5th stop: eagle's nest & dachau

On the 27th, we left Salzburg and headed back to Germany. On our way to Munich, we stopped in Obersalzburg to visit Hitler's Eagle's Nest. The actual Eagle's Nest was closed for the year due to snow - the road is very steep and ends at the top of a very high mountain. This building was constructed for Hitler's birthday, but he only visited a few times because he was afraid of heights. We did, however, get to visit the Documentation Museum and the bunkers below where many of the leaders of the Nazi party resided during the war. These bunker tunnels go on for miles in all directions, and are fascinating to see. The museum gave us a very detailed account of World War II from the very beginning and included hundreds of documents from that time period.

These two stops deserve their own post. There is so much horror that went on during WWII, and most of us can't even begin to imagine it. For me, just seeing these sites made it so much more real. Jeff and I kept saying over and over throughout the day, "I just can't believe this was only around 70 years ago"... And to think there are still so many people living today who survived this era, but are having to live with those memories. My grandpa was in the German army (not by choice, but because he was a German citizen), and all I could think of was how many questions I would like to ask him. We did have a few good conversations about the war before he passed away, but now that I've seen these things, it brings up a hundred more questions. If you have a grandparent who lived through WWII...pick their brain!

Documentation Museum sitting directly above Hitler's underground bunker tunnels

The bunker tunnels that go on for miles and miles - I will admit, a bit spooky

While processing all of the World War II information and sights at Hitler's bunker (it's so much more real when you are actually there), we headed to Dachau concentration camp for the afternoon. Definitely a heavy day for us. Dachau was apparently the smallest of the concentration camps, killing around 33,000 prisoners. The horrific fact is that these numbers are infinitely smaller than most camps. Sickening. To see it all in front of us was powerful, and so, so sad. The acts that were committed there are bone-chilling. Maybe these pictures aren't the best to look at, but I feel every human needs to be aware of and see what atrocious acts went on there.

The entrance gate to Dachau - prisoners arrived by train, which was just to my right, and then walked straight through those gates.

The gate through which prisoners entered the camp - the words mockingly say "Work makes you free"

Where the bunkers once stood - rows and rows of concrete rectangles mark on each side (two are still standing for viewing purposes). Hundreds of prisoners lived in each one. It's crazy to imagine that these trees are the same ones there during the war.



Inside the bunkers - when overcrowded, they would sleep maybe 4 to a bed. Everything was to be kept in meticulous order or else prisoners were punished (shoes lined up, towels folded, sheets aligned up with edge of bed, etc).

"Brausebad" means showers or bath - prisoners were told this, but it was really a lethal gas chamber.

Crematorium