Dachau received its first prisoners on March 22, as four police trucks brought in 200 inmates from the Stadelheim Prison and Landsberg Prison. The camp, built around a former munitions factory, was originally intended as a camp for ‘political prisoners’ such as communists, trade unionists and other political opponents of the Nazis. This was soon extended to include Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roma and Sinti and gay men.
Between the years 1933 and 1945, more than 3.5 million Germans were imprisoned in such concentration camps or prison for political reasons. Approximately 77,000 Germans were killed for one or another form of resistance by Special Courts, courts-martial, and the civil justice system. Many of these Germans had served in government, the military, or in civil positions, which were considered to enable them to engage in subversion and conspiracy against the Nazis.
Large numbers of Jews were also interned at Dachau. In the days following the November Pogrom (Kristallnacht) in November 1938, over 10,000 Jewish people were imprisoned in the camp.
Prisoners were forced into slave labour, to contribute to the expansion of the camp. Slave labour, medical experimentation and mass killings all took place at Dachau. The living conditions also lead to many deaths, through starvation and typhus epidemics.
Hundreds of prisoners suffered and died, or were executed, in medical experiments conducted at KZ Dachau, of which Sigmund Rascher was in charge. Hypothermia experiments involved exposure to vats of icy water or being strapped down naked outdoors in freezing temperatures. Attempts at reviving the subjects included scalding baths, and forcing naked women to have sexual intercourse with the unconscious victim. Nearly 100 prisoners died during these experiments. The original records of the experiments were destroyed "in an attempt to conceal the atrocities".
Photo: The first prisoner transport at the gatehouse of the former factory grounds, March 22 1933
March 22, 1933: less than three months after Adolf Hitler was appointed German Chancellor, the first concentration camp of the Nazi regime was established in the town of #Dachau, about 10 miles northwest of Munich, in Southern Germany.
#RememberHistory #USAtoday @dachaumemorial.bsky.social
![Elias (Alex) Cohen, the only known survivor from this transport, estimated in a post war testimony, that the number of deportees was probably at around 1050 people.
He recounted their arrival at Sobibor:
"The first thing we heard was all the shouting by the Moffen [Dutch derogatory term for Nazi's]… The women and children had to move on and disappeared through a gate. We could hear the carts the sick people were being thrown into, and a lot of crying and screaming. The men were still lined up in front of the fence… a German asked whether there were any doctors or nurses among us. They had to step forward.
I considered pretending to be a medic but decided against it…. Then he asked for workers up to 35 years of age. As there too few of these, he increased the age limit to 40. I joined the queue, and as we were standing there, he asked us what our trade was. I told him I was a metalworker and was made to stand apart from the rest, along with a few others.
We had to leave our luggage and get back onto the same train on which we had only just arrived. About 35 to 40 of us as well as the doctors and medics were sent to a transport to Lublin
Photo: View of the old officers' dining room at Sobibor (known as the "Kasino") after renovations, summer 1943. The building served as a dining room for the Germans and as lodgings for the camp commanders. Everything was made to look inviting and idilic for the arriving deportees so they would be more willing to follow to the "showers" to be murdered.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7s22kjzi3volj3spk2q3c6pa/bafkreibbwmpomvpnunnbxyvqwkh7jec4vnb2s5273filb6czdcnf2epgly)
![Cate Polk, a nurse at the Jewish hospital in Rotterdam, recalls the events prior to deportation and the journey to the death camp: We arrived in Sobibor after 5 days … We came through some kind of forest, it looked creepy. We did not know what was going to happen. Disembarking at the station wasn’t too bad for us youngsters but the elderly who weren’t fast enough were thrown from the train…. Those who could not walk were immediately taken in lorries. We, the nurses, were the first to be chosen. Then other women were chosen to do laundry and ironing. Mothers with children were told to stay with the children.
Man were also selected, boys between 22-42 years of age. Also male nurses and doctors who had been placed in the first compartment of the train with some Germans. They were not allowed contact with the others. The Germans asked us if we had any diamonds.
The train in which we sat now was the same one as before. A part had been disconnected in Sobibor. Some 4 cars returned to Lublin. We had to ‘schlepp’ [carry] our luggage and it made us laugh afterwards. Even in Westerbork some of it had already disappeared. We had to leave the rest in Sobibor. We considered it funny. We had no idea that they wanted to murder us. Thus we arrived in Lublin. All the girls stayed together. We never saw the men again. They were mainly from Rotterdam."
Photo: A view of the new "Kasino" or officers' dining room in Sobibor, completed in the summer 1943. It was larger than the previous dining room and, thanks to the L-shape, offered a sheltered terrace. The Germans called the building "Zum lustigen Floh" (The Merry Flea). The furniture on the terrace was made by Jewish prisoners. The dishes and cutlery used there came from the belongings of the camp victims.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7s22kjzi3volj3spk2q3c6pa/bafkreiaejmtizrudf2dfu7zaeuw6snuwgftl77x6l6njbqlyvf6fu4llxi)
