apr 26, 1945 - Liberation of Dachau, April 26, 1945
Description:
The Dachau concentration camp was established in March 1933. It was located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory near the northeastern part of the town of Dachau, about 10 miles northwest of Munich in southern Germany. In Dachau, as in other Nazi camps, German physicians performed medical experiments on the prisoners. These included high-altitude experiments using a decompression chamber, malaria and tuberculosis experiments, hypothermia experiments, and experiments testing new medications. Hundreds of prisoners died or were permanently disabled as a result of these experiments. As Allied forces marched on Germany, the SS moved thousands of prisoners from concentration camps near the frontlines to prevent the liberation of large numbers of prisoners. Overcrowding occurred causing conditions at Dachau to dramatically deteriorate. On April 29, 1945, American forces liberated Dachau. As they neared the camp, they found more than 30 railroad cars filled with bodies brought to Dachau, all in an advanced state of decomposition. In early May 1945, American forces liberated the prisoners who had been sent on the death march from Dachau by the Germans a few days prior to the arrival of the American forces.
Added to timeline:
Liberation and Liberators, 1944-1945
GER 232 Group 3 Final Project
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