Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

About

Built in 1936 only 35 kilometres from Berlin, the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp became a training center for SS officers who would be sent to other concentration camps. Until it closed in 1945, over 200,000 people were imprisoned here, and tens of thousands died of hunger, disease, mistreatment, or systematic extermination. From 1945 to 1950, the Soviets used Sachsenhausen as a NKVD Special camp, interring around 60,000 political prisoners. Excavations carried out after the fall of East Germany found the bodies of 12,500 of the camp’s victims. In 1961, the Sachsenhausen National Memorial was founded, transforming the camp into the museum and memorial that is open to the public today. Through exhibitions and the preserved buildings, visitors can learn about the site’s chilling history.