Pics of Dachau

[Sabbat.be]

Hi,

My grand father was a prisonner in Dachau, and Im looking for pictures that would show me the "design" of the camp. Not specifically atrocity pictures, actually I dont really want those (I know it was horrible, no need for more details). I have never been to the camp and I want to know how it looked like in 43-45, the barracks, entrance, the workplaces, etc... Pics from the liberation of the camp in 45 for example.
Thank you,

[Warren Thompson]

Go to http://www.ushmm.org and search their photo collection. As well, try a search engine such as Google and search for Dachau. In my experience teaching about the Holocaust, I've run across many photos of this camp, pre-war, wartime, and post-war.

[rrobertscv]

My Uncle was part of the 70th Div. and was one of the liberators of Dachau. These 2 pic. were his and were given to me. I also have another post in this forum of a grave marker from Dachau he brought back. If you would like copies of these pics leave me a msg and I will contact you through email about mailing you copies. You can zoom in on the pic with the people and see the buildings, prisoners and American G.I's. The second pic is of the crematorium. Hope this helps.

[Warren Thompson]

The photos sent in response certainly appear to have been taken at KZL Dachau. However, they might not have been taken on the actual day of liberation: the top photo shows persons standing around shirtless
(could they be GIs?); the second snap shows the crematorium, but as I recall, on the day when the camp was entered by the US Army (29 April 1945), there was a large pile of corpses in front of this building.

BTW many accounts have the US Army 45th 'Thunderbird' Division as first on the scene at this camp, though the 42nd Division has also put in a claim (and thereby hangs a tale for historians to deconstruct).

Doubtless many US Army units came to Dachau in late April 1945, a good many of them fighting their way to Munich down the road -- or perhaps merely 'sightseeing.' I suspect a number of them have claimed to have 'liberated' it.

[Sabbat.be]

Thanks for your answers. I of course already did a search on google, but most of what I can find are pictures of the camp as it is today, on website of people that have visited it as "tourists"... a big part of it has been destroyed, thats why im looking for "authentic" pictures.

About who liberated the camp exactly, my grandfather unfortunately passed away a while ago so I cant ask him if he knows who freed him. All I know is that it was american soldiers. I know that only about 30.000 people were saved from the camp, when you think about all the people that died there, its really not that much.

[Dan]

Do you know why he was sent to Dachau?

[Sabbat.be]

Yes its actually a silly story. My grandfather was a police officer in Brussels in 1940, and refused to work for the germans after the surrender of Belgium. He was then sent to a work camp in germany, Im not sure wich one, but it wasnt so terrible. Certainly not the place you would like to be, but not that terrible. He was working in some chain-work factory, and he tried with his cousin, who had been sent there for the same reasons, to make some sabotage (? not sure of english word) on one of the machines there and they got caught. Then they were sent to Dachau as punishment. I know I dont give much details but its my grand mother who told me the story and she isnt much in the details. Thats why Im seeking more informations My grandfather passed away 20 years ago and I never had the chance to hear the story from him directly.

[wolfpack99]

here is a photo from an ss photo album i have from Dachau, notice the pile of bodies in the front, and the American GI's standing around them, to the left are slain ss men on the ground,

[Dan W.]

Aerial view of Dachau, 1945.
http://www.bayern.de/HDBG/projekt-kz/en/b/b.htm

Links to Dachau websites:
http://members.aol.com/zbdachau/linkseng.htm

Dachau today:
http://www.photo.net/bp/dachau/
http://members.aol.com/zbdachau/tour/eng1.htm

[Warren Thompson]

Thanks, Dan Weakley, for those informative URLs.

[Matt Gibbs]

Wolfpack;
I noticed the post mentioning the photo album, can you just let me know if this is an real SS photo albuum from Dachau itself or just one with Dachau pictures in. I am just curious!
Regards
Matt Gibbs

[wolfpack99]

The album is an original ss photo album, which an American posted Dachau photos in it, 35 pics in the album some showing the ovens, pits with bodies, slain ss men, piles of bodies with skeletal remains,
thanks for the interest