Mar 7, 2024 | Concentration Camp

What is the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp and Why is it Important?

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The Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp situated in Oranienburg, Germany, is one of the famous concentration camps that existed during the Second World War. It was an archetype of the subsequent concentration camps and was centrally functional during the holocaust.

The History of Sachsenhausen

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp was opened in 1936 and run by the SS, aelite German paramilitary organization in charge of operating the concentration camp. Originally, it was designed for political prisoners, then became a concentration camp, and forced labor camp for civilians, and finally a death camp.

To enhance its accessibility to the Gestapo which is the secret state police, the camp was located near Berlin region. The relative closeness to the capital made the coordination and control of the operations of the camp easier.

Living Conditions and Treatment

Living conditions in Sachsenhausen were as hard as in other concentration camps and the prisoners were exposed to brutal treatment. Children, Jews, Poles, Soviet POWs, plus other ethnic and political groups or nationals, were used for forced labor, physically and sexually assaulted, tortured, experimented on medically, and starved.

Condition was poor, especially as regards sanitation, which was the cause of diseases. A number of prisoners succumbed to deaths from diseases, starvation or were executed. The survivors experienced constant fear and at some point, even psychological trauma.

Persecution and Executions

Sachsenhausen was built primarily with the purpose of demeaning and reducing the prisoners to submission. The SS actively employed public executions for example through the use of gallows in the camp in order to cow the population into submission.

Those who suffered the most during those days were religious leaders, political opponents and intellectuals. It was used as a transit, so, prisoners were brought to the camp, and later sent to other extermination camps such as Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Where Is Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

Where Is Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

Oranienburg was a wwii Nazi concentration camp or Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp was located in Germany, 35 km in the north eastern region of Berlin. The camp was founded in 1936 and was in activity till it was liberated by Red Army in 1945. It is among one of the...

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a group of visitors, including adults and children, on a guided tour of the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

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