Backpacking through Europe in 1994

Day 78 • November 23, 1994
My amazing day in Munich, Germany

I probably learned more history and visited the sites where these things happened on this day than any other on this trip - and possibly in my life!

It began with an excursion to Dachau, the first Concentration Camp the Nazi’s built. This is without a doubt the most sobering and gut-wrenching two hours in my life that I have spent visiting a historical place. I did not know, but learned, that between the time it opened on March 22, 1933, and the day it was liberated by U.S. forces on April 29, 1945, more than 31,000 people died there. That is more than my entire home town of Kearney, Nebraska.

While I was at Dachau I made a friend, Eric, who lived in an apartment built for the athletes of the 1972 Summer Olympic Games. When he told me what happened to the Israeli athletes at the those Olympics, I was embarrassed to say I had no idea what he was talking about.

But with his help I quickly learned that during the second week of those Olympics, two Israeli athletes were killed and nine more were taken hostage by eight members of the Palestinian militant organization Black September. They were held hostage for a day. A rescue was attempted and resulted in complete failure: all the Israeli hostages were killed, and five of the terrorists died.

Eric invited me to his apartment and gave me a tour of the Olympic Village and a history lesson I’ve never forgotten.

Then he showed me the Rathaus, where the Glockenspiel is, and also the Marienkirche / Fravenkirche, a monstrous church which is the burial site of Bavarian kings.

Finally, it was off for some light-hearted and enjoyable history - an evening at the World-Famous Hoffbrau house. Even though it was November, Octoberfest was still in full swing!

I drank countless steins of beer and ate delicious sausages with newly-made friends from around the world. I learned the Hoffbrau house was founded in 1589 and is one of Munich’s oldest beer halls.

My Photographs from today at Dachau Concentration camp near Munich, Germany

My Photographs from today in Munich, Germany

DAY 78 / 11-23-94
My amazing day in Munich, Germany

Today has just rocked!

I arrived without a hitch, and I didn’t have any trouble making it to Dachau. Along the way, in the bus, I hooked up with a bunch of Americans. It was so nice to hear American conversation. We split up when we arrived to the camp, but I stayed with Roy, or actually he stayed with me.

Roy was a flaky Flight attendant from LA. When he found out I was a photographer, he started asking me all these questions about what makes a good picture. I told him, honestly, that if it means something to you, then it’s a good picture. He then proceeded to follow me around and take every picture that I did.

The camp was one of the most sobering things I’ve ever seen. It didn’t seem real that over 200,000 people lived in a place not bigger than a few football fields, and over 31,000 people died there (and that’s only the documented ones. Thousands more went unrecorded.)

I didn’t realize that they were opened in 1933 – 6 years before the war, and were designed for political prisoners and anyone opposing the Nazi regime. And in addition to these people & the Jews, it also held gypsies, minorities, homosexuals and anyone else the party deemed undesirable.

The words from Dante’s Inferno might well have been inscribed on the entrance gate “Abandon hope all ye who enter here!” The actual inscription read “Labor Means Liberty”.

And when the Nazi’s found out the camps were going to be liberated, 6,000 people were killed in the 2 days before it happened.*

I was there for 2 hours, and when we were waiting for the bus back, Roy started a conversation with a South African guy named Eric. We found out that he lives in what was once the Athlete’s building for the ’72 Olympic games. He asked if we’d like to see it & I was like “Hell Ya!”

When we got to his place, he felt bad because he had no beer to offer us, so he ran to the store while leaving Roy & I in his apartment alone. Talk about a trusting guy.

We sat around talking when he returned, then Roy announced he was going shopping. I stayed, & Eric explained to me the story of the ’72 Olympic hostage scandal & where it took place.**

Then he took me all around the Olympic Park, up this hill for a great view of Munich, & then back to his place. I also saw the BMW Headquarters, a giant skyscraper built in the shape of 4 cylinders.

Once home, he asked if I was hungry, & he cooked me dinner! Served with Rum & Cokes! Eric turned out to be one of the friendliest guys I’ve ever met.

After dinner we played this game from Africa, possibly the oldest in the world, called Kalaha, & did tequila shots.

We were supposed to meet Roy at a beer hall, and we left a little early so he could show me the city. I saw the Rathaus, where the Glockenspiel is, and also the Marienkirche / Fravenkirche, a monstrous church which is the burial site of Bavarian kings.

Then it was off to the Hofbräuhaus, Munich’s largest & oldest beer hall, dating from 1859. [Make that 1589!]

I had an absolute blast there. They serve beer by the liter, and there was an Om-Pah-Pah band & Eric wouldn’t let me pay for anything. He even bought me more food! Wiener schnitzels & brat-wurst. Roy did show up but only stayed for a half hour. That’s good, because I really didn’t like him anyway.

Eric & I had several beers before it was time to leave, and then he went with me to the train station. He offered to let me stay at his place, but with Julie waiting for me in Milano I figured it would be better to go.

We said our goodbyes, & I left Munich with a new friend.

Thousands of these small, pocket-sized Identification Cards were available inside the Memorial and visitors were encouraged to take one and promise to never forget.