS women stationed at Dachau. It is reported that female SS guards gave prisoners guns before liberation to save them from postwar prosecution.

Related Topics:
Roman Catholic - Religious - Deacon - Priest - Bishop - Karl Leisner - Beatified - Pope John Paul II - 1996 - Martin Niemöller - Protestant - Women guards - Fanny Baur - Ernestine Brenner - Anna Buck - Rosa Dolaschko - Maria Eder - Rosa Grassmann - Betty Hanneschaleger - Ruth Elfriede Hildner - Josefa Keller - Berta Kimplinger - Lieselotte Klaudat - Eleonore Bauer - Rosalie Leimboeck - Thea Miesl

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The last leader of the camp's prisoners was Oskar Müller (an anti-fascist), who later became minister of labor for Hessia. According to the report of Father Johannes Maria Lenz, Müller sent two prisoners to bring the U.S. army to free the camp, because orders had come in to kill all the prisoners.

Related Topics:
Oskar Müller - Anti-fascist - Hessia - U.S.

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