History
In 1937, the Nazis constructed Buchenwald concentration camp, near Weimar, Germany. Embedded in the camp's main entrance gate is the slogan Jedem das Seine (literally "to each his own", but figuratively "everyone gets what he deserves”). The camp was operational until its liberation in 1945. Between 1945 and 1950 the former camp was used by the Soviet Union as an NKVD special camp for Nazis. On 6 January 1950, the Soviets handed over Buchenwald to the East German Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Originally the camp was named after the hill Ettersberg but it was later renamed to Buchenwald (German for beech forest). The Goethe Eiche (Goethe's Oak) stood inside the camp's perimeter, and the stump of the tree is preserved as part of the memorial at KZ Buchenwald.
Between April 1938 and April 1945, some 238,380 people of various nationalities including 350 Western Allied POWs were incarcerated in Buchenwald. One estimate places the number of deaths in Buchenwald at 56,000.
During an American bombing raid on August 24, 1944 that was directed at a nearby armament factory, several bombs, including incendiaries, also fell on the camp, resulting in heavy casualties amongst the prisoners (2,000 prisoners wounded & 388 killed by the raid).
Today the remains of Buchenwald serves as a memorial and permanent exhibition and museum administrated by Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation, which also administrates the camp memorial at Mittelbau-Dora.
Read more about this topic: Buchenwald Concentration Camp
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