A necessary and disturbing stop in Germany

The other night we were watching Episode 9 of Band of Brothers, the excellent HBO series based on the equally excellent book by Stephen Ambrose. Entitled "Why We Fight", the troopers of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment come across a concentration camp as they move through southern Germany, in Bavaria. It reminded me of our visit to Dachau this past summer.

We spent several days in Austria in July, flying into Munich and driving south to Bad Gastein, in the Austrian Alps. We made a detour when we left Munich, spending a few hours at Dachau. We had planned this before we left Doha, thinking this was an important place to visit. We were right.

I didn't know much about Dachau beyond the name and the fact that it was a concentration camp. It was, I learned, the first concentration camp, opened only weeks after Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, used initially for political enemies but very soon after some of the "undesirables".


Entering the camp is disturbing. You walk through the same gate thousands of prisoners did, and as you do you encounter the first lie - the gate is labelled "Work will set you free." The roof of the administration building was painted with similar slogans promoting good behaviour and patriotism.

The main administrative building houses a detailed display of the history of the camp, with a focus on the stories of selected individuals, making it impossible to ignore or disbelieve the horrors of Dachau. A very effective presentation.

As you walk though the grounds, it really does feel eerie. It is a disturbing and yet sacred place, a cemetery, a memorial, and a reminder of what we - humanity - are capable of.

But as you leave, you see a reminder that time marches on. Only two or three kilometers from the gates of Dachau, you will find this:

At the time, I was really put off by a McDonald's being within shouting distance of the camp. But the fact is that the restaurant has been built where people lived and worked for years. Close enough to see the prisoners leaving the camp to work in the nearby forests. To hear the groans of the tortured. To smell the death and decay.

Now, it seems fitting that a place where parents and children, of all races and creeds, gather to eat and enjoy time together sits so close to KZ-Gedenkstaette Dachau.