Welcome to our comprehensive guide to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp! In this article, we will dive into the history, significance, and important details surrounding this infamous Nazi concentration camp.
Introduction to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp
Or better still; the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp was inaugurated in 1936 and was actually one concentration camp that set the pace for the other concentration camps that were to follow. Situated in Oranienburg, 25 miles north of Berlin in Germany, it was designed for political prisoners but over time embraced various forms of prisoners as marked by the Nazis including Jews, homosexuals, and Jehovah’ Witnesses.
The Creation and Importance of the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp
The Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp will be described as one of the important camps in the course of the Third Reich. It was also a training camp for ss officers and it was a proving ground for new types of savage methods of killing and maiming that was later employed in other death camps .
It was conveniently located near Berlin and was easily accessible for many high ranking Nazi officers and politicians to visit and thus actually see the camps brutality for themselves. This was beneficial to the camp’s fame and the part it played in the Nazi campaign.
The Life Experience in Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp
The general experience of prisoners in Sachsenhausen was suffering and dehumanized experience during their stay at the camp. They were through forced labor, starvation, medical experimentation, and most importantly torture throughout their stay in the facilities. The camp’s formation was to demoralized the inmates through humiliation, and beatings.
It would remain crowded and filthy with little or no space for movement and the generally harsh climate would be endured with a lack of adequate clothing and shelter. Terrorism in the form of public executions and other forms of brutality hung over their future with the systems readiness to kill at a moment’s notice.
The Liberation and Aftermath
Before the end of the Second World War, in April, 1945, the Soviet Army formed the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp to free the prisoners. Only when the camp was liberated it became clear how monstrously the Nazis treated people. The allies photographed and wrote down the state and the acts committed in the camp and made sure the world knew of it.
Following the end of the war the camp was first utilised for housing some of the Nazi war criminals during the post Second World War Nuremberg trials. It has since then transformed into a memorial and museum whose main aim was to commemorate the victims and anyone who wished to know the suffering that went on in the compound.
Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp today
Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp is now a public museum that offers guided tours into what used to be the camp. There are lots of areas that a visitor can go round in the camp, view exhibitions and learn more about the prisoners who were taken there. It is definitely quite somber, and informative, which makes it about the Holocaust and its consequences rather meaningful to a certain extent.
Visitor etiquette when visiting Sachsenhausen is extremely important and visitors must follow the expected and required conduct at the memorial site. Just remember that it is a site for mourning and meditation.
Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Tips
- Make sure that you spend enough time for the tour. memberId=901273 A minimum of a half day should be set aside to effectively tour round the compounds and check the exhibitions on display.
- It may be useful to join a guided tour or to request information at one of the tourist service establishments. It is often possible to talk with local specialists or historical guide who are able to explain the history of the camp in question in detail.
- Some of the observations made include: One should dress inappropriately as you may spend a lot of time outside. It is suggested that footwear is also comfortable enough for walking.
Conclusion
Dachau concentration camp together with Sachsenhausen concentration camp remain some of the most symbolic of all the horrific scenes ever to happen in history. A closer look at this camp gives people a chance to pay homage to the victims, and to learn from past experience. Sachsenhausen is one of those places that one should and could visit since it helps to understand what has happened and must not happen again.
