Dachau, Germany, May 7, 2025
Photo: rokmp.de
On May 4, the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp took place on the territory of the former camp. The commemorative events are traditionally held on the first Sunday after April 29.
The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by His Eminence Archbishop Tikhon of Ruza, administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Diocese of Berlin and Germany, at the Chapel of the Resurrection of Christ, with priests of the Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches, the diocese reports.
Photo: rokmp.de
The service was attended by faithful from various Local Churches and sung in Church Slavonic, Serbian, German, Greek, and Georgian.
During the litany for the departed, petitions were offered for “the leaders and soldiers who gave their lives for faith and Fatherland, and all Orthodox Christians tortured and killed here and in other places.”
Abp. Tikhon offered a homily on the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women and on the liberation of the camp, saying: “Where screams and groans were heard, where death and hell reigned, prayer is offered today. Glory to God, Who granted salvation and the joy of victory over death with His Cross and Resurrection. The Risen Lord is and will always be with us, as He was always with those who, despite everything, stood for the truth and remained faithful to Him until death.”
Photo: rokmp.de
Following the Liturgy, a procession was held around the chapel.
After the service, a ceremony in memory of the Dachau prisoners took place, with the laying of flowers and wreaths at the memorial.
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The Dachau concentration camp was opened on March 22, 1933, near Munich. It was initially intended for political prisoners, but over time, Jews, priests, representatives of national minorities, and other categories declared “undesirable” by the Nazi regime were sent there. In total, more than 200,000 people passed through the camp. According to various estimates, at least 40,000 were killed.
The liberation of the camp took place on April 29, 1945. American troops of the 42nd and 45th Infantry Divisions entered Dachau and found about 30,000 prisoners there, exhausted and emaciated. The liberation was one of the first direct testimonies of Nazi atrocities that shocked the world community.
The Orthodox Chapel of the Resurrection of Christ was built on the territory of the memorial complex in 1995. It was erected on the initiative of the Russian Orthodox community in memory of Orthodox Christians, including Soviet prisoners of war, who suffered in the camp.
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