Victims

A picture in the camp museum shows a German political prisoner arriving at the Dachau camp in 1933, dressed in a Tyrolean jacket, lederhosen (leather shorts) and knee socks, typical clothing worn by German men in the southern state of Bavaria, where Dachau is located. The first prisoners in the Dachau Concentration Camp were political prisoners who were transferred from two prisons in the vicinity of Munich when they became overcrowded. Far from being a secret, the opening of the Dachau camp was announced by Heinrich Himmler at a press conference in March 1933.

In the early days of the Dachau Concentration Camp, prisoners were released after completing their sentence. Upon discharge, they were given the following instructions regarding work after their release, according to a document on display at the camp Museum, quoted below:

Directives for discharge:
You should show that you are willing to work. In other words, we want to give you the opportunity to integrate completely into the National German community.
You should display your willingness to work for yourselves, your family and the whole German Nation. No one demands of you that you become National Socialists; leave that to us. We do however demand that you become 100% "Volksgenossen"! You should devote the whole of your energy and skills to your allotted work. All employment is to be accepted even if it is not commensurate with your previous occupation. Unemployment is unknown to us, on the contrary, we do not have enough workers.
Hunger and want do not exist outside. Everyone earns according to his work, and in time each person will be assigned a position for which he is especially suited.
He who finds himself in need through no fault of his own, will be supported by the National Socialist charity organizations (NSW, Wohlfahrt). These organizations are however under no circumstances to be taken advantage of! Relaxation, entertainment and diversion will be provided by the "KdF"-department (strength through joy). The law makes provision for and protects the right of workers to take a holiday. However, I wish to warn those who think they can work against the wishes of the German people, or flee abroad and from there work against the Germans! We bring everyone back whether it be from another part of the Reich or abroad, and no one escapes our punishment.
The individual is of no concern to us and therefore it is unimportant whether anyone of them stays alive or not. We will achieve the goals which the Fuehrer has set us, despite the endeavors of these parasites. You may speak with no one about the camp, neither positively or negatively. No one holds your term of confinement in the concentration camp against you. We forbid you, however, to talk about any camp installations. You are not to establish contact with any former prisoners or to deliver any messages, not even a harmless greeting.
Take these words to heart and act accordingly! If you fail to do so, you will be placed into protective custody again and this time for a period of years not months, and for some there will be no freedom ever again. Re-imprisonment means stricter confinement and you yourselves are best aware of what this means.
Go and work and labor diligently for the welfare of yourselves and your families and thereby for the benefit of the German people and its minorities.

Deaths in Dachau

Towards the end of the war, conditions at all the Nazi concentration camps throughout Germany had worsened as Allied bombing destroyed supply lines for food and medicine. According to Marcus J. Smith in his book "The Harrowing of Hell" there were 54 recorded deaths at Dachau in January 1944 and in February 1944, there were 101 reported deaths. By 1945, these numbers had increased dramatically. In January 1945, there were 2,888 deaths at Dachau and 3,977 deaths in February 1945. By the time the American liberators reached the Dachau camp, there was no more coal left to stoke the crematory and bodies had been left lying on the ground. Their clothing had been removed and given to still living prisoners. There was a typhus epidemic raging and 900 prisoners at Dachau were dying of the disease when the liberators arrived, according to the account of Marcus J. Smith. He wrote that eleven of the barracks buildings at the Dachau camp had been converted into a hospital to house the 4,205 sick prisoners. Another 3,866 prisoners were bed ridden. He put the total number of survivors at around 32,600, but said that between 100 and 200 a day were still dying after the camp was liberated. He mentioned that the American Army tried to keep the freed prisoners in the camp to prevent the typhus epidemic from spreading throughout the country.

A U.S. Army photograph which hangs in the Museum exhibit shows reporters viewing the bodies of the victims at Dachau. Michael Selzer wrote in "Deliverance Day" that this photo was taken on May 4, 1945, after the camp was liberated on April 29, 1945. It was very cold and there had been snow flurries as late as May 1, according to his account. The bodies are shown spread out on the grounds inside the camp, although all of the eye-witness accounts of the liberation describe the bodies as being "stacked" outside the camp in the crematoria area. Another photograph shows reporters viewing dead bodies on May 3, 1945 at the Dachau camp.

Many more prisoners died after the liberation of the Dachau camp because they were unaccustomed to eating the amount and type of food given to them by the Americans. As soon as the Americans reached the camp they threw chocolate bars to the starving and sick prisoners. Many survivors of Dachau and other camps reported that their friends died after their first meal of rich American food, after being on a prison diet of mostly whole wheat bread and vegetable soup. Martin Gilbert wrote in his book "The Holocaust," that those who died from over eating the chocolate and canned meat given to them by the Americans were called "canned-food victims." Many of the Dachau inmates were too weak to recuperate from typhus, even with medical treatment provided by the American Army doctors, who were seeing typhus for the first time in their careers, according to Marcus J. Smith in his book "The Harrowing of Hell." The Americans declined to use the German methods of controlling typhus and elected to use DDT instead of Zyklon B to kill the lice, and to bury the bodies instead of cremating them.

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