The Killing Grounds of Dachau | History Traveler Episode 270 

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It’s important we NEVER forget these horrible Atrocities that were committed. Thank you JD for all you do

Thank you for helping educate a new generation of Americans about the Holocaust. As it's often said, "Those who don't know history are condemned to repeat it." God willing, the world will never again witness such horrors and hatred.

My great grandfather was a colonel after WW1 in Czechoslovakia. After the German occupation of Czech he joined the resistance organization (Obrana národa) Defense of the Nation. He was captured and arrested by the gestapo in 1941 and sentenced to death. He was later transferred and executed at Mauthausen concentration camp in 1942. After his death he was promoted to Brigadier General in memoriam. I really enjoy and appreciate the WWII videos. Thank you.

It's always been disturbing what was carried out by Germany during WW2 but even more so was the well organized , systematic approach to killing. Just one of the many aspects of humanity that makes one's stomach turn.

Also nearby was A SS anti-tank training school, which is where my Dad's tank division (20th AD) took their heaviest casualties when pushing towards Munich. With my parents, toured southern Germany in 1980, and while I made a point to visit Dachau. My Dad however just couldn't do it for a second tine, just too many upsetting memories of what he had experienced in this area of Germany.

Wow…I love that the victims names are memorialized ❤ we must NEVER forget them and what happened to them!

Humbling and well done with Grace and Honor for those that were executed and or went through that living hell. BTW nice cliffhanger!

Artfully, tastefully, and respectfully done again, JD. There is something so terribly moving [to me] about the leaves resting on the monument listing the names of the men who were murdered here. My mind immediately embarked on an excursion to, “What if … ? What would their lives have looked like had they survived?” Gentle Slumber To All who perished in Dachau, and in every concentration/extermination camp throughout the Third Reich. 🙏 NEVER FORGET

Victims in my heart and prayers. This evil should never be forgotten.

I have a BS in History and I was in the US Navy almost 8 years. I love learning about history.

JD, I couldn’t imagine the horror of what these people went through and on top of it all having to hear gunshots being fired all day long at the gun ranges. JD, Up until the release of your last video I didn’t know Dachau was a SS training ground, your videos have so much information in them.

Thank you for the content and for remembering the victims.

I find I must watch these.....but I have to space them out because I get overloaded with emotion and grief when I watch to much. And anger! I really do appreciate all the information and truth you give. Thank you.

One of my Dad's navy buddies Mr. Lippa was a survivor of Dachau. He was saved by Amerians he came to this country became a citizen and served in the Navy.

Thank you for helping keep our humanity intact by looking back at our inhumanity...LEAST WE FORGET!

Very glad there's a monument with all the names of the brave soldiers that met their end in such a cruel way.

Thank you for letting us see. You do an awesome job sharing the facts. Bless all the victims

Visiting any of the concentration camps is a very sobering experience. These videos make me get very emotional, mostly sad and angry. Sad that human beings had to endure such atrocities in the camps, and angry that human beings allowed such atrocities to occur. Thank you for doing such a tasteful and respectful job honoring those who lived it, and honoring those who died because of it. If you ever get the chance to visit places like Dachau, Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Bergen Belsen or Treblinka, please do it. So that we never forget what happened at these places.

Gone,but not forgotten. Respect and gratitude for all who sacrificed during these troubling times. 👍

Probably one of the few places in the world, because of the conditions and treatment, that death was welcomed as a release. Amazing how so many people could sink to that level of depravity.

I was there in July of 1979. I commend you on the accuracy of your narrative. One thing I had noticed in the museum part there were wall to wall photos life size of the medical lab where they tested prisoners and of dead people every where. The Nazi training area was not open to the public and there was no mention of Russian military firing squads. Reading those names made me cry. I didn't while I visited them but now...life is far more precious. Boys fight in dirty old men's wars.

Thank you for all of your hard work. Well done ❤️.RIP to all the beautiful Souls who suffered the ultimate Evil.

As a Christian, I struggle that these people had to go through such pain. It's incredible that a lot of the people held their faith intact. I hope that the witness that they gave with the ultimate price, has an effect on this ever happening again. God Bless you all. 🙏🙏

I always like Your choice of music for Your videos. Michael Vignola's music is just perfect for this video.

JD, this reminds me of some of Your uploads from Poland in remote and virtually unknown cites except i could spend hours here. The memorial to the executed men in four straight lines was perfectly executed to illustrate history. The unbelievable poignancy of Your video demand the pun. Thank You so much and God bless !:-) 🙏💜🙏

Bye far my absolute favorite RU-vid channel I love everything about history and I learn something new everytime I watch your videos you do an amazing job

We took a trip to this place when I was a soldier back in 2005. What I felt that day will never leave me, as it was a prime example of how horrible humans can be. Be safe brother.

Thank You for telling us the stories about people and things that are in Jeopardy of being forgotten. They should be remembered so that it's never to be forgotten. Humans died in horrible ways and for no reason.

Another awesome video done with respect for the memories of those who were lost.

This channel always makes exceptionally good use of music; never moreso than in tough ones like this. This really honors the victims of these terrible places, and it steams me that RU-vid chooses not to get that.

You are living your best life while bringing so much joy to all of your viewers, even through these “rougher” videos. I have learned so much from you and Mr. Erik Dorr. Awesome video yet again man.

Another great video JD. I have studied history and WWII, and knew about the camps, but never knew about the Tussian POW's executed ar Dachu. Thanks once again for expanding my knowledge. Sir, you presented this in the perfect tone and manner. I am humbled watching all you do. These videos should be mandatory watching for our students in high school. Totally debunk the nay sayers

😢 Just sad. 4000 men. Just because they were Russian soldiers fighting a war against a country run by a mad man. I can’t imagine how their loved ones felt when they found out they died this way. Thank you JD for this sad but much needed to be seen video.👍😢

Wow. I got my first job in my profession straight from University working in a place in Dachau back in 2017, moving from the UK. The place was literally a few streets away. I lived in Munich for a lot of my time there, but for my final 6 months I was there I moved to Hebertshausen. Like most in the comments I had no idea about this place when I first moved here, and only found out it was there by chance when I was bored one day, and did some research into the small village I’d just moved to a few months previous. I almost even commented on the previous video asking if you had checked this place out! These Dachau videos have brought back some powerful memories and feelings I didn’t think was possible by watching RU-vid. I’m amazed at seeing the footage of the camp how clear the memories are of everything from my visits. And seeing the road I used to travel down every day past the camp to work when you were showing the camp fencing. Very humbling experiences. And I’m glad I made the effort to travel to other historical WW2 sights during my time over there. Just like to say thanks for these videos, and commend you and the team on the perfect blend of high level of production, quality information (plus how it’s delivered) and the perfect level of somber/respectfulness when covering difficult topics such as this. Thanks!

You're knowledge and insight is awesome, love watching your videos!

Unbelievably sobering to see these places with the detail you're bringing to us. Thank you for taking us with you.

JD, thanks again for bringing this content to us. You do an incredible job of showing us history events.

I was a bit worried how I would feel about watching the Dachau videos, especially this one. But as always you have made such thoughtful and careful videos that don't underestimate the horrors. I also did not know this was a training camp for the SS or that there were so many Russian victims. Helps in a way to understand Russian thinking. In every video I learn something. Thank you for your hard work!

@TheHistoryUnderground You´re very busy and you do a great job which is educational for all of us, especially for the youth. One topic which is inseparably linked to Dachau CC is the march towards the south, or better several marches, because of different routes, beginning on april 26th, 1945. Ca 1.000 people did not survive those death marches (Todesmärsche).

I appreciate the visit. I didn't know about this site. I don't believe this was there, nor were the some of the memorials when I visited Dachau early nineties. The attitude I experienced was still something like if I don't speak about it, I don't have to come to terms with it. That changed when I came back to Germany 10-15 years later and even more so when I was in Germany last spring.

Excellent collection of videos with the history of the Dachau concentration camp, TJ. I went on a personal history tour to Munich, Berchtesgaden, Obersalzberg and Landsberg 3 weeks ago, following all the places and information provided in your videos. They were extremely helpful. I also had the chance to stop by Dachau on the way to the airport, by sadly only had the chance to see part of the main block, including the gas chambers. I really want to go back and spend some time going through the different sections of this camp. I noticed it was so widespred around the area at Dachau, when I was driving around. It amazes me (not in a good way) how massive and horrific these places were. Thanks for these videos!!

Another great video. Congrats on your fundraiser. You've got a lot of friends.

I visited Dachau in 2015. It was important for me to be there and first hand see where so much cruelty and suffering happened. While there, I don't know how to express my grateful feeling adequately about seeing a group of young German children being shown the concentration camp.

One of the most disturbing places I have ever visited. Haunting

Very moving & sad to see all the horrible things that these people had to endure. Thanks for sharing. We will be visiting Dachau in the fall of this year. I'm sure it will be an even more humbling experience in person.

Just heartbreaking. Make you do 360 on how things are now compared to then from Pacific to Europe.

Amazing piece of history thank you for the lost piece of the puzzle we didn't get in history class

The cold helplessness and despair at finding oneself trapped in one of these things.....

Thank you for the whole channel, I watch your videos every time I see it on my feed and is always interesting and educational. I think it’s always beneficial to look at both sides of history no matter how brutal the topic is, I think that education about these evens will prevent these horrific things from happening. I thank you for that JD

its truly interesting, the fact that humans can be so damn cruel to other humans is just mind boggling.

This is remarkable, love to see it's history

Oh WOW! Thanks for bringing light to a lesser known story. Thanks for teaching us.

Very informative, I had never heard of the Russians being executed at the firing ranges before. Keep up the great work JD.

Thank you, may we never forget!! God Bless!

Another outstanding video. By far the best historical videos on RU-vid. God bless 🙏👌

Well done, very informative video. If I may add something from the testimony of my father: The SS was particularly "mad" about russian and polish prisoners. He witnessed also executions of russian and polish inmates in the camp, not only at Hebertshausen. Polish priests, put into blocks 26, 28 and 30 (you can imagine the amount of priests!) had a hard time; e.g. they were not permitted to visit other prisoners in non-clerical blocks; sometimes they could not celebrate the mass because of "misconduct". There are tons of things to tell about the camps, one being more terrible than the other.

Fantastic..great production...have admitt..do not know how I would deal with my emotions there.

Very humbling indeed.

I have absolutely love his channel

What a great video! Keep doing what you’re doing brother. Been a follower for the past 4 years. Hope one day I get to visit this place and other places around the History of WWII. God bless

I read an excellent book back in the 1980's called " the last 24 hours of dachau", which if still in print is highly recommended as a detailed history from survivors of the atrocities

I've always told people visiting the camps to always do your homework and always look outside the walls of the camps and certainly outside the remit of the camp guides. I've visited Auschwitz, Birkenau and Monowitz many times and believe me there is so much to see that is in plain view that nobody will tell you about.

Did you get to Sachsenhausen? My sudo Nanna was in there and I read the book Liebe Mutti by Jerzy Pindera just before I got there, it was truly moving to walk around and visualise what is written in that book and what she spoke about. Being paraded down the streets from the train station and into the camp. Jerzy Pindera took a job loading the ovens just to stay warm and alive.

My father toured Dachau about 1962, he was travelling through the Munich area after graduating from the 7th Army NCO school in Bad Tölz. Since he had no civilian clothes nor needed them for NCO school he was required to wear Class A's for the travel with his black MP armband and white hat. So on the journey back to Kaiserslautern (533rd MP Company) he had reservations about going into the Dachau complex for what he thought would be an impromptu tour with his uniform on. He decided to go in after deeply thinking about it as there were an over abundance of visitors there also (probably a weekend or anniversary of liberation of the camp?) and everyone instead stared at him as some sort of fascination. Not sure if they were survivors wanting to see a US Army uniform or thinking he was there to mediate some trouble and military "official" intervention was needed. He talked about this for many years afterward on how surreal the experience was.

We visited Dachau in 2018. As we walked through the camp to exit I turned around and saw smoke coming from the chimney of the gas chamber. My mom and I stared, frozen. Then we heard sirens and realized there was a fire in the residential area outside Dachau and the smoke from that fire lined up with the camp chimney. No words.

I wish yall could do an episode about the alamo and goliad and san jacinto! lots of good stories to share!

Thank you. Very well done.

It's really humbling video and very interesting what happened can't wait for the next video mate

Been there, done that. Pretty grim place! Thanks for the vid!

Never forget these innocent souls.

I'm.from the uk and to see all the former presidents homes in America is absolutely amazing you do a beutifull job of keeping history alive sir and like me your a history lover thank you for your videos truly amazing and thank you for educating us of wonderful history

I went to Dachau when I was 11 . My family spent 5 years in Germany. Hitler opened that death camp in retaliation for losing the vote in that town . It became the model for death camps under the Nazi regime. I could smell the gas that permeated the gas chamber . When it was entered by US troops there was rail road cars full of bodies in 1945 . The wall of death had bullet holes . In 1958 when my dad first went there he said you could see the blood on the walls

Thanks for showing all those names.

Read a lot about the holocaust and the atrocities that happened there! Tough to read about the treatment in these places! Always weighs on my mind how a person could do that to another person!! Thank you for these videos I really appreciate the history you share with us👍!

This video made me cry so hard. I will never understand how a person can kill another.

It's good that we now know the truth about Dachau. Thanks for this video.

Thank you!

Thank you for your informative, intelligent, and often deeply poignant videos on Holocaust history.

I have to reemphasize your talent for the moving images (both literally and figuratively) you present in all your posts. There are other history pages whose hosts may be more informed than you. But the visual difference between you and them, is akin to the visual difference of an LED light bulb and lightening. Whatever history you might show us. From Wyatt Earp to Dachau. Your visual talent sinks us into the emotional moment every time.

We visited Dachau in the summer of 2021 after our three kids learned the history of Holocaust. It’s very sad to see how some humans could be so evil.

I went there in the early 80's. One thing that never gelled with me was that they say that they never used the gas chamber, when I was there they had a photo of our troops right outside the gas chamber doors and there was a chalk written schedule indicating it was in use. I will never forget taking the tour through that place

The German Fascists were meticulous record keepers, much to the chagrin of those who were prosecuted after the war. Knowing this fact, I am still in awe that the specific names and dates of the persons executed was able to be ascertained. It allows us to spend a moment or two remembering these pour souls some 80 years later.

Very interesting! It's always great to learn about and see something that is not so well known. Although I did not know anything about the S. S. shooting range at Dachau, it does not surprise me the least bit. The crimes of the Third Reich have unfairly tarnished the self esteem of many Germans in the international community up to the present.

These videos and stories just make it even more clear and horrific just how evil the Nazi's were

Went past Dachau in the early 1960's, I could feel the evil coming from the camp, Horrid place.

Very moving and sad but a great video. I hope you did well raising funds for 3 WW2 veterans. 👍🏼😎

I was there in 2014 during the Band of Bros tour. There is a short walk up a small hill next to this shooting range where they buried all the Russian dead. It's a mass grave and is clearly marked. The SS would use the Russians as target practice then toss the bodies into a truck to be dumped in the mass grave up the hill. Very moving experience.

I find it most distressing that RU-vid continues to suppress history.

As a historian i feel like I owe it to all who suffered to learn the horrors of their story

Thank you

Such a sad time in world history. But those who rendered those cruel actions in life were punished nice video

That felt heavy. Standing there on the very spot were so many others stood facing a line of nazis that were poiting their rifles at them, knowing they were going to die.

Brutality bred brutality when it comes to Nazis and Soviets treatment of each other, i couldn’t say who was worse if im honest The world needs these stories and places, once of evil and now of remembrance so that it can never be allowed to be repeated Sadly, brutality seems to be the 1st resort dealt out by those who seek to oppress those who don’t agree with their ideology

How did they find out about the executions of the Russian pows? Great video by the way, I always learn so much.

Those Nazis who were convicted and hanged are relatively few compared to all those who carried out the killings. Those underlings escaped and lived out their lives never to be brought to justice. But, in the afterlife there is no escaping justice.

Thank you .I didn't know about the Russians being executed there as well Such a sad thing , I'll. never understand the cruelties of war It's as though all humanity is gone.Again thank you for what the history books and teachers never told us You are very much appreciated 👍❤️🇺🇸

Never got to Dachau, but I did visit Bergen-Belsen while traveling to Bremerhaven from West Berlin so I could ship my car back to the states.

The same 2 words kept going through my mind on these Dachau videos. They are not mine but I agree with them. Never again.

I’ll be going to Dachau when I visit Germany in a few months.