By Rob Crilly, Chief US Political Correspondent in Dachau, Germany
Vice -President JD Vance visited the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial on Thursday and saw a powerful memory of the costs of the Second World War in Europe.
The visit came a day before he would meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zensky for important conversations about the war with Russia.
Almost three years after troops that were loyal to Vladimir Putin marched to Ukraine, President Donald Trump has performed the efforts to push the two parties to negotiate a peace.
But before he attends the safety conference of Munich, Vance and his wife took the time to visit the scene of one of the most brutal periods in European history.
They visited on the Dachau site and laid a wreath for a memorial sculpture with emaciated bodies that have been turned into barbed wire.
“I am really moved by this site, and I think that although it is of course a place of unspeakable atrocities and terror and evil, it is very important that it is here,” Vance said.
“And it is very important that those of us who are lucky to live around can know what happened here and commit ourselves to prevent it from happening again.”
They also met Dachau's youngest survivor. Abba Naor has endured in the camp for four years and was 17 when it was freed by the American troops.
They held hands in the gloomy, German weather, hearing his story.
Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha stand with former prisoner Abba Naor during a visit to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial
They laid a wreath during their visit on Thursday afternoon
They laid the wreath under a sculpture with emaciated bodies trapped in barbed wire
They traveled with him on the site, including the inlet room, where newcomers were stripped of their possessions. A display case showed personal belongings such as watches and government -ID cards.
“That's where you started?” The vice president asked Naor.
At one point Naor showed him a prison card.
“I'm still there,” he said.
Vance put a shoulder on his hand and replied, “Well, we are very lucky that you are here.”
The vice-president is in the middle of a five-day trip to Europe and delivers Trump's message to a large AI summit in Paris before appearing at the Munich security conference on Friday.
But Thursday brought a moment of reflection when he visited a powerful symbol of the scourge of war.
Dachau was founded in 1933 – in the same year Hitler took power – making it one of the earliest concentration camps. More than 200,000 people from all over Europe were held in the camp and more than 40,000 prisoners died there in terrible circumstances. American soldiers completed the liberation on April 29, 1945.
The weather was wet and cold when the vans toured the infamous prison camp on the site
The vans were shown a map of Nazi -Doodkampen and Naor followed his journey
The Vice President thanks Naor for sharing his story
Vance thanked Naor for sharing his story.
“I asked him, would he ever forget what happened here? And he said, “No.” Said Vance.
“He lives with it every day, but he continues his life. And I think that incredible resilience is something that we should not forget. '
On Friday he will sit down with Zensky at the Munich Safety Conference to discuss a conflict that has brought war in Europe again.
“The Trump government has been clear that we are caring a lot about Europe,” Vance said when he met the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
“But we also want to ensure that we are involved in a security partner that is good for both Europe and the United States.”
Vice-president JD Vance with daughter Mirabel, three, Vivek, five, visits the cathedral of the Notre-Dame. Wife Usha and son Ewan, Zeven, are seen behind them
Vance arrived on Monday morning with wife Usha and children Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel
Vance also met President Emmanuel Macron of France and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
And on Tuesday he outlined a vision of American dominance in the global AI race, warning that Washington will block foreign efforts to arm the new technology.
“Some authoritarian regimes have stolen and used AI to strengthen their military intelligence and surveillance capacities, record foreign data and create propaganda to undermine the national security of other countries,” he said during an address on the France Action Summit In Paris.
“I want to be clear, this administration will block such efforts. Point.'
There was time for sightseeing en route. Vance and his family visited the cathedral of the Notre-Dame on Wednesday evening.
