This Week In World History: We remember Dachau’s liberation on April 29, 1945 at the hands of the U.S. Seventh Army’s 45th Infantry Division. On the same day, the 42nd Rainbow Division liberated a major subcamp of Dachau.
Dachau
Germany’s National Socialist (Nazi) party established Dachau as their first concentration camp. Dachau opened five weeks after Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933. Originally a camp for political prisoners, it was located in the south of Germany just outside the large city of Munich. However, it eventually became a death camp for all found undesirable by Hitler, particularly the Jews. From 1933 to 1945, Dachau and its subcamps held at least 250,000 prisoners. According to incomplete records, at the very least 32,000 inmates lost their lives in Dachau and its subcamps. The actual number remains unknown.
Dachau’s Liberation
When Allied forces began to advance on Dachau, 7,000 prisoners were rounded up and forced on a death march from Dachau to Tegernsee. The day before Dachau was liberated, many of the SS guards occupying the camp abandoned it. Meanwhile, in early May of 1945, American forces successfully liberated the prisoners who had been sent on the death march from Dachau to Tegernsee.
Dachau Remembered
Today, the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site stands on the site of the original camp. It opened to the public in 1965. Not only is it free to enter, but every year thousands of people visit to learn about what transpired there and remember those who suffered and died in the Holocaust.
The Merdes Law Firm has been helping injured Alaskans for more than 30 years. It’s who we are. And while we hope you never need us … We’re here if you do. ~ Ward Merdes
Info Source: History.com and Ushmm.org
Photo Source: History101.com
