THE BIGGEST LABOR CAMP IN GERMANY
Buchenwald
The camp was constructed in 1937 in a wooded area
SS authorities opened Buchenwald for male prisoners in July 1937. Women were not part of the Buchenwald camp system until late 1943 or early 1944.
Bunk beds in Buchenwald.
Electric wire fences that will keep Jews from escaping the labor camp.
Dead bodies of Jews.
Jews were beaten to dead by German soldiers if they weren't able to work anymore.
It stood on a wooded hill about 4.5 miles (7 km) northwest of Weimar
Prisoners were forced to work in weapons and armament facilities. However, the camp was also used as a Nazi research facility for typhus. While at the camp, prisoners were commonly exposed to the disease to allow Nazi scientists to test various experimental vaccines.
It is estimated that more than 55,000 prisoners were killed at Buchenwald.
The first group of 149 prisoners arrived at Buchenwald in July 1937. They were mostly political prisoners and criminals. Large groups of prisoners quickly followed. By the end of 1937, there were 2,561 prisoners, mostly political. In the spring of 1938 prisoners who were considered “asocial” were brought to the site. The first transports of German Jews also came at that time. By July, there were 7,723 prisoners in Buchenwald. On September 23, 1938, 2,200 Jews arrived from Austria.
Works Cited
"Buchenwald." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2016.
@topsecretwriter. "10 of the Worst Nazi Concentration Camps." Top Secret Writers. N.p., 22 Oct. 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2016.
"Buchenwald." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 02 July 2016. Web. 14 Oct. 2016.
"Nazi Camps." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 02 July 2016. Web. 14 Oct. 2016.