Munich, Dachau & Oktoberfest

On Wednesday, we stayed home to pack and get ready for our big trip to Prague.
Thursday we left mid morning to pick up Tally from work and drive our first leg of the trip to Munich. Once we got close, we stopped in Dachau, Germany - the first concentration camp in Germany during WWII. This was my second time to Dachau, and it didn't impact me nearly as much as the first time. I believe there are two reasons for this. On my trip in 2001, I walked the grounds of Dachau with my friend Lauren Finkelstein who's grandfather had survived Dachau. The images, her tears, the sheer horror of it all made the day very somber. The second reason is because we saw Breendonk earlier this year which was not destroyed by soldiers and looks a lot like it would have back in the 1940's.

So, this time was different. We arrived less than an hour before closing so we didn't get to do the audio tour. We did get to walk the grounds and see the museum section. It began to rain, which seemed to be the right effect for the dreary site before us. We walked through the buildings that contained the gas room "showers," the room where they would hang the prisoners and then burn their bodies, and the old barracks. I can't imagine what it would be like to be treated as a number, or a lowly animal. On the entrance gate, it says "Arbeit Macht Frei" meaning "Work makes freedom." The tour guides explain that the sign was intended as a cruel insult to the prisoners who had to work with no hope of freedom because the official Nazi policy was "extermination through work" (see pic on bottom right).

This is a view of the whole entrance, notice the old gate
Picture taken when camp was liberated in 1945 (by the US ;) Courtesy of this site

September 2008



This is an International Monument designed by Nandor Glid

It represents the body distortion caused when a person was electrocuted by the electric fence.
This is one of the watch towers and the wall that kept the prisoners contained.

Here's a view from another angle taken back in 1945

Rows of poplar trees that fell in line with the barracks. They were originally flower beds until the prisoners planted the trees in 1938.
A picture showing what the old barracks looked like compared to the rows of gravel that is left.

As was the case in other concentration camps, the SS was very strict about the way things were to be kept clean and orderly.

"No mark or spot, however small, dared be made in the wood for if it were seen by the Blockfuehrer (barrack leader) a penalty was immediately forthcoming...Crockery too must be spotlessly clean, a single coffee stain overlooked would warrant an hour hanging at the stake. Kupfer-Koberwitz "The Mighty and the Helpless"

The green barrack buildings could be distinguished through the barbed wire. Even at a distance you could see that all was meticulously clean; the merest fragment of litter was absent. An air of foreboding permeated the place - frightful, cold as death. Never before have I experienced an atmosphere so uncompromisingly dangerous or so fiendishly hostile.

Kupfer-Koberwitz "The Mighty and the Helpless"

The Infirmary

The infirmary was continually extended in the course of the war. Located in barracks A and B were the administration office, the operating rooms, casualty ward, and the death chamber. From 1942, the SS conducted cruel medical experiements on the prisoners in the blocks 1, 3, and 5. These included malaria, phlegmon, altitude, and hypothermia experiements. Despite the infirmary wards being technically well-equipped, the medical care of the prisoners was catastrophic. There was an appalling lack of medicines and dressing material. those prisoners who themselves were doctors were premitted in 1943 to take care of their ill companions. For all those prisoners who could not be brought back to health quickly, the infirmary was a place of death.

Here are the words from a sign that stands outside the museum:

"May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933-1945 because the resisted Nazism help to unite the living for the defense of peace and freedom and in respect for their fellow men."

This piece of art represents the different colored patches that prisoners were given,

the chain of imprisonment that unites them all.

Never Again

This is the grave of all the unknown victims whose ashes became mixed

After getting depressed at Dachau, we decided to drink away our worries at Oktoberfest. Gotcha. Since we were in Munich during Oktoberfest we had to check it out. It was rather disappointing actually. We must have been the only family with a baby stroller and we were not allowed in any Biergarten (the only place you could sit down and eat) with a baby - even after I promised not to give the baby beer. So we walked around and checked out all the drunk people.

Sharing a super long bratwurst

It was akin to an oversized carnival but with lederhosen...and more beer

I had no idea how many people would be dressed in the traditional kleid & lederhosen. We stuck out because we WEREN'T in uniform. Contrary to popular belief, you cannot purchase lederhosen at Oktoberfest because it's traditional (and we don't want dumb tourists like you wearing it, making fun of it, and making us look stupid). I was also surprised at how many people didn't want me to take their picture. I mean, doesn't everyone love pictures of themselves getting totally wasted at Oktoberfest? I've never had so many NEINs and questions about what I was doing with the photos. I told people they were for my foto buch. I left out the part about my foto buch being online. My guess is people wake up the next morning to a phone call from their mom or wife asking why this picture of them is on the newspaper and weren't they supposed to be at work?

Needless to say, we got out of there quickly. I think we were all tired and a bit turned off by the whole event. I don't think it made Brent & Lee's "favorite sites in Europe" list.

We did get off the train to check out Marienplatz by night. It looks like a cool city.


The next morning (Friday) we went to the English Gardens. Tally, Brent & me left Kels & Lee in the car while we strolled along the river into the park. Tally & Brent pointed out some of the vegetation they knew (the signs were in German) and we made it from one end of the park and back.

Brent became our family photographer on this trip and was so patient with me as I fixed settings and asked her to take several pictures. It was wonderful not to have to bring the tripod everywhere!

Walking towards the light

Tally really enjoyed being able to spend time with his mom