FC Bayern Women visit Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site | OneFootball

A steady stream of thoughtful questions from the players, a joint candle-lighting ceremony at the Evangelical Church of Reconciliation, and, to mark the end of an afternoon that was anything but ordinary, a group photo: the FC Bayern Women’s visit to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site on Wednesday afternoon was characterised by remembrance, a sense of responsibility and a clear stance against all forms of exclusion.

The day began at the FC Bayern Campus with an introduction to the FCB ‘Red against Racism’ initiative. Even here, the focus was already on Kurt Landauer – as it remained so throughout the afternoon. As president, he led FC Bayern to their first league title in 1932; he was later persecuted during the Nazi era because of his Jewish heritage, then incarcerated in Dachau before emigrating to Switzerland and finally returning to Munich after the war to rebuild the club.

Rech: “Places like this drive home our sense of responsibility”

Bianca Rech, director of women’s football at FC Bayern, stressed after the visit just how important it is for a club to engage with its own history and social responsibility: “Especially in times like these, it's important and invaluable to visit memorial sites such as Dachau, to learn, to listen, to keep the memory alive and to draw conclusions from the past that apply to the present. Personally, it's very important to me that we, as a club, engage with key social issues – there are things that are more important than sport. We're grateful to be able to be here. Places like this put into perspective the responsibility we bear today and how resolutely we must stand together against racism, anti-Semitism and all forms of exclusion. It was impressive to see just how interested our players were, constantly asking questions. We’ll take a wealth of insights home with us.”

Football in the shadow of terror

On their arrival in Dachau, the Munich women were welcomed by the head of the memorial site, Dr Gabriele Hammermann. The subsequent tours took them along the former SS compound, through the entrance area and across the former roll-call square to the reconstructed barracks and the former crematorium. During the tour, the visitors were given a vivid account of how Dachau became the model for the Nazi camp system and a key location for the SS.

Particular emphasis was placed on the history of football at the Dachau concentration camp. Between 1933 and 1945, the SS repeatedly made prisoners play football on the roll-call parade ground – the very place where people were harassed, punished and abused on a daily basis. For the SS, the sport was part of a perverse reward system and served as a form of entertainment for them. The immediate proximity of the game to terror made it harrowingly clear that football in the camp never existed in isolation from Nazi violence, but was entirely overshadowed by it.

Kurt Landauer and Walther Bensemann

The team also delved deeply into the history of FC Bayern during the Nazi dictatorship with the focus on Kurt Landauer. In the wake of the November pogroms, he was deported to the Dachau concentration camp in 1938, where he remained imprisoned for 33 days. In 1939, he managed to emigrate to Switzerland. After the end of the Second World War, Landauer once again took over as president of Bayern from 1947 to 1951. The current president, Herbert Hainer, describes him as “a role model for reconciliation, spanning generations”.

Furthermore, the tour paid tribute to the numerous Jewish members of FC Bayern who were persecuted, displaced or murdered. Walther Bensemann, a Jewish football pioneer who founded the German Football Association (DFB) and ‘kicker’ magazine, was also honoured; throughout his life, he championed international football characterised by tolerance and international understanding. The players, led by head coach José Barcala, listened attentively to the presentations and showed a keen interest – in the role of sport and women under National Socialism, in the responsibility of football clubs, and in how the sport deals with its own history today.

Remembrance as a mission

The FC Bayern women rounded off the visit by attending a short talk at the Evangelical Church of Reconciliation on the perpetrators of the Dachau concentration camp. The church is also the birthplace of the initiative “!Never Again – Day of Remembrance in German Football”, which campaigns against racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination in football. This brought to a close a special visit to Dachau, which linked the history of FC Bayern with its current self-image. The club would like to thank the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site for the moving tours, the valuable insights and the time spent together that afternoon.