Commemoration of Dachau camp liberation

Dachau - In Dachau the first major concentration camp was established during WWII by the Nazis. Tens of thousands of people lost their lives there. For the commemoration of the camp liberation on 29 April 1945, survivors returned to their place of torment.

65 years ago U.S. soldiers freed the prisoners of the Dachau concentration camp. At the time around 32,000 people lived in barracks with many of them close to death. "It was a shock for us to see this suffering, but then we saw how happy people were that we are there. That was touching", recalls the former U.S. soldier Alan Lukens. Federal President Horst Köhler, who visited the memorial in Dachau on Sunday, expressed his thanks to former prisoners. They give me and others courage and confidence that we are able to reconcile," he said.