Dachau – American photograph of piles of clothing near Baracke X

This photo was taken by an American soldier near the gas chamber and crematorium of the Dachau concentration camp.
The piles of clothing in the image belonged to prisoners and are located in an area that strongly resembles the grounds behind “Barrack X,” where the gas chamber and ovens were situated.
During the liberation in April 1945, American soldiers discovered large quantities of clothing, bodies, and personal belongings here.
Piles of clothing were often found near gas chambers or disinfection areas, where prisoners were forced to undress before execution or so-called “delousing.”

Concentration camp Dachau

Concentration Camp Dachau was inaugurated on March 22, 1933.
It developed as a prototype for new concentration camps and occupied several special positions.
For most of its existence, Dachau served as a concentration camp, but Dachau was evacuated shortly after the start of the Second World War.
All prisoners were transferred to Mauthausen, Buchenwald, and Flossenburg.
A Part of the SS-Totenkopf-Standarten was stationed there to prepare for military deployment.
Concentration camp Dachau was reopened in February 1940.
As in other concentration camps, medical experiments were also conducted in Dachau.
Heinrich Himmler established in 1942 that an unlimited number of prisoners was made available for the experiments.
Some 206,000 people were held captive during the war and 41,500 were killed.
Dachau Concentration Camp was liberated on April 29, 1945 by American troops.
In the days leading up to the liberation, transports of prisoners from other concentration camps arrived in Dachau. Most people were in a pitiful state of exhaustion and malnutrition.
On April 26, 1945, a notorious death march started from Dachau.
During the liberation of the camp some 32,000 prisoners were still present.