17 Facts About Dachau

1.

Dachau was the first concentration camp built by Nazi Germany, opening on 22 March 1933.

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2.

Dachau served as a prototype and model for the other German concentration camps that followed.

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3.

Dachau had a separate, secure camp near the command center, which consisted of living quarters, administration and army camps.

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4.

Dachau complex included the prisoners' camp which occupied approximately 5 acres, and the much larger area of SS training school including barracks, factories plus other facilities of around 20 acres.

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5.

Dachau was the concentration camp that was in operation the longest, from March 1933 to April 1945, nearly all twelve years of the Nazi regime.

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6.

Dachau was the third concentration camp to be liberated by British or American Allied forces.

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7.

Dachau toured the site to see if it could be used for quartering protective-custody prisoners.

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8.

The Concentration Camp at Dachau was opened 22 March 1933, with the arrival of about 200 prisoners from Stadelheim Prison in Munich and the Landsberg fortress .

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9.

The killings at Dachau suddenly stopped, Wackerle was transferred to Stuttgart and replaced by Theodor Eicke.

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10.

Dachau originally held communists, leading socialists and other "enemies of the state" in 1933 but, over time, the Nazis began to send German Jews to the camp.

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11.

In 1940, Dachau became filled with Polish prisoners, who continued to be the majority of the prisoner population until Dachau was officially liberated.

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12.

KZ Dachau was therefore the longest running concentration camp of the Third Reich.

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13.

The Dachau complex included other SS facilities beside the concentration camp—a leader school of the economic and civil service, the medical school of the SS, etc.

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14.

Dachau was used as the chief camp for Christian clergy who were imprisoned for not conforming with the Nazi Party line.

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15.

Dachau testified about hangings, shootings and lethal injections, but did not admit to direct responsibility for any individual deaths.

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16.

Satellite camps under the authority of Dachau were established in the summer and autumn of 1944 near armaments factories throughout southern Germany to increase war production.

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17.

An Inspector General report resulting from a US Army investigation conducted between 3 and 8 May 1945—titled "American Army Investigation of Alleged Mistreatment of German Guards at Dachau"—found that 21 plus "a number" of presumed SS men were killed, with others being wounded after their surrender had been accepted.

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