The Dachau camp gate with the slogan, “Work Will Make You Free,” 1939–1942. Dachau was the only concentration camp that existed for the full 12 years of the National Socialist dictatorship. During this period the number and composition of the prisoners changed fundamentally, as did the living conditions and chances for survival. On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler and his followers assumed power in Germany. Soon thereafter, at a press conference on March 20, Heinrich Himmler, then the Munich police president, announced the establishment of a concentration camp at Dachau.1 The camp, which was located in an empty munitions factory from World War I and which had a capacity of 5,000 prisoners, initially was to serve as a holding center for political opponents of the regime. The first 100 “protective custody” prisoners, who arrived on March 22, were Communists. The first Jewish prisoners were also arrested as political prisoners. Initially, the prisoners were guarded by the Bavarian State ...