The camp commander gives a speech to prisoners about to be released as part of a pardoning action near Christmas 1933. This Dachau was the first nazi concentration camp, opening on 22 March 1933 (just 7 weeks after Hitler came to power). Although it was a forced labour camp and there were no gas chambers there, brutality and violent punishments were the norm. There were 32000 documented deaths there and many thousands more undocumented. The main camp (Dachau had 100 sub-camps) was liberated by the US Army on 29th April 1945. The photo is dated 4th May 1945, five days after liberation.

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Size: 1800px × 1204px
Photo credit: © CBW / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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