Buchenwald Concentration Camp
Buchenwald Concentration Camp, located near Weimar, Germany, was one of the largest concentration camps established by the Nazis, operational from 1937 until its liberation in 1945. Initially designed as a work camp, Buchenwald became a site of immense suffering, with over 56,000 prisoners reported to have died there, primarily from starvation and disease, as well as executions carried out by camp guards. Throughout its existence, the camp saw an influx of various prisoner groups, including political dissidents, Jews, and a significant number of children, many of whom were subjected to inhumane medical experiments. Buchenwald's notorious commandants, Karl Koch and Hermann Pister, oversaw brutal conditions, including torture and mass executions.
The camp also had numerous satellite camps, one of which held American GIs, revealing the broader scope of its operations. After World War II, Buchenwald was transformed into a Soviet camp for political prisoners, where thousands more suffered before the camp was eventually closed. Today, the Buchenwald Memorial serves as a site of remembrance, offering educational tours and exhibits that recount the harrowing history of the camp, its victims, and the atrocities committed within its walls. Visitors can explore the original buildings and learn about the experiences of those who endured the harsh realities of life at Buchenwald, reflecting on its legacy to ensure such horrors are not forgotten.
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Buchenwald Concentration Camp
The Buchenwald concentration camp was located five miles northwest of Weimar and 150 miles from Berlin. One of the largest camps, Buchenwald was a work camp rather than a death camp. However, 56,565 prisoners died there. While most died from hunger and disease, others were killed by whim of SS officers. Buchenwald came into existence as Ettersberg concentration camp in July 1937 and originally held only 149 male political prisoners. Within six months, the number had grown to 2,400. After the events of November 9–10, 1938, which became known as Kristallnacht (night of the broken glass), the Nazis accelerated their campaign against Jews. The first Jewish prisoners arrived at Buchenwald soon after. That number expanded in the last year of the war as Nazi officials cleared out the eastern camps.
Brief History
Ironically, Buchenwald lay within the Beach Forest and was home to "Goethe’s oak," a respected symbol of the German Enlightenment and the birthplace of German constitutional government. By January 1945, 110,000 prisoners were incarcerated at Buchenwald. Within 100 days, 13,000 had died. Most children were housed in Block 8 where thousands of them died. Block 46 was the home of the Hygienic Institute, with its ovens and laboratories in which doctors intentionally infected patients with diseases and poisons in the name of medical science. No treatment was provided.
Buchenwald had a special building for those in solitary confinement. These prisoners were tortured for weeks at a time. In the crematorium, 1,100 prisoners, including at least one child, were strangled while dangling from meat hooks. Prisoners to be executed were taken to a stable where they were shot in the neck from behind through a narrow slit in the wall.
Buchenwald had 130 satellite camps, including Berga, where 350 imprisoned American GIs were held for a period of 10 weeks in early 1945. Their story did not become public until 1983. At that time, survivors, who included Bernard Metnick, Anthony Acevedo, and William Shapiro, began telling of their experiences under the oppressive and vindictive control of Erwin Metz who oversaw their work in an airless and secret tunnel. Seventy-three GIs did not survive. In 2011, filmmaker Steven Hoggard told this story in Hitler’s GI Death Camp. Survivors still insist that they were denied justice because Metz, whom they called Butcher of the Earth, was freed after only nine years in prison. One of the most astounding aspects of the liberation of Buchenwald was the discovery of approximately nine hundred children, ranging in age from 3 to 14. Most were Jews from Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. Four-year-old Joseph Schleifstein had been hidden in a sack. A boy named Yakala had been born there and hidden after his mother was murdered.
Overview
The most notorious camp commandant of Buchenwald was the brutal Karl Koch (1937–1941) who repeatedly claimed that Buchenwald held no sick people, only those who were dead or alive. His wife, Ilse, was notoriously obsessed with collecting human tattooed skin. Karl Koch’s personal vendetta against anyone, even SS personnel, who crossed him became known, and he was executed by the Nazis in April 1945. Hermann Pister had taken over as commandant in 1942.
In March 1947, thirty-one defendants were tried for crimes committed at Buchenwald. Ilsa Koch was sentenced to life in prison but served only four years. Pister died in prison while serving a life term. Han Eisele, a doctor who had murdered hundreds of prisoners through medical experimentation, served only a few years. SS officials executed for their crimes included Kapo Hans Wolf, Hubart Krautwurst, Emil Pleissner, Hans Merbach, Hans-Theodor Schmidt, Max Schobert, Hermann Grossman, and Josef Kestel. Others were sentenced to death but had their sentences commuted to life in prison. None served out those terms.
Leon Blum, a former prime minister of France, was one of the best known of the Buchenwald prisoners. He was allowed to marry his cousin Janot, who joined him in camp. Many Buchenwald survivors have written about their experiences. Elie Wiesel, a Nobel Prize-winning author and political activist, wrote of his experiences at Auschwitz and Buchenwald in his memoir Night (1958). Austrian American psychologist and writer Bruno Bettelheim was allowed to leave Buchenwald for the United States in 1939. Bettelheim devoted much of his life to working with disturbed children. He wrote about Buchenwald in Informed Heart (1960). Jorge Semprun, a Spanish communist who lived in France, also wrote of his experiences in The Long Voyage (1963). Because Semprun was fluent in German, he had a unique perspective on life at Buchenwald.
The Soviets gained control of East Germany in 1945, and for the next five years, Buchenwald became a secret Stalinist camp. Half of the estimated 40,000 prisoners were former Nazi officials. Others were political prisoners or "Werewolves," young people who had been recruited as Nazi guerilla fighters in the final days of the war. Innocents were also imprisoned at postwar Buchenwald. The harsh conditions caused the deaths of between 8,000 and 13,000 prisoners. When Germany reunited in 1990, officials began restoring Buchenwald’s past to tell the full story of its experiences during and after the Holocaust.
In the 2020s, visitors to the Buchenwald Memorial can see the camp's original buildings. The building where SS personnel were housed has become an educational center. Young people come from all over the world to excavate the grounds and learn about Buchenwald’s history.
Tours begin at the Road of Blood by which prisoners entered the camp. The "road of the damned," which was guarded by armed SS personnel and vicious dogs, comes next. Roll Call Square still evokes memories of emaciated prisoners forced to stand outside in winter weather for eighteen hours while guards searched for would-be escapees. The rock quarry where prisoners were literally worked to death is also still there. The Road of Nations recognizes all nations represented by Buchenwald’s victims, and the bell tower clock remains fixed at 3:15 PM.
The Buchenwald Memorial is made up of three separate exhibits. The first describes the organization and structure of the camp, daily life from 1937 to 1942, daily life from 1942 until liberation in 1945, Nazi crimes, and details about the survivors and oppressors. The second exhibit focuses on the years of Soviet occupation and includes memorials placed by family members. The final and separate exhibit houses the memorial established by the Soviets for communist victims of the Holocaust.
Bibliography
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