Dachau, about 50km North of
Munich is the site of the first
Nazi concentration camp. It has been turned into a permanent memorial by the survivors committee, and can be visited daily, except Monday.
Although Dachau had a
gas chamber built in
1942, it had not been used by the time the prisoners were
liberated by
American GIs in April
1945. Dachau, unlike
Auschwitz, was not a
death camp, although it is likely that
several million people died there.
Hitler and
Himmler were apparently so impressed with the design of the Dachau concentration camp, that it became a model for all the others.
Today Dachau is a quiet village with excellent train services, lots of tourists, signs in English, and cheap property.
Thorneau: The Munich
U-Bahn doesn't extend as far as Dachau. Visitors should take the
S-Bahn (the
S2 from
Munich hbf) and then the visitors bus from the station. Good alternatives are car or bike.