Germany. Bayern state. The Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. A group of young men and women walk along the central axis of the camp which was the main camp road, along which the barracks were built on both the left and the right. The former location of the other 32 baracks are marked by foundations. The ground plan of the camp, still recognizable today and characterized by its symmetrical alignment and functional divisions, was also used in almost all other concentration camps. The impression generated by the grounds today does not reproduce the oppressive confinement and density of the barrack facilities: originally designed to hold approx. 6,000 prisoners, the camp was constantly overcrowded in the final years. On march 22, 1933, the first concentration camp was opened in Dachau by the Nazis. It became a model for all later concentration camps established under the control of the SS men and the Third Reich. © 2007 Didier Ruef