Almost 61 years ago, at 5:28 p.m. on April 29, 1945, the main gate of the Nazi concentration camp Dachau—with the haunting German phrase scripted in wrought iron: Arbeit macht frei (Work sets you free)—opened slowly. Cautious American G.I.s entered the grounds that were packed with thousands of gaunt, ragged, and starving forms. One G.I. called out to the prisoners, "Hello boys, here we are!" Dachau, named after the German city in which it was located, was the Nazi regime's first concentration camp. It was the model for others such as Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Crimes against prisoners there earned Dachau the name "school of violence." In its 12 years of operation, at least 200,000 prisoners were sent there; 30,000 were recorded dead, and countless others died anonymously of hunger, disease, and abuse. This locale now is the most heavily visited concentration camp memorial site in Europe.
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