Visit Dachau
Visiting the former concentration camp as a group.
The Dutch Dachau Committee and the International Dachau Committee attach great importance to passing on the stories and memories to the next generations. It is in this context that we would like to inform you about the opportunity to visit the former concentration camp Dachau.
Today, the former concentration camp Dachau houses a museum that illustrates the conditions within the camp. It showcases the stories and thoughts of the camp prisoners. The representation of the camp prisoners makes the history of the concentration camp personal, creating a vivid memory of the atrocities that took place.
Concentration Camp Dachau is located sixteen kilometers northwest of Munich in the city of Dachau. Dachau is easily accessible by train from Munich. In the city of Dachau, you can stay overnight at the youth hostel, and there are plenty of restaurants to catch your breath after a challenging day following your visit.
Annually, around late April/early May, the Dutch Dachau Committee also organizes a Dachau Trip. During this trip, family members of former prisoners and any interested individuals can visit the camp as a group. Within the group, stories and thoughts are exchanged, adding an extra dimension to your visit to concentration camp Dachau.
If you are interested in the Dachau Trip, you can contact Lodewijk van Vliet, board member of the Dachau Trip, via info@dachau.nl.
Dachau Visit 2023
With satisfaction, we look back on a successful Dachau Trip. For 31 participants, the Dutch Dachau Committee (NDC) was able to organize a Dachau Trip for the first time after the Covid period: departing on Thursday, April 27th, with 8 participants taking the ICE train, and returning home on Monday, May 1st. The War Graves Foundation and the Dutch Railways provided the first-class tickets made available by the German government.
Friday, April 28th, was dedicated to learning about the Nazi period. At the BMW Museum in Munich, attention was given to the employment of many prisoners, with a bright spot being the improved nutrition provided by BMW (aircraft engines) to maintain production at a 'qualitative' level. After a delightful lunch offered by Consul General Annelies Faro in Munich, the NL group, along with the Norwegian group, visited the NS Documentation Center in Munich, guided by informative guides.
Subsequently, relatives of family members who were imprisoned in Allach laid a wreath at the plaques on the last remaining barrack of the former concentration camp, originally built for labor in the nearby BMW factories. Klaus Mai reported that recent decisions have been made at the municipal level for the renovation of the remaining barrack, allowing the forgotten sub-camp to find a permanent place.
The Dutch group then joined the ceremonies of the CID at Leitenberg and Waldfriedhof, where wreaths were laid. On Saturday, we received an extensive tour of the Memorial Site, and our participants were impressed by what transpired in the Dachau concentration camp. Representatives of the third generation in the NL delegation laid a wreath at the site of the former Barrack 22. The NDC board is proud that these participants could lay our wreath.
We then joined the CID at the "Nooit Meer" monument on the main roll call square, commemorating the liberation of the camp by the Rainbow Division on April 29, 1945. Next, we boarded the bus to the Monument for the Death March in the city of Dachau, where the mayor and Abba Naor (CID Vice President and survivor) speak annually.
On April 30th, the international commemoration took place, first at the former crematorium and the monument for the unknown prisoner, and then on the roll call square surrounded by the flags of countries with compatriots in concentration camps, carried by various country representatives. For us, Marion Mastenbroek, granddaughter of G.G. Mastenbroek, represented the Netherlands. After visiting the former SS shooting range in Hebersthausen (where thousands of Russian prisoners of war were executed) and a joint lunch offered by the city of Dachau at the Max Mannheimer Study Center, the unique travel program concluded.
For those returning to the Netherlands on Monday, a farewell dinner was organized at Hotel-Restaurant Zum Fischer, which was highly appreciated by everyone.
If there is sufficient interest, a Dachau Trip will be organized again in 2025, marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp.
