The Dachau camp was the first concentration camp. It was located in Germany in Dachau which is just south of Munich, in the state of Bavaria. The prisoners consisted of German Communist, Social Democrats, Jews, priest, deacons, bishops, repeat criminals, homosexuals, gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses and anyone who opposed the Nazi Regime. Between 1933 and 1945, the camp had approximately 188,000 prisoners. The camp later included women. The prisoners were forced laborers that were required to help with the destruction of the munitions factory and the construction of several new buildings. They also built roads, worked in gravel pits, drained marshes and were used as medical experiments.
The camp was overcrowded and hygiene conditions were horrible. The prisoners were weak since they were not given enough food or water. Typhus was a serious problem at the camp due to the overcrowding. From the end of 1944 to the day of liberation which was April 29, 1945, approximately 28,000 people died at the Dachau camp and sub camps. No one knows for certain the total number of people that died at the Dachau camp.
The camp opened in March of 1933 and was liberated on April 29, 1945 by either the 42nd or 45th Infantry Division under the command of Felix L. Sparks.
Site:
"Dachau Concentration Camp." Dachau Concentration Camp. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. <http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/dachau.html>.
"Dachau The 1st Concentration Camp Http://www.HolocaustResearchProject.org." Dachau The 1st Concentration Camp Http://www.HolocaustResearchProject.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. <http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/othercamps/dachau.html>.