A DATE NOT TO FORGET May 9, 1965

A DATE NOT TO FORGET May 9, 1965

The Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site was opened 61 years ago, on May 9, 1965.

After the former camp site was first used as an internment camp (1945-1948) and then as a housing complex for refugees (1948-1965), the Comité International de Dachau (CID) and the Bavarian state government agreed to demolish the remaining barracks from the end of 1962, erect two model barracks and transform the site into a memorial. 

This was preceded by years of efforts by former prisoners, who campaigned against social resistance for the establishment of a memorial site. The work of the CID, founded in 1955, was of decisive importance. 

Over 4,000 survivors of Dachau concentration camp were present at the opening of the memorial on May 9, 1965. The first permanent exhibition was also opened.