The First Nazi Concentration Camp in Germany
Dachau and its role before and during the Second World War
Oct 13, 2009
Dachau is a Bavarian suburb not far from Munich. It was here the Nazis created their first Concentration Camp which served as a model for numerous others throughout Germany and in occupied territories during the Second World War.
Political Prisoners in Dachau
Although the Nazis had won power legitimately in 1933, there were still a number of groups and parties who opposed them and National Socialism. The Nazi’s main political enemy was Communists, but they also had opposition from Social Democrats and Trade Unionists, amongst others. These were the first prisoners to be interred in Dachau, in the beginning prisoners would be released for showing their commitment to Nazi Germany.
Jehovah’s Witnesses and Other Prisoners in Dachau
The population of Dachau soon began to increase and political prisoners were joined by criminals, anti-socials (alcoholics, beggars), Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roma and Homosexuals. The Nazis introduced a colour coding system for inmates in Dachau and was used in all other camps:
Criminals – green triangles
Political Prisoners – red triangles
Anti-socials – black triangles
Roma – black or brown triangles
Homosexuals – pink triangles
Jehovah’s Witnesses – purple triangles
This was a demoralising tactic enforced by the Nazis and caused a lot of tension and isolation between the different groups in the camp.
Jewish Prisoners in Dachau
Any Jewish prisoners in Dachau were forced to wear the yellow Star of David, if a Jewish prisoner was in Dachau for being a Communist for example, they would wear a red triangle and a yellow triangle in the shape of the Star of David. Initially there was not a large number of Jewish prisoners in Dachau until after Kristallnacht in 1938 when government persecution of the Jews intensified. A number of Jewish prisoners in this period were released if they could show documentation proving they were to emigrate.
Dachau during the Second World War
Before the Second World War began the SS used prisoners to expand the Dachau camp and construct new buildings. As the Wehrmacht gained territory in eastern and western Europe the population of the camp increased dramatically, it now contained prisoners from all over the Reich, including Soviet POWs. In 1942 a crematorium complex was constructed at Dachau the purpose of which is obvious. Dachau however was not an extermination camp, although thousands of people were killed through hard labour, disease, starvation, beatings, hangings and shootings. Also at Dachau – as occurred in most other camps – prisoners were used for scientific experiments, these included using a decompression chamber to see what altitude pilots could survive at, and injections with untested medicines. Most of the experiments resulted in painful deaths or permanent disability or disfigurement.
As the war intensified and the tide turned against Germany demand for armaments intensified, satellite camps of Dachau were built around nearby munitions factories where around 30,000 prisoners were forced to work under extremely harsh conditions.
Liberation of Dachau in 1945
As the Allies advanced towards Germany from the West, plans were made by the Nazis to evacuate Dachau and other camps in western Germany. Those prisoners who were fit enough were forced to march miles to the next camp under SS guard, these were known as the death marches, as anyone who could not keep up was shot on the spot and many others perished from exhaustion. The US forces that liberated the camp were faced with decomposing corpses and many prisoners facing death through starvation and a typhus epidemic that had broken out. Thousands of prisoners did die in Dachau but an exact figure will probably remain unknown.
Sources:
Burleigh, M. The Third Reich: A New History. London: Macmillan, 2001.
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