Where is the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp found
The Sachsenhausen concentration camp is one of the most horrendous concentration camps that was established by the Nazi German in Oranienburg Germany. It was set in the early 1936 and many other concentration camps in Germany were based on this camp. Sachsenhausen was an exceptionally long-lived and typical concentration camp in the system developed by the Nazis. It was the place of exterminations where victims were tortured and forced to work.
History of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp.
The Sachsenhausen was the first such camp created in the territory of Nazi Germany in 1936. The prison was based in Sachsenhausen, Oranienburg- about 40 km North of Berlin. This was selected because of its strategic location to the capital and its connectivity to other means of transport. Originally, this camp housed the training of the SS officers and soldiers and in the meantime, its purposes served as a prison to political prisoners, Jew and other enemies of the state.
The camp was organized into two main sections: an administrative zone to the east and a containment zone to the west. The eastern sector had barracks, workshops, and administrative and living facilities for the SS members and a population of political prisoners. The section of the west housed the detention area consisting of the prison cells and watchtowers.
Sachsenhausen prisoners had to work under pressure, were denied food and other necessities, as well as being tortured in one way or the other. More prisoners were also used in carrying out ‘medical’ experiments. About 100,000 prisoners were incarcerated at Sachsenhausen between 1936 to 1945 and 30,000 or so died at the camp during the same period.
The Liberation of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp
Sachsenhausen was liberated by the Soviet Red Army on 22nd of April in 1945. When the camp was liberated, the place was rather defunct and messy, but there were thousands of prisoners that were sick and starving. The Soviets quickly created a temporary medical facility and offered the prisoners something to eat.
The Soviet administration also put together an Investigative commission for establishing a case against war crimes that occurred in Sachsenhausen camp. The commission took information from over three hundred survivors and made a comprehensive report about the sufferings in the camp. This report was taken to the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials for prosecution of the former SS guards and officers.
Uses of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp After the War
After the war till early 1948 Sachsenhausen was used only to commemorate the victims who perished in the camp and to remind the German nation of the Nazi sins. The site was made open for the public in 1947 to be used as a memorial site as well as a museum. It remains one of the most popular destinations for tourism in Germany with between 200,000 and 300,000 tourists iterating it annually.
The exhibition zone provides the guests with the general information about the history of the town and place of the Sachsenhausen in the criminal activities of Nazi Germany. Several buildings and monuments exist that form the camp; visitors can walk round and see photographs and items taken from the camp.
Sachsenhausen Today
Today, the Sachsenhausen is one of the largest and truly significant sites of memory in Germany. Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum is a non governmental organization but has financial support from the German government. Its objectives are to memorialize their past through the freedom fighters who were tortured at Sachsenhausen and Informing the public on the events that took place at Sachsenhausen.
The site is free for visitors all year round and has available guided tours in different languages. It is also the location of an annual memorial which is held on 22/04 to honor the dead of sachsenhausen.
Conclusion
Sachsenhausen concentration camp is one of the powerful sight seeing attractions that narrow down the tragic events that occurred during the Second World War in Germany. Its history is one of the cruellest, so people should remember it and its future generations should never through experiments of the similar cruelty. Nowadays, Sachsenhausen is a memorial to people who have perished in the camp, and it is an instructive place showing how people should or should not treat one another, what human rights are.
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