Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site

DACHAU, GERMANY - APRIL 14: The reconstructed barracks at Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site on April 14, 2017 in Dachau, Germany. Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp and began operation in 1933 by Heinrich Himmler to hold political prisoners, though it later expanded to include Jews, common criminals and foreign nationals. Prisoners lived in constant fear of brutal treatment and terror detention including standing cells, floggings, the so-called tree or pole hanging, and standing at attention for extremely long periods. The camps were liberated by U.S. forces on 29 April 1945. There were 32,000 documented deaths at the camp, and thousands that are undocumented. In the postwar years the Dachau facility served to hold SS soldiers awaiting trial. After 1948, it held ethnic Germans who had been expelled from eastern Europe and were awaiting resettlement, and also was used for a time as a United States military base during the occupation. It was finally closed in 1960. At the moment the facilities fulfill the function of Commemorative Museum. (Photo by Athanasios Gioumpasis/Getty Images)