Concentration Camps
Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald
Intro
On September 1st, 1939 World War II began, and it will be one of the deadliest wars in history. The reason it was so deadly is not from fighting but from all of the Nazi camps that were established to exterminate the discriminated races. Concentration camps are responsible for over eleven million deaths in World War II. So what were the most deadly camps? The three worst concentration camps were Buchenwald, Bergen-Belsen, and Auschwitz.
Buchenwald
Buchenwald was one of the largest camps of World War II. The camp was built in 1937 north of Weimar, it was a male only camp until 1944. In 1944, Dr. Carl Vaernet began a series of experiments that he claimed would "cure" homosexual inmates through hormonal transplants. Jews, Prisoners of war, political prisoners, Roma, asocials, criminals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals were all held at Buchenwald because the Nazis considered them useless. Buchenwald was liberated on April 11, 1945 when prisoners expected liberation they stormed the watch tower and gained control over the camp, later that day U.S. soldiers raided Buchenwald.
Bergen-Belsen
Bergen-Belsen was one of the worst camps of World War II. German military authorities established the Bergen-Belsen camp in 1940, south of the small towns of Bergen and Belsen, 11 miles north of Celle, Germany. Until 1943, Bergen-Belsen was just a prisoner of war camp. Bergen-Belsen was used many different types of camps during its operation. Bergen-Belsen was one of the largest concentration camps of World War II. On April 15, 1945, British forces liberated Bergen-Belsen and found sixty thousand prisoners.
Auschwitz
The last camp is Auschwitz, one of the most ruthless concentration camps of World War II. The full name of Auschwitz is Auschwitz-Birkenau. Auschwitz operated between January 1942 and March 1943, during that time approx. 1.1 million people were murdered. Auschwitz was mostly a labor camps but they turned one section into a gas chamber. Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz on January 27, 1945.