The entrance to the camp.
Bergen-Belsen first started as POW camp in 1939. Only a few hundred prisoners were there at first as there weren't really any buildings. They had to sleep in little huts made of dirt while they were building the camp during the day. In 1941, after the camp was a little bit more built up, 20,000 Russian prisoners of war were sent there. Starting in 1943, it also served as a concentration camp. It was actually divided up into many different sections to accommodate different types of prisoners. They had a section called the "Star Camp" where they kept Jews that they hoped to be able to exchange for German civilians who were prisoners in other countries. Near the end of the war, the Germans started evacuating and destroying many of the concentration camps to hide a lot of what had gone on. A lot of prisoners were sent from other camps, like Auschwitz, to Bergen-Belsen near the end of the war. They didn't actually have any mass extermination buildings at Bergen-Belsen. It was also more of a work camp and a place where they could stick prisoners who couldn't work anymore. There was still a really high death rate at the camp because of so much disease and miserable living conditions. Overall, around 70,000 people died at the camp. Even after the camp was liberated, over 10,000 more people died because they were so sick and couldn't be treated.
There actually aren't any buildings still standing at the memorial. They were all burned down by the British army to try to prevent the spread of disease. You can see the foundations of a couple of living quarters as well as a water pit. The main part of the memorial is a long 2 story building you walk through that describes the history of the camp. The first section on the first floor talks about the POW camp. Mainly it was Russion POWs held there but there were also Italian Military Internees sent there in 1943. There was actually a lot of documentation from this part of the camp. All of the prisoners were registered and had ID cards with information about where they came from and their health. The second section of the first floor talks about Bergen-Belsen as a concentration camp. They have a lot of artifacts found from where the barracks were located. There are also lots of individual stories about some of the families that were sent there. After Anne Frank and her family were discovered in Amsterdam, she eventually ended up at Bergen-Belsen. Anne died a few days after her sister just a few weeks before the camp was liberated. The second floor is devoted to Bergen-Belsen as a Displaced Persons camp. After the camp was liberated, many of the people had nowhere to go or were too sick to go anywhere. The Displaced Persons camp was actually located at the German barracks a few miles away from the concentration camp. Here are some of the artifacts they found outside some of the prisoners barracks at the concentration camp.
Remnants of shoes and even some teeth.
Some of their work tools.
Random items; buttons, a pot, etc.
Items they used for meals.
Two of the main stories they had were of Anne Frank, of course, and of a family that had twin daughters. One of the daughters, and I think both of the parents, died at the camp. The other twin wanted to keep her twins belongings rather than her own so she would never forget her.
The yellow star all Jews had to wear.
The twins names were Ruth and Julie (I'm only 50% sure about the J name). These are some of their belongings.
Information about Anne Frank.
Clothes they had to wear. I can't imagine this being much help in winter.
After we finished looking around inside, we went outside to see some of the remains and the mass burial graves. It was just crazy to see these huge mounds and to know that thousands of people were just thrown in there. Even after liberation, there wasn't much choice but to continue the mass graves because of how many dead there were.
What the main street in the camp used to look like.
What it looks like now.
The remains of one of the barracks where the prisoners lived.
What it looked like while the camp was in use.
Remains of a root cellar.
Remains of the water pit, right next to the root cellar. On the far side there are some stairs.
The water pit as it looked when the camp was in use.
The sign at the entrance to the main area with all the graves.
These large mounds are the mass burial sites.
Each mass grave had a stone like this marking the approximate number of people buried.
Obelisk and Wall of Inscriptions. It was really really cold and windy so this was as close as we got.
There are about 1,000 people buried at this site.
A memorial gravestone to Anne Frank and her sister Margot. The location of their actual bodies is unknown.
I really enjoyed visiting the Memorial. We've actually been able to visit a lot of World War II related memorials and museums while we've been here, in Berlin and in Prague. I find it all really interesting but it can also get depressing after while. I do think the Germans have done a great job of memorializing those who died and making sure they're never forgotten.
The internet is still pretty touch and go so I might not post anything else until we get to Louisiana. Hopefully it will be more reliable there. I still need to post about all the places I visited in Leeds, our trips to Berlin and Prague, and our short stop in Dresden. For our last weekend in Europe we will probably stick pretty close to Celle. There are few places in Celle we're going to check out and we might see if there's any interesting sights to see in Hannover or Hamburg.
We have less than 2 weeks left and we're so excited to get home and see our families. I hope everyone is doing well!
No comments:
Post a Comment