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Highlands Ranch, Colorado

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- Advanced Placement European History -
Lecture Notes

Liberating Dachau

On April 29,1945, two American divisions freed more than 30,000 inmates at the notorious Dachau concentration camp. They also touched off one of the most controversial episodes of World War II. About 10 miles northwest of Munich, Dachau had been an ordinary, peaceful suburb until March 1933, when the Nazi converted a gunpowder factory there into a prison camp to house their political opponents.

The Konzentrationsslager, or KL
Hundreds of camps and subcamps based on the Dachau model were built, followed by the construction of the horrendous extermination camps.

At Dachau, in addition to the internment camp, there was also a huge SS training complex, where guards were schooled in their brutal craft; the finance offices for the entire SS; living quarters for the guards and officers; a military hospital; a camp headquarters buildings; a variety of factories that relied on the camp's slave labor; and storeroom buildings with clothing, shoes, and eyeglasses confiscated for the inmates. An electrified fence separated the prisoners' compound form the SS camp, as did a deep dry moat with steep concrete sides and a swiftly flowing canal the Wurm River.

Translated the Gate Reads: "Labor Means Liberty."

Seven watchtowers manned by armed guards were strategically placed around the enclosure, and armed with guards with dogs patrolled the fence line. A 10-foot-high masonry enclosed the entire complex, shielding the nefarious activities within from prying eyes. A sign on the Jourhaus - the camp's guardhouse, which enclosed the only entrance into the prisoners' compound - ingeniously proclaimed, "ardeit macht frei'" (Work makes one free). Behind the high walls, unspeakable cruelties were carried out by the SS guards on the helpless inmate population.

While Dachau was never one of the Nazi "death factories" more than 30,000 of the 200,000-plus prisoners incarcerated there died during its 12 years of existence. Many of the inmates died from being overworked and underfed. Many more died at the hands of the guards while being tortured, while others died from disease, in front of firing squads, or after they were used as human guinea gigs for the pseudoscientific experiments carried out by the camp's medical personnel.

The Gas Chamber at Dachau was never used.

Liberating Dachau
| World War II - Dachau Concentration Camp Complex |
| Unanswered Questions: Discovery of the Railroad Boxcars |
| I Company Recollections and Quotes |
| Liberating Dachau: The 42nd Division at the Jourhaus |
Dachau, Germany
| Dachau: WWII Concentration Camp Memorial | 2 | 3 |

Famous 20th-Century / World War II Quotes
| Quotes from Europe and Asia - 1900s | Winston Churchill |
| US 20th-Century and World War II Quotes |

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- AP Modern European History in Depth -

Lecture Notes and Further Reading
| Methods and Rules for a Prince: How Should a Prince Rule? |
| Borg vs Hick: Theories on Jesus and Christianity |
| Kant's Epistemological Model and Religious Pluralism |

Related Information
| Poems and Prose From the 8th - 15th Centuries | 1 | 2 |
| Marseillaise, the National Anthem of France:
A Modern-day Controversy | Sacré Phew! |
| French Culture: Historical Champagne and Wine Trivia |

Famous Modern European History Quotes
| Index of Quotes by Speaker / Historical Period |
| Famous Quotes from the Dark and Middle Ages |
| Relevant Quotes from the Reformation and Renaissance |
| Quotes from England: 15th, 16th and 17th Centuries |
| Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution Quotes | Voltaire |
| Quotes from the French Revolution and Napoleon Era |
| Modern European History Quotes from the 1800s |
| US 20th-Century and World War II Quotes |

AP Class Activities
| Play the Role of Philip II |
| Visual Interpretations - French Revolution Art |
| "Ism" Maps of Europe and Asia |
| Industrial Revolution: England's Advantage |
| Marx and Tocqueville | America's Entry Into World War I |
Trials - Simulations
| Trial of Martin Luther | Trial of Adolf Hitler |

Helpful Information for Students
| AP Essay Writing Skills |
| Student-Developed Class Presentation Topics |

Debate Information
| Guide: Individual Debate Position | Debate Self Evaluation |
Debates
| Existence of God | Catherine the Great or Frederick the Great |
| Locke - Hobbes | Voltaire or Rousseau |

Additonal Course Info / AP Class Policy
| AP European History Syllabus: Quarter 1 | Quarter 2 | Quarter 3 |
| Writing Assignments, Exams, Critical Book Reviews, More |
| AP Booklist and Fees |