Dachau Essays - States Of Germany, Bavaria, Nazi Germany

Dachau January 30, 1933. A black cloud began to form over Germany as Adolph Hitler became chancellor. Exactly one month later the Legal Bulletin of the Reich No. 17 stated that articles 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124 and 153 were no longer valid. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the right to assemble were now restricted. Weeks went by and these articles were still not reinstated. Little did the citizens of Germany know that these articles would not be reinstated for years (Whissen 27-38). Six weeks after the Legal bulletin of the Reich No. 17 was put out, Henreich Himmler announced that a concentration camp in Dachau, Germany had been established. This was later simply known as Dachau Concentration Camp. This camp was located in a small town called Dachau and about 10 miles from Munich, Germany. It was entitled to accommodate 5,000 political prisoners, although after the camp had opened the population rarely ever dropped below 12,000. Yet as the war progressed, the different types of prisoners increased and over 31,000 prisoners inhabited the camp (Feig 43-47). Dachau Concentration Camp had a distinct and prompt schedule created by Theodore Eicke. With Dachau being the first of its kind, the daily schedule served as a role model for other concentration camps. The schedule was divided into two, a summer routine and a winter routine. The summer routine went as follows: Wake up- 4:00 am Roll call- 5:15 am Working time- 6:00am-12:00pm Dinner(including marching in and out)- 12:00pm-1:00pm Working time- 1:00pm-6:30pm Roll call- 7:00 p.m. (lasting about an hour) All to barracks- 8:45 p.m. To bed- lights out- 9:00 p.m. (Distel 126). As the winter schedule consisted of: ? Wake up- 5:00 am Working time- from dawn to dusk? (Distel 126). While these routines seem rough, it only scratched the surface of being merciless, compared to the other camps (Whissen 46-48). The first prisoners in Dachau were mainly political prisoners. These were people who went against the regime, or the current government in power. At this time it was the National Socialists German Workers Party. With this, most of the first prisoners consisted of communists, social democrats, members of the trade union and a few members of the conservative and liberal parties. Also the very first Jewish prisoners were imprisoned in Dachau only because of their political beliefs. In the following years the types of people deported to Dachau varied. These people were made up of, Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, Jehovah' Witnesses, clergymen and others. In November after, ?The Night of Broken Glass? more than 10,000 Jews were sent to Dachau. Although in the long run that was to be considered not many Jews at all (Dachau par. 2). Prisoners from a variety of different European countries were brought to Dachau. Such countries included Austria, Poland, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Soviet Union and France. Out of these countries the Polish prisoners were the largest national group, followed by the prisoners from the Soviet Union. Altogether there were well over 200,000 prisoners from more than 30 different countries imprisoned in Dachau. At most times German prisoners were more ?privileged? so to speak, but after a long span of time, Germans were finally considered a minority. With this, Dachau was a camp overflowing with different cultures (Horwitz 46-47). Slave and Labor in the Dachau Concentration Camp greatly differed from one project to another. All of the prisoners in Dachau worked in heavy labor teams. Major working assignments included rolling the streets or working in the gardens and plantations. The gravel pits, the moor-express and the snow kommando were also great tasks. The prisoners themselves considered the gravel pits to be the worst assignment. However they also agreed that , ?Snow Kommando? was also terrible. This chore was to be done under the conditions of, ?Horrible Germany Weather.? The assignment required prisoners to pile all of the snow using wooden planks. Earlier prisoners were ordered to build a large brick structure, complete with ovens. Though these assignments were entirely corrupt, Nazis' considered Dachau to be one of the more mild camps (Feig 50-51). If you weren't involved with the slave and labor of Dachau Concentration Camp, chances are you would be involved in a series of medical experiments. These experiments were prepared and performed by a man named Dr. Rascher.