Location: Dachau, Germany

So once more, I took a trip with my brother, Cody. The final leg of the trips. Be prepared for this, when Cody and I lived in Germany before we lived closer to Dachau and so of course we went to take a gander at it. I was about 6 or 7 at the most. It's scary, but I still have vivid images in my head from that trip. Dachau has changed a lot. One thing that has not changed fortunately is the gate walking into the concentration camp. Dachau was a concentration camp during the Holocaust. It was actually the biggest camp used during the War, but Auschwitz is the best known. Some of the most important people were sent here, such as the man who attempted to kill Hitler with a bomb during a conference. Too bad he left early.

So the gate says, "Arbeit Macht Frei". Not the best picture, but I was trying to take it and people wouldn't let me shut the gate to take it. The gate's inscription means, Work will make you Free. I don't think it ever did.

Cody and I wanted to show Wendy, his friend who came with him, the living conditions of Dachau. We walked back to the barracks for the "special prisoners" who were put there because they did something to annoy the Nazis. So the tower to the right here is just one of the towers put in the corners to keep an eye out. To help draw out the picture, when Dachau was up and running and when Cody and I went the first time Dachau had little around it. It was in a wide open field. Now there are houses around it, with businesses coming a new. What's more interesting is around 1998 they uncovered tracks that revealed prisoners were trained in and immediately got off and walked right into the gates of Dachau. There wasn't really much other place to go.

The next three pictures are words written by prisoners to describe how they were treated and the conditions of living, I am going to post them without any commentary, hopefully their words are strong enough to do the feeling that is present there justice.

As you walk down the long hallway in this building you can't go into many of these rooms, but as I was wandering around I happened to glance down and I noticed that someone had come and placed a flower in a room. Not 100% sure as to why, but perhaps it's where a family member stayed or just because a family member was sent to Dachau.

I had to lean over the glass that keeps you out of the rooms, but I had to get a picture of the toilets. I remember these from the first time. How utterly nasty they look, and they still look the same. Imagine what they looked like 60 years ago.

In one of the rooms is a portable alter, why they were given permission to have a portable alter I am not sure. I think it was for the religious leaders who were caught trying to help Jews and so they still needed them to perform services and to perhaps lead the Jews to the "right path". I am not positive what was going through their minds, but perhaps this is a good thing.

On the opposite side of the barracks is the holding cells for SS members who were charged and sentenced to imprisonment. A much higher percentage of them were executed than even the Jewish population.

One of the most powerful aspects of the camp is the wall with the enscription of different languages all saying the same thing. I realize it isn't easy to read, so it says, "May the example of those who were terminated here between 1933-1945 because they resisted Nazism help to unite the living for the defence of peace and freedom and in respect for their fellow men."

The next few pictures are inside of the museum, just a heads up that the information is sad and can get disturbing. This first one however is just the best shot I could get showing all the camps in Western Europe.

This is an etched glass that shows what Dachau looked like back in the day. Can you see the people standing in the background? The constatina wire? Just how plain it looks?

In the main room where they would "in-process" the prisoners after some excavations in recent years they found this under paint that was added after the end of the war. Rauchen Verbotten means "Its forbidden to smoke". They just took everything from them didn't they? Not that not being allowed to smoke is a bad thing, but man.

A form of punishment at Dachau. The prisoners were stretched over the table while two SS men beat them with a bullwhip. The prisoner had to count the blows outloud. What pains.

Ever wonder what happens to people who are imprisoned by a dictator who thinks they are not good enough to live? They end up nothing but skin and bones. Sad pictures, but I feel for some people they need these pictures to admit that the Holocaust actually happened and it is not a made up event.

This next man I don't think made it. How young he looks and so sweet. Can anyone honestly think it was right to do medical expirements on him or any other person?

Picture evidence of medical expirements. This one I believe they pumped air bubbles into his brain. The first shot before the bubbles reached him, the second during the time of impact, and the third, well after. I can't remember for certain, but I don't think he lived to see another day.

A sculpture done by a man who lived through it all. What a deathly march. People falling by the wayside and you unable to help them, bone pertruding from your skin, so many tribulations.

As you exit the museum another wall with more enscriptions in different languages; symbolizing the united front to "Never Again" let this happen.

This modern art was not here the first time I came, but how good is it to know that the world is recoverring from this tragedy and is able to move on; yet we are remembering the past so as not to forget those who did not make it.

Finally the one image that burned into my memory and even gave me occasionaly nightmares. When I first saw this as a young child the air was dead and snow was on the ground, everything around me looked like death and after going through barracks and the museum this sculpture shows you the true struggle it was for so many to try and stay alive here.

One final look at Dachau. The empty plots are where other barracks used to be. They were torn down after the concentration camp was taken over by US forces. Out in the distance is what I believe to be the old church place. I used to think it was the gas chamber, but they tore that down after the US forces took over as well. Thank goodness for that.

All in all, Dachau is a place that I believe everyone needs to go and see. I'm sorry if you do not handle situations like this well, but it really paints the picture for what was going on, and how lucky of a life we have. If American, count your blessings that now you cannot be mistreated because of your religion, skin color or ethnicity. I know good ole America is nothing near perfection, but I think we can all say that we don't have it as bad as any of the persecuted groups did.

Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Now you know.