GERMANY - THE DACHAU MEMORIAL

This camp was designed as the model for all German concentration camps and was the site for the murder of over 30,000 individuals before it was liberated by the American Army in the Spring of 1945. It is now a memorial that is heavily visited by people from all over the world. The museum traces the history of the rise of National Socialism and the ideas that led to the creation of concentration and extermination camps. The displays and photographs are graphic.

The grounds include one recreated barracks, waiting areas, crematorium, burial grounds, guardhouses and worship spaces representing the Jewish, Russian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant faiths. I have visited the Camp in March over five different years and find it difficult to describe in words. "A sacred space" is the closest that I come. Each visit, I walked the grounds alone and tried to picture myself a prisoner there as I created images to capture my mood of the moment.