München, Germany Part 1- Dachau Concentration Camp

This weekend was our first chance to travel on our own. 


Thursday afternoon, three friends and set off for Munich Germany. We had everything ready to go- hostel reservations printed, directions, eurrail passes, and train times. We left the Maastricht train station at 4:30p.m. and headed to Liege, Belgium, one of our transfer cities. We did pretty well on our first real train trip, until we realized in Aachen, Germany that our eurrail passes don't work for private trains...and did I mention we were already on the train when we came to that realization? Oops. But let me tell you, the words "avez-vous une réservation?" have never been so scary. Luckily, the conductor was very friendly and understanding and only made us pay an entry fee at half price. But needless to say, I will NEVER mistakenly take the "Thalys" line again! 

The Wombat: our first hostel experience

     We arrived in Munich at 12:30 a.m. and with the help of our written out directions, walked directly to our hostel without any problems. We were all pretty tired, but also very excited to stay the night in our very first hostel! 
       Due to the fact that we waited until the last minute to reserve a room, the four of us girls were in a six-person mixed dormitory, which meant we would most likely have two male roommates. I have to say, it was a bit uncomfortable walking in to the room and seeing a random man in a bed only a few feet away from mine, but we soon fell fast asleep and forgot about it until morning. On Friday, we woke up and had the awkward "nice to meet you boy-roommate" chat, haha, but both of the guys turned out to very nice. Jesse, a 24-year-old Canadian, was traveling Europe for a few weeks after the death of his grandfather. Maximillian, was a 37-year-old lawyer from Berlin who was taking social law classes in Munich. Both were great conversationalists, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them over the course of one evening. It's always inspiring to get to know people from a completely different background than you and see what makes them tick, what drives them, and what their dreams for the future are. 

        Despite our get-to-know-you chats at the hostel, we didn't spend much time there. We woke early Friday and went to Dachau, the very first WWII concentration camp opened on March 22, 1933. I have only ever read about this place in history books and have seen a few memorials in the U.S. but nothing brings the horrors of the holocaust to surface like actually seeing a camp for yourself. 

      When we arrived at the site, it was cold, overcast, and the grounds were layered in a blanket of icy snow. The fact that we visited this accursed place during winter made the reality of its conditions even more sickening. We walked around the site for a few hours, reading informational posters and observing old camp artifacts. We watched a documentary that explained in detail the happenings of this camp in unpleasant detail. Then we tried to prepare ourselves as we walked through some of the most horrific places in camp: the crematorium and the gas chambers. I imagine I don't need to explain to you what went on there, but I will say that walking through those very rooms and chambers was sickening. When you are standing in the exact place where tens of thousands of innocent lives were taken, you will either emtionally seperate yourself from it, or embrace a very dark, unwelcome tragedy. In that quiet moment, I quickly felt myself submersed in to the latter of the two. 
         On April 29, 1945, Dachau was liberated by American Army forces. 


"Our forces liberated and mopped up the infamous concentration camp at Dachau. Approximately 32,000 prisoners were liberated; 300 SS camp guards were quickly neutralized."- General Dwight D. Eisenhower 

Arbeit macht frei

      At the main enttrance is a gate that had the words "Arbeit macht frei," which translates "work makes you free." I cannot begin to imagine the feeling of triumph these prisoners must have experienced when they were finally able to walk out of that awful place as free men for the first time in years.