BLOG
Names, not Numbers.
Upon arrival at Dachau men, women and children were given a number which had to be displayed on their uniform at all times. This number was their camp identity, their camp name. It was part of a system of control used by the SS guards to dehumanise and humiliate those they incarcerated at Dachau.
A temporary exhibition at the Dachau Memorial Site focuses on the over two thousand Dutch prisoners who were imprisoned at Dachau between 1941 and 1945. The exhibition was researched and created by school pupils starting in 2010 with guidance from the Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam.
The exhibition is quite interactive with a large projection and touchscreen which can be used to search through individual stories and find out what may have happened to each prisoner. Different stations focus on certain prisoners and display incredible items from camp life. It is a powerful exhibition which goes a long way in the effort to remind visitors that behind every number was an individual human being. It is of course doubly impressive when you consider the young age of the researchers!
