Buchenwald Concentration Camp
Buchenwald was one of Nazi Germany's largest concentration camps, operating from July 1937 to April 1945 on the Ettersberg hill near Weimar as a forced-labour detention site. Over that period some 277,800 people from 50 countries were imprisoned here; an estimated 56,000 died, including 15,000 Soviet citizens, 7,000 Poles, 6,000 Hungarians, and 3,000 French nationals. On 11 April 1945, as the U.S. Third Army approached, prisoners took control of the camp from the retreating SS, threw open the gates, and raised a white flag. The site became a national memorial in 1958. Step through the entrance gate and the details most visitors walk past — the gate itself, the crematorium, and a small camp brothel — reward a slower look.
Germany · 18 The overlooked corners inside
The overlooked corners inside
SS Construction Brigade III (Cologne)
On the right bank of the Rhine in Cologne's Deutz district, on the grounds of the former trade-fair site, a sprawling complex of camps operated between 1939 and 1945. One of them was a Buchenwald satellite, known as SS Construction Brigade III, which functioned from September 1942 to May 1944. Prisoners were forced to clear rubble and retrieve corpses after bombing raids, and were assigned to bomb-disposal units handling unexploded ordnance. The same site also held a POW camp, a Gestapo auxiliary prison, and barracks for civilian forced labourers; the exhibition halls were used as assembly points for the deportation of Jews, Sinti, and Roma.
Sources: de.wikipedia.org
Buchenwald Crematorium
Built in 1940, the crematorium contained not only furnaces but also a dissection room and a pathology room — the latter used to extract gold teeth from the dead. The first furnace was supplied in December 1939 by Topf & Söhne of Erfurt; by spring 1941 the firm had delivered and installed several more. Hooks were fixed to the walls of the basement, where many prisoners were murdered.
Buchenwald Camp Brothel
From 1943, within the boundaries of what the SS called the "protective custody camp", a brothel for prisoners was established — nominally as an "incentive to boost work performance". To staff it, 16 women prisoners were transported from Ravensbrück concentration camp to Buchenwald in July 1943 and forced into prostitution. This unremarkable building is one more piece of evidence of how the Nazi system reduced human beings to instruments of productivity.
Buchenwald Camp Gate
Looking back from the roll-call square toward the gate, you can read the words forged into the ironwork: *Jedem das Seine* — "To each what he deserves." Buchenwald was the only concentration camp to carry this inscription. It was designed by Franz Ehrlich, a Bauhaus-trained artist who was himself a political prisoner held here; he made it on Nazi orders. The craftsmanship is fine; the words are a cold mockery of everything that happened behind them.
Little Camp Memorial
This memorial, completed in 2002, was designed by New York architect Stephen B. Jacobs — who had himself been a prisoner in the Little Camp as a six-year-old child. Within its enclosing walls, black stone benches and concrete pillars trace the outlines of the former barracks, inscribed with the names of deportation departure points. The memorial commemorates the roughly 6,000 people who died in the Little Camp in fewer than one hundred days in early 1945.
Sources: buchenwald.de
Children's Camp Memorial (Block 66)
In January 1945, in Block 66 at the lower end of the Little Camp, prisoner functionaries e… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: buchenwald.de
Hanging Post and Stone Cart
Outside the crematorium, two reconstructions stand side by side: a hanging post (*Pfahl*)… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: schwarzaufweiss.buchenwald.de · dark-tourism.com
November Pogrom Special Camp Memorial Stone (1938)
Following the pogrom of 9 November 1938, the Gestapo forced 9,845 Jewish men to Buchenwald… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: buchenwald.de · buchenwald.de
Buchenwald Permanent Historical Exhibition
This permanent exhibition has been housed in the former *Kammergebäude* (stores building)… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: buchenwald.de
Bulgarian and Political Prisoners Memorial Stone
This memorial stone stands on the site of former Block 45, bears an inscription in Bulgari… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: buchenwald.de
Polish Patriots Special Camp Memorial Stone
In October 1939, the SS fenced off a special section beside the roll-call square, forcing… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: buchenwald.de
Stores Building (Kammergebäude)
The *Kammergebäude* was the largest building in the detention compound, five storeys inclu… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: buchenwald.de
Sinti and Roma Memorial
This memorial was built in 1995, designed by Daniel Plaas, on the foundation of the former… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: buchenwald.de
Soviet Special Camp No. 2 Permanent Exhibition
In August 1945, Soviet occupation authorities took over the former concentration camp and… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: buchenwald.de · buchenwald.de
SS Zoo Site
In 1938, camp commandant Karl Koch ordered a zoo to be built alongside the detention compo… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: buchenwald.de
Little Camp (Kleines Lager)
The Little Camp was established by the SS in 1943 at the northern edge of the main camp as… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: buchenwald.de
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, von Rabenau, and Grey Memorial Site
This memorial site was inaugurated on 1 September 1999, in the former SS garrison area nea… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: buchenwald.de
Buchenwald Railway Station
In spring 1943, on Himmler's orders, prisoners were driven by the SS to build the 10-kilom… 🔒 Unlock the full guide
Sources: buchenwald.de · buchenwald.de
FAQ
What overlooked corners are worth seeing inside Buchenwald Concentration Camp?
SS Construction Brigade III (Cologne), Buchenwald Crematorium, Buchenwald Camp Brothel and more — 18 spots in all, each with sources and a guide in your language to read or listen to on the spot.
Is the Buchenwald Concentration Camp guide free?
The first 5 spots are free to read; the other 13 unlock with a one-time purchase (not a subscription).