Day 5, began with the usual continental brekkie. Then we hit the road , a mostly dry road, for our stop at Dachau. The skies were grey and there was rain in the air, so the waterproofs went on again, along with wet boots and gloves, though despite the unseasonably cool temperatures, the hotel had no heating on. We had about 90 miles to go to our fuel stop and we did have some spots of rain during that time but in the main, it stayed dry. Having fuelled the bikes, Grizzly needed refuelling (where does he put it all?), so we dropped into Burger King. I thought we had ordered OK, Grizzly relies on me for the language skills, but when the order came, it was minus my coffee! Never mind, soon sorted. We had about a 25 mile run to Dachau. The site is free but they charge for parking, though I think the guy on the gate must've been too lazy to get out of his hut, as he just nodded us through. The visitor centre at the site isn't much to write home about, a book shop, the desks where you can get the audio guide and some toilets. We got a site map and entered the site.
After seeing the camp commandant's house and the platform where the railway brought the prisoners in, you walk through the main gate to the complex. We entered the main building of the complex, which through a static display, takes you through the, route the new arrivals took. There's the room where the prisoners were made to strip, the shower rooms, etc. There are lots of information boards and videos telling survivors' stories, as well as those who died there. There was a paricularly harrowing piece of film showing emaciated bodies piled high. Upsetting, I couldn't stay watching that for long. Behind this block is the prison block and a yard where fiing squads took place and other cruel acts. It is very hard, impossible even, to imagine the things that took place here.
Further into the site there are the bases of the 30 blocks that housed the prisoners, up to 60,000 at its height. Surrounding the complex are walls and barbed wire fencing, the lookout towers still intact.
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| The railway platform and in the background, the camp entrance |
The final part of the site we took in, was the crematorium. You enter the building, into a room where bodies were 'stored' prior to being burnt. Then you move through to the furnace room, where prisoners were also executed. Beyond that, is the 'shower' room. Out the other side the room where the prisoners were forced to strip ready for their Zyclon B 'shower' and beyond that again, another room for corpses ready for the furnace. This is a very, very sobering place to visit and at times I did feel quite close to tears. How on earth these soldiers could ever have thought this thing was in any way justifyable is beyond me.
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| Camp entrance, from the inside |
I'm not sure how long we spent on the site but we decided we had done enough and rode the 10 miles or so to our hotel in Munich. Destination this evening, in a way to combat the solemnity of Dachau, was the Hofbrauhaus. Beer and sausage were on the menu for sure. As we started walking, it's about a mile, it started to rain again! No matter, we were soon in the Hofbrauhaus and seated opposite a German chap in his Leiderhosen. 2 steins and 2 plates of sausage and sauerkraut were the order of the day, whilst the oompah band played away. Halfway through the evening we were joined by 3 young ladies from Australia. In a group of 50, they are doing 8 european countries in 12 days. We had a good chat with them and even shared some of their beer and dessert, as they had to leave quite suddenly. And of course, they couldn't go without having their picture taken with yours truly or kissing me good night. ;-)
It was still raining when we came out to come back to the hotel, so we took a cab back instead. As usual, I am sitting here doing the blog, whilst Grizzly is driving them home. And he says I snore! I have recorded him on my phone, so I can play it back to him when he gets a bit lippy :-)
Tomorrow we shall hit our last two countries, passing though Austria on our way to Vipiteno in the Italian Alps.
Until tomorrow then.
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| Grizzly, doing what he does best! |
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