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More than 200,000 people were imprisoned here by the Nazis and some 50,000 were brutally murdered. Sachsenhausen was initially used to imprison political opponents and only later, when groups were defined as racially or biologically inferior, was the camp used as a training ground for the Holocaust
As the first camp established under Himmler, Sachsenhausen was conceived as a “model” camp. We explain how Nazi architects designed the grounds and buildings with a view to creating the ideal structure for a concentration camp
We uncover the realities of life and death in the camp: people fell victim to starvation, disease, forced labour and systematic extermination. Visit the punishment cells, execution grounds and crematorium, Pathology Laboratory and Hospital, and the “pit” which victims were thrown into – simply to rot
Learn of stories of valour amid the horror, such as the British Royal Marine Commandos forced to test German army equipment, and hear about the fate of notable prisoners such as Stalin’s son, and the use of “death marches” to murder remaining survivors before Soviet liberation
We also detail life and death in Special Camp No. 1/7, as Sachsenhausen was to become known under the Soviets. Until its closure in 1950, a further 60,000 men were held captive here, mostly former Nazi functionaries, German POWs and Soviet deserters. 12,000 inmates died of hunger, psychological and physical exhaustion under the Soviets
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