Return to Dachau 65 years after helping to liberate the Dachau concentration camp, Alan W. Lukens ’46 was invited back for official ceremonies

This could be the last gathering to mark the anniversary, given the ages of both survivors and liberators. Nevertheless, the impressive Memorial Foundation, headed by Dr. Gabriele Hammermann, which includes the museum, visitors center, and the four chapels, has become a permanent fixture in Bavaria. The German authorities insist that all schoolchildren visit Dachau so that this disastrous part of German history not be forgotten by future generations. We must all keep in mind the motto of the Dachau Memorial: “Never Again.”
The 65th-anniversary commemoration of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp will long be remembered by the survivors and by me. I was fortunate that my son and grandson were there to take part with me in this moving and emotional historic event.


Alan W. Lukens ’46 was a Foreign Service officer from 1951 to 1987.