(AFP) – US Vice President JD Vance visited the site of the Dachau Nazi concentration camp on Thursday ahead of his attendance at the Munich Security Conference. Accompanied by his wife Usha, Vance was greeted by Holocaust survivor Abba Naor and officials from the camp’s memorial site. They were then taken on a tour of the site, including being shown a display filled with objects taken from a prisoner from what was Czechoslovakia.
In another part of the building, the Vances were shown the badges that were used to identify different kinds of prisoners, including immigrants and homosexuals. Outside, they laid a wreath next to a section of wall bearing the dates 1933-1945, the years in which the camp operated. Naor also accompanied them to a gravestone with the ashes of an unknown prisoner, in front of a wall with the inscription “never again” in five languages.
The Nazis opened Dachau as a concentration camp for political prisoners in March 1933, just weeks after Adolf Hitler took power. It was the first such site in Germany and served as a forerunner for other camps. More than 200,000 people from over 40 nations were held there and at least 41,500 died. The camp was liberated by the US Army on April 29, 1945.
Earlier on Thursday, Bavaria’s state premier Markus Soeder greeted Vance and his family on their arrival at Munich airport. Vance is set to meet Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky on Friday on the opening day of the Munich Security Conference for talks.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump stunned Ukraine and European allies by saying he planned to start peace talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin after a call with the Kremlin chief.
© 2024 AFP
