Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site marks the 81st anniversary of the liberation with a Central Commemorative Ceremony on 3 May 2026 – survivors present commemorative messages

Munich/Dachau – 29 April 2026. The 81st anniversary of the liberation of Dachau concentration camp will be solemnly commemorated on Sunday, 3 May 2026, by the Comité International de Dachau, the Bavarian Memorial Foundation and the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. The Central Commemorative Ceremony on the former roll-call square will take place at 11.30 am. Numerous guests from politics, diplomacy and society are expected, as well as descendants of former prisoners from all over the world. Survivors of Dachau concentration camp and its subcamps will present commemorative messages.

Commemoration on 3 May 2026

The celebrations will begin with confessional commemorations at the religious memorial sites on the grounds of the Dachau Memorial. This will be followed by a commemoration in front of the former crematorium, at which Jean Lafaurie, a survivor of Dachau concentration camp, and Florian Hartmann, Lord Mayor of the City of Dachau, will speak.

After a joint procession to the former roll call square, the director of the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site will welcome attendees to the central commemorative ceremony at 11.30 am. In addition to welcoming addresses by Foundation Director Karl Freller, Dominique Boueilh, President of the Comité International de Dachau, Dr Robin Mishra, Head of the ‘History and Remembrance’ Department at the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, and Alexander Hold, Second Vice-President of the Bavarian State Parliament, messages of remembrance from survivors will be presented.

The commemoration ceremony will conclude with a wreath laying at the International Monument. Following the ceremony, the ‘Day of Encounters’ will offer an opportunity to finish the celebrations together at the Max Mannheimer House.

The grounds of the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site have limited accessibility. The central commemoration ceremony will be simultaneously interpreted into German Sign Language (DGS).

Accompanying programme

From 1 May to 3 May 2026, the Dachau Memorial will offer an extensive accompanying programme, including the guided tour “The Liberation of Dachau Concentration Camp”, which will be available in German and English, as well as a memorial service at the former SS shooting range in Hebertshausen near Dachau. In addition, the “Forum of Descendants” will take place for the second time, a closed event intended to bring together the descendants of former prisoners of the Dachau concentration camp.

Historical Background

Towards the end of April 1945, the SS began evacuating prisoners from the Dachau concentration camp in order to prevent their liberation by Allied troops. At least 25,000 prisoners from the Dachau camp system were sent on forced marches on foot towards Tyrol or transported away in freight trains. Several thousand prisoners perished in the process. On 29 April 1945, units of the US Army liberated Dachau concentration camp. On the same day, survivors had already formed an international camp committee. For thousands of prisoners, rescue came too late – they died in the following days and weeks from exhaustion, disease and the consequences of concentration camp imprisonment.