Is it possible for a place to bear witness? This is the Buchenwald Memorial Site. It stands as a stark reminder of atrocities. The Buchenwald concentration camp operated on Ettersberg hill near Weimar. The SS ran it from 1937 to 1945. More than a quarter of a million people from 50 countries were prisoners. They were held in over 130 external camps.
Over 56000 people died because of the SS. 11000 of the dead were Jews. They were murdered or died from exhaustion. Hunger, torture, and medical experiments contributed to the deaths. The Buchenwald camp gained notoriety. It was liberated by the United States Army in April 1945. Allied commander Dwight D. Eisenhower even visited one of its subcamps.
From August 1945 to 1950, Soviet forces used Buchenwald as a detention center. New research emerged after 1990. The site was then turned into a memorial. Buchenwald was one of the first and largest concentration camps. It existed within Germany’s 1937 borders. Many communists were among the first prisoners.
Prisoners came from all over Europe and the Soviet Union. They included Jews and Poles. Other Slavs were imprisoned there too. The mentally ill and physically disabled also suffered. Political prisoners, Roma people, Freemasons, and prisoners of war were incarcerated. Ordinary criminals and those called sexual deviants also became prisoners.
All prisoners performed forced labor. They worked in local armaments factories. The conditions were terrible. Food was insufficient. Poor conditions and executions led to 56545 deaths. This was out of 280000 prisoners. They passed through the camp and its 139 subcamps.
The first commandant was Karl-Otto Koch. He ran Buchenwald from 1937 to 1941. His wife Ilse Koch was known as the witch of Buchenwald. This was because of her cruelty. Koch was imprisoned at Buchenwald. This was for incitement to murder. He was executed in 1945.
The Buchenwald camp had subcamps. About 136 subcamps belonged to Buchenwald. In 1942, the SS used forced labor for armaments. Subcamps were near factories needing labor. Conditions in subcamps were worse. Prisoners lacked food and shelter.
Buchenwald also held Allied POWs. 168 aviators were held for two months. These men were from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and other countries. They arrived at Buchenwald in August 1944. The airmen were in aircraft that crashed in occupied France.
Illness was a primary cause of death. Prisoners were starved and forced to work. Many were killed by medical experimentation. Others died from arbitrary acts of the SS guards. Some prisoners were murdered by shooting and hanging.
The SS left behind accounts of prisoners. According to SS documents, 33462 died. However, these documents were not accurate. One former prisoner calculated executions. He says 8483 Soviet prisoners of war were shot. The total number of deaths at Buchenwald is estimated at 56545.
On April 11, 1945, American forces arrived at Buchenwald. They were given a hero’s welcome. Emaciated survivors found the strength to celebrate. After touring the camp, Patton ordered the mayor of Weimar to bring citizens to Buchenwald. They were shown the crematorium. The Americans wanted Germans to take responsibility for Nazi crimes.
Between 1945 and 1950, Buchenwald was a Soviet special camp. The Soviets imprisoned former Nazis and anti-communist dissidents. After the NKVD camp closed, much of the camp was razed. The first monument was erected by Buchenwald inmates. A second monument was erected in 1958.
Today the Buchenwald camp site serves as a Holocaust memorial. It has a museum with permanent exhibitions. The Buchenwald Memorial Foundation manages it.
In 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Buchenwald. They were accompanied by Elie Wiesel. Obama was the first sitting US President to visit the Buchenwald concentration camp. This place is a testament. It shows humanity’s capacity for both cruelty and resilience. It is a place of somber reflection. It is a place of historical reckoning.