The Dachau camp, near Munich, Germany, was the first official concentration camp established by the Nazi Party. Staffed initially by local SA and SS men, Dachau was the scene of excessively cruel punishments.

Reorganized and brought under SS control in early 1934, Dachau became the model for the more orderly, horrifyingly efficient concentration camp system. Heinrich Himmler's appointee, Theodor Eicke, reorganized the camp's administration and refined procedures guiding the brutalization of inmates. He demanded utmost discipline and instilled fanatical hatred of prisoners, whom he regarded as subhuman enemies of the state. The most severe and most psychologically devastating punishments were reserved for Jewish inmates. Among Eicke's favorite punishments were long periods of solitary confinement with only bread and water; lashings; and the tying of prisoners to stakes.

The camp was also the scene of hundreds of illegal and inhumane medical experiments. Prisoners were subjected to diseases. Others were immersed in cold water for long periods to test the effect on the human body. The camp still stands today as a grim memorial.