Archaeologists uncover Dachau camp’s former dog-handling area

Archaeologists have uncovered remains of the former dog-handling area at the Dachau concentration camp memorial, BR reported. The finds shed further light on the brutality of the Nazi regime.

At least 35 dog kennels were found beside the former crematorium. The Nazis trained German shepherds, boxers, Dobermans and other dogs to guard prisoners, intimidate them and attack them brutally during escape attempts. The animals were also used in the daily terror inside the camp and on external work details.

The camp administration responsible for organising and documenting the systematic burning and disposal of bodies was nearby. Archaeologists also found ash containing bone fragments at several locations, which are believed to be human remains from the crematorium ovens.

Mathias Pfeil, chief conservator at the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation, said archaeology would become more important as eyewitnesses grew fewer. The ground, he said, would be the “last and impartial witness” to Nazi crimes.

More than 200,000 people from across Europe were imprisoned at Dachau between 1933 and 1945. More than 41,500 died in the main camp and its satellite camps from hunger, disease, torture and murder. Dachau was the Nazis’ first concentration camp and served as a model for later concentration and extermination camps. Rudolf Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz, was trained at Dachau by the camp SS.

When US forces discovered the camp in April 1945, they found dead prisoners left by the SS piled in railway cars, as well as survivors who were severely emaciated, ill and traumatised.