Dachau Massacre - Brutal Execution of Nazi Guards during Dachau Liberation Reprisals - World War 2
Dachau Massacre - Brutal Execution of Nazi Guards during Dachau Liberation Reprisals - World War 2
Dachau Massacre - Brutal Execution of Nazi Guards during Dachau Liberation Reprisals - World War 2. The major purpose of the earliest concentration camps during the 1930s was to incarcerate and intimidate the leaders of political, social, and cultural movements that the Nazis perceived to be a threat to the survival of the regime. In the concentration camps the prisoners lived in constant fear of the brutal treatment and terror exerted by the SS.
One such camp was Dachau. The first prisoner transports arrived in the camp on the 22nd of March 1933. In October the same year, Dachau’s commandant, Theodor Eicke, introduced a system of regulations which inflicted brutal punishments on prisoners for the slightest offenses. Eicke ensured that the Dachau camp served as a model for all later concentration camps. It also became a training center or “a school of violence “for SS guards who were deployed throughout the concentration camp system. During the early years relatively few Jews were interned in Dachau and then only usually because they belonged to one of the above groups or had completed prison sentences after being convicted for violating the 1935 Nuremberg Laws which put Nazi ideas about race into law.
The number of Jewish prisoners at Dachau rose with the increased persecution of Jews. The camp was divided into two sections—the camp area and the crematoria area.
After the Second World War began on the 1st of September 1939, living conditions for the prisoners in the Dachau concentration camp drastically worsened. The murderous working conditions, the insufficient rations, and a lack of hygiene facilities in the camp led to a soaring death rate.
The crematorium area was constructed next to the main camp in 1942. It included the old crematorium and the new crematorium with a gas chamber. Instead, prisoners underwent so called “selection” and those who were judged too sick or weak to continue working were sent to the Hartheim “euthanasia” killing center near Linz in Austria. More than 2,500 Dachau prisoners were murdered in the gas chambers at Hartheim. In addition, mass executions by shooting took place, first in the bunker courtyard and later in a specially designed SS shooting range. Thousands of Dachau prisoners were murdered there, including at least 4,000 Soviet prisoners of war following the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.
Beginning in 1942, German physicians performed medical experiments on the prisoners in Dachau. Dachau prisoners were also used as forced laborers. They were employed in the operation of the camp, in various construction projects, and in small handicraft industries established in the camp. They built roads, worked in gravel pits, and drained marshes. All under terrible conditions. During the war, forced labor using concentration camp prisoners became increasingly important to German armaments production. In the summer and fall of 1944, to increase war production, satellite camps under the administration of Dachau were established near armaments factories throughout southern Germany. Thousands of prisoners were worked to death.
At the end of April 1945, the SS also began evacuating prisoners from the Dachau concentration camp to prevent their liberation by Allied troops. At least 25,000 prisoners from the Dachau camp system were sent on exhausting foot marches in the direction of Tyrol or taken away in freight trains. During these so-called death marches, the Germans shot anyone who could no longer continue. Many also died of starvation, hypothermia, or exhaustion. Several thousand prisoners died in the process.
On the 29th of April 1945, the Dachau main camp was liberated by units of the 45th Infantry division.
After the US soldiers ordered the SS guards to line up along the wall in the coal yard by the guard tower, Lieutenant Walsh yelled “Let them have it” and the US soldiers opened fire with rifles, pistols, and the 30 Caliber machine gun. After a 30-second flurry of gunfire, the Nazi guards were killed on the spot.
Because General Patton, then military governor of Bavaria, dismissed all the charges, nobody has ever stood trial before the court for this reprisal.
Out of over 200 thousand people who were imprisoned in Dachau and in the numerous subsidiary camps during its 12 years existence between 1933 and 1945, nearly 42 000 people were murdered.
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Content
0.42 -> Sunday, the 29th of April 1945, one week before
the end of World War II in Europe. The U.S.
8.52 -> Seventh Army’s 45th Infantry Division liberates
Dachau - the first regular concentration camp
13.8 -> built by the Nazi government. The soldiers smell
not only human excrement but also decaying bodies
20.46 -> causing many of them to cry or vomit as they
find piles of impossibly malnourished corpses,
25.38 -> more than 30 railroad cars filled with thousands
of dead bodies, and 30 thousand survivors,
30.78 -> most of them severely emaciated, who look like
walking skeletons. Thousands of them are sick
37.02 -> and would die from typhus epidemics and starvation
during the months following the camp’s liberation.
42.06 -> The shocked and angered soldiers as well as
prisoners who survived years of humiliation
47.22 -> and abuse by their Nazi tormentors, want
revenge and the brutal response is to come.
54.48 -> After Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of
Germany on the 30th of January 1933, the National
60.72 -> Socialists used an array of terror measures to
establish a dictatorship in the German Reich.
65.76 -> The major purpose of the earliest concentration
camps during the 1930s was to incarcerate and
71.1 -> intimidate the leaders of political, social, and
cultural movements that the Nazis perceived to
76.02 -> be a threat to the survival of the regime.
In the concentration camps the prisoners
80.88 -> lived in constant fear of the brutal
treatment and terror exerted by the SS.
86.22 -> One such camp was Dachau, situated near Munich,
89.16 -> which was established in March 1933 and
became the first Nazi concentration camp.
93.84 -> The first prisoner transports arrived
in the camp on the 22nd of March 1933.
99.72 -> In October the same year, Dachau’s
commandant, Theodor Eicke,
103.92 -> introduced a system of regulations which
inflicted brutal punishments on prisoners
108.3 -> for the slightest offenses. Eicke ensured
that the Dachau camp served as a model for
113.88 -> all later concentration camps. It also
became a training center or “a school of
118.56 -> violence “for SS guards who were deployed
throughout the concentration camp system.
122.52 -> During the first year, the camp had a capacity of
126.54 -> 5,000 prisoners. Initially the internees were
primarily German Communists, Social Democrats,
132.18 -> trade unionists, and other political opponents
of the Nazi regime. However, over time,
137.64 -> other groups were also interned at Dachau, such
as Jehovah's Witnesses, Roma and Sinti people,
142.98 -> homosexuals, repeat criminal offenders
as well as so called “asocials” whom
148.8 -> the regime incarcerated because they could
not, or would not, find gainful employment.
153.3 -> During the early years relatively few Jews were
interned in Dachau and then only usually because
159 -> they belonged to one of the above groups
or had completed prison sentences after
163.02 -> being convicted for violating the 1935 Nuremberg
Laws which put Nazi ideas about race into law.
169.56 -> In early 1937, the SS, using prisoner labor,
173.58 -> began construction of a large complex of
buildings on the grounds of the original camp.
178.26 -> Prisoners were forced to do this work, starting
with the destruction of the old munitions factory,
183.06 -> under terrible conditions. The construction was
officially completed in mid-August 1938 and the
189.3 -> camp remained essentially unchanged
until the end of the war in 1945.
193.56 -> The number of Jewish prisoners at Dachau rose
with the increased persecution of Jews. On the
199.32 -> 10–11 November 1938, in the aftermath of the
Kristallnacht, when Jewish homes, businesses,
205.62 -> synagogues, hospitals and schools were ransacked
by the Nazi SA and German civilians, almost 11,000
212.1 -> Jewish men were interned there. Most of the men in
this group were released after incarceration of a
217.32 -> few weeks to a few months, many after proving they
had made arrangements to emigrate from Germany.
222.66 -> The camp was divided into two
sections—the camp area and the
226.5 -> crematoria area. The camp area consisted
of 32 barracks, including one for clergy
232.02 -> imprisoned for opposing the Nazi regime
and one reserved for medical experiments.
236.4 -> The camp administration was located in the
gatehouse at the main entrance. The camp area
241.74 -> had a group of support buildings, containing the
kitchen, laundry, showers, and workshops, as well
247.38 -> as a prison block called the Bunker. Detention
in the bunker was a method that enabled the SS
252.66 -> to isolate rebellious and defiant prisoners as
well as confine and expose them to harsher prison
258 -> conditions outside the reach of their fellow
prisoners as well as to torture or murder them.
263.88 -> The courtyard between the prison and
the central kitchen was used for the
267.48 -> summary execution of prisoners.
An electrified barbed-wire fence,
271.26 -> a ditch, and a wall with seven
guard towers surrounded the camp.
275.52 -> After the Second World War began on the 1st
of September 1939, living conditions for the
281.1 -> prisoners in the Dachau concentration camp
drastically worsened. The murderous working
285.72 -> conditions, the insufficient rations, and
a lack of hygiene facilities in the camp
290.22 -> led to a soaring death rate. From 1940 more
and more prisoners were transported to the
296.4 -> Dachau concentration camp from countries
occupied by the German armed forces.
300.48 -> The crematorium area was constructed
next to the main camp in 1942. It
305.4 -> included the old crematorium and the
new crematorium with a gas chamber.
309.42 -> However, there is no credible evidence that
this gas chamber was used to murder human
313.74 -> beings. Instead, prisoners underwent so called
"selection" and those who were judged too sick or
319.5 -> weak to continue working were sent to the Hartheim
"euthanasia" killing center near Linz in Austria.
325.38 -> More than 2,500 Dachau prisoners were murdered
in the gas chambers at Hartheim. In addition,
331.14 -> mass executions by shooting took place, first
in the bunker courtyard and later in a specially
336.72 -> designed SS shooting range. Thousands of Dachau
prisoners were murdered there, including at least
342.9 -> 4,000 Soviet prisoners of war following
the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.
348.96 -> Beginning in 1942, German physicians performed
medical experiments on the prisoners in Dachau.
354.48 -> Physicians and scientists from the Luftwaffe -
German Air Force - and the German Experimental
359.94 -> Institute for Aviation conducted high-altitude and
hypothermia experiments, as well as experiments to
365.46 -> test methods of making seawater potable. These
efforts aimed to aid German pilots who conducted
371.04 -> bombing raids or who were downed in icy waters.
German scientists also carried out experiments to
377.64 -> test the efficacy of pharmaceuticals against
diseases like malaria and tuberculosis.
383.16 -> Hundreds of prisoners died or were permanently
disabled as a result of these experiments.
388.26 -> Dachau prisoners were also used as forced
laborers. They were employed in the operation
393 -> of the camp, in various construction projects, and
in small handicraft industries established in the
398.4 -> camp. They built roads, worked in gravel pits, and
drained marshes. All under terrible conditions.
405.54 -> During the war, forced labor using concentration
camp prisoners became increasingly important
410.52 -> to German armaments production.
In the summer and fall of 1944,
414.78 -> to increase war production, satellite
camps under the administration of
418.68 -> Dachau were established near armaments
factories throughout southern Germany.
422.82 -> Dachau alone had some 140 subcamps, mainly
in southern Bavaria where prisoners worked
428.76 -> almost exclusively in armaments works.
Thousands of them were worked to death.
434.46 -> As Allied forces advanced toward Germany,
the Germans began to move prisoners from
439.02 -> concentration camps near the front to prevent
the capture of intact camps and their prisoners.
443.88 -> Transports from the evacuated camps in the east
arrived continuously at Dachau, resulting in a
449.28 -> dramatic deterioration of conditions. With more
than 30,000 prisoners the camp was dramatically
454.8 -> overcrowded. Barracks built to house 200
prisoners were jammed with more than 1,600.
461.34 -> After days of travel, with little or no food or
water, the prisoners arrived weak and exhausted,
466.62 -> often near death. Due to overcrowding, poor
sanitary conditions, insufficient provisions,
472.8 -> and the weakened state of the prisoners,
a typhus epidemic swept through Dachau,
477 -> killing 100-200 prisoners a day.
Of some 41,500 persons who lost their
483.6 -> lives between 1933 and 1945, over one-third
died during the final six months of the war.
490.74 -> At the end of April 1945, the SS also began
evacuating prisoners from the Dachau concentration
496.56 -> camp to prevent their liberation by Allied troops.
At least 25,000 prisoners from the Dachau camp
502.62 -> system were sent on exhausting foot marches in
the direction of Tyrol or taken away in freight
507.78 -> trains. During these so-called death marches, the
Germans shot anyone who could no longer continue.
513.84 -> Many also died of starvation,
hypothermia, or exhaustion.
518.94 -> Several thousand prisoners died in the process.
522.9 -> On the 29th of April 1945, the
Dachau main camp was liberated
527.52 -> by units of the 45th Infantry division.
Before the US soldiers arrived in Dachau,
532.62 -> the camp’s commandant Martin Weiss had already
fled. However, there were still SS guards left in
538.98 -> the camp and Nazi guards in the camp’s gate tower
even foolishly fired upon the liberators. But
544.74 -> when the American soldiers opened fire in return,
they came down with their hands held in the air.
549.96 -> After the SS guards surrendered, the US
troops further expected the camp. However,
554.58 -> none of their prior combat experiences
prepared them for what lay ahead.
558.9 -> The first clue that something
was terribly wrong was the smell.
563.04 -> As they neared the camp, the American
soldiers found more than 30 railroad
567 -> cars filled with bodies in various states
of decomposition. It was a moment when they
572.4 -> understood the origin of the smell. It
was the overpowering stench of death.
577.74 -> Inside the camp they found even
more dead bodies, often naked,
581.76 -> lying where they had fallen in the last few
hours or days before the camp’s liberation.
587.04 -> Sometimes the bodies were stacked
on top of one another like firewood.
591.24 -> For many soldiers, seeing these atrocities
gave the war a new meaning. They realized
596.34 -> that they were not just fighting an enemy,
but they were fighting pure evil itself.
599.76 -> The Nazis had tried to cremate
as many of these bodies as they
603.6 -> could before abandoning Dachau, but
there were simply too many of them.
607.98 -> One soldier later remembered: “Everywhere
you turn is just the horror of bodies,
613.8 -> and people near death or in a state of complete
decrepitude that you cannot even process it.”.
619.92 -> While many of the American
soldiers broke down in sobs,
623.1 -> others were filled with rage, anger and hatred.
627.54 -> When four German officers emerged from
the woods holding up a white handkerchief,
631.68 -> one US lieutenant marched
them into one of the box cars,
635.16 -> which were littered with corpses,
and shot them with a pistol.
638.94 -> When the mortally wounded Germans cried out in
agony, another American officer finished the job.
644.46 -> Later, it only got worse.
647.82 -> After the US soldiers ordered the SS
guards to line up along the wall in the
652.14 -> coal yard by the guard tower, Lieutenant
Walsh yelled “Let them have it” and the
657.12 -> US soldiers opened fire with rifles,
pistols, and the 30 Caliber machine gun.
662.76 -> After a 30-second flurry of gunfire,
the Nazi guards were killed on the spot.
667.5 -> However, even this was not the end.
671.16 -> The prisoners themselves, many of them tortured
and treated as nothing but animals all these
675.96 -> years, also got their revenge. While all the
prisoners had lost at least some family members,
681.48 -> some of them had to watch their wives being
abused and raped. Others witnessed shooting
686.82 -> competitions in which SS members threw
small children in the air while others
691.32 -> shot at them. Others saw their friends die
of starvation or during the death marches
696.42 -> which occurred shortly before the liberation.
Some inmates swore to all that was sacred to them,
701.28 -> that if they could ever kill their SS guards,
they would not hesitate. And they kept their word.
706.8 -> When the prisoners caught the SS guards,
one of them elbowed one or two prisoners
711.48 -> out of his way. The prisoners knocked
the guards down and killed them all.
716.88 -> Several other SS men and kapos were beaten
to death by the prisoners with their bare
721.5 -> fists as well as with sticks and shovels.
Another soldier witnessed how an inmate was
726.72 -> stomping on an SS trooper's face until, as
he later claimed, there was not much left.
732.66 -> There were some SS guards who had changed
their uniforms for camp clothing. However,
736.92 -> they were recognized and lynched on the spot.
740.46 -> While all this was happening, fellow
prisoners and American soldiers alike
743.82 -> often stood motionless, watching coldly and
without sympathy, as revenge was exacted.
750.24 -> As one soldier later said "We stood aside and
watched while these guards were beaten to death,
755.64 -> beaten so badly that their bodies were
ripped open and innards protruded. We
761.4 -> watched with less feeling than if a dog were
being beaten. In truth, it might be said that
766.8 -> we were completely without feeling. Deep anger
and hate had temporality numbed our emotions.".
772.92 -> Upon finding a dog kennel with German Shepherds
and Doberman Pinschers, the soldiers shot many of
779.16 -> the animals. Rumors circulated that the Germans
had fed political prisoners to these dogs.
784.92 -> Later, American troops forced the German
citizens of the town of Dachau to come
789.9 -> to the camp to see for themselves the
conditions there and to help to bury
793.26 -> the dead bodies. Many local residents were
shocked about the experience and claimed that
797.82 -> they had no knowledge of the atrocities
that had been going on there for years.
801.66 -> To this day it is unclear how many SS guards were
804.54 -> killed but it is estimated that
the number is between 30 and 50.
808.44 -> Because General Patton, then
military governor of Bavaria,
811.8 -> dismissed all the charges, nobody has ever
stood trial before the court for this reprisal.
817.74 -> Out of over 200 thousand people who
were imprisoned in Dachau and in the
822.06 -> numerous subsidiary camps during its 12
years existence between 1933 and 1945,
827.34 -> nearly 42 000 people were murdered.
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