Befreiungsfeier
The “Tent of Encounter” on May 3, 2025 – Impressions
| 11. November 2025
Contemporary witness Lynne Farbman in conversation with visitors in the tent of encounter
On Saturday, May 3 2025, the large event marquee was turned into the “Tent of Encounter” and was open to anyone interested. Provided with beverages and pastries, a vast range of very different people came together here – survivors of the Dachau concentration camp, U.S. Army veterans, descendants of former prisoners and liberators, staff of the Dachau Memorial Site, persons engaged in contemporary history associations, volunteer helpers, for instance from the THW (Technisches Hilfswerk, technical relief service) and volunteer fire brigades, visitors to the Memorial Site, and many more.
People formed discussion groups and exchanged views, experiences, and impressions spontaneously, and in these small informal circles Dachau camp survivors Erich Finches and Lynne Farbman told their stories. Staff from the archive of the Dachau Memorial Site were on hand to answer questions from descendants, while staff from other departments presented the Memorial Site’s ongoing work and current projects at an information stand. The posters created by family members for the “Forum of Descendants” held the day before, dedicated to former prisoners of the Dachau concentration camp, attracted particular interest.
Participants in the public events held on this Saturday also used – before or after their commitments – the “Tent of Encounter” to pause, reflect, and interact with others. On May 2 a series of guided tours on the topic of liberation took place in several languages as well as a number of commemorative events: the commemorative tour “Following in the steps of our fathers – remembrance along the former camp road” (organizer: relatives of former Dachau prisoners in cooperation with the “Lagergemeinschaft Dachau e.V.” Dachau camp community), the commemorative event “Never again” (organizer: Comité International de Dachau), the hour of commemoration at the former SS shooting range in Hebertshausen (organizer: the initiative “Jahrestag der Befreiung”, anniversary of liberation, in cooperation with the Dachau Memorial Site), and the commemorative ceremony dedicated to the victims of the “death march” (organizer: “Trägerkreis Todesmarschmahnmal”, the supporter circle of the death march monument).
All photos: © KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau