Ten houses. That’s all that remained of the SS officers’ colony. Imagine the families living here. Their lives of middle-class comfort. Household servants. Multiple children. This was the SS officers’ colony in Weimar. A stark contrast to the horrors of Buchenwald nearby.
This settlement stood a few kilometers from the concentration camp. It was known as the Ettersberg Settlement. The houses were built in the Heimatschutzstil style. This traditionalist architectural style provided a facade of normalcy. A deceptive calm for the families of those who ran Buchenwald. The street was named Eicke Path after Theodor Eicke. He was the head of the SS Death’s Head Units. He was also the Inspector of the concentration camps.
By January 1938 the first three houses were occupied. The camp commander and officers of the protective custody camp moved in with their families. Camp doctors and the head of the guard detail also lived here. They lived lives of relative luxury. Inmates served as their servants. Koch the first camp commander lived in the largest house. It was called Haus Buchenwald. Beneath it lay the settlement’s air raid cellar. A place of supposed safety ironically built on the suffering of others.
The SS officers’ colony wasn’t just a place to live. It was a symbol of the SS’s power. A testament to their twisted sense of normalcy. A place where the families of perpetrators thrived. While just a few kilometers away unspeakable atrocities occurred daily.
The irony is palpable. Here we stand before these remnants of that life. The contrast is striking. The remnants of high dry-stone walls and gardens are all that remain. These were made visible again in the 1990s. The houses were destroyed in the mid-1950s. The People’s Police of the GDR used the site for explosives training. They were stationed at Ettersberg at the time.
The SS officers’ colony is more than just ruins. It’s a haunting reminder. A reminder of the stark contrast between the lives of the perpetrators and their victims. It’s a place to reflect on the inhumanity of the Nazi regime. It compels us to remember. To learn. To ensure such horrors are never repeated. This was their home. This was their sanctuary. A sanctuary built on suffering and death. The shadow of Buchenwald looms large over this seemingly peaceful spot.