Merkel makes controversial visit to Dachau death camp in the middle of campaigning Chancellor Angela Merkel has been widely criticised in Germany for paying a visit to Dachau concentration camp in the middle of her election campaign. Laying a wreath accompanied by a survivor, she became the first German chancellor ever to visit the death camp where 41,000 people died at the hands of the Nazis in World War II. Later Merkel who is bidding for for a third term in office later visited the Bavarian town of the same name. At an election event she raised her concerns about ongoing right-wing extremism in Germany while referring directly to the Dachau camp. At the time when the camp was operating near here, those who wanted to could have seen and could have heard what was going on. It is today so important that it never happens again that we allow ourselves to decide not to see and not to hear," Merkel warned an audience of Bavarian conservatives. Electioneering in the area is important for Merkel. Bavarian conservatives (CSU) who are key allies of her Christian Democrats (CDU), take part in regional elections one week ahead of the general poll on September 22. More about: Angela Merkel, German politics, Germany, Holocaust, World War II