Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

Sachsenhausen was built by the National Socialist regime to hold male prisoners, mostly ‘politicals’. As Nazi anti-Jewish measures increased, Jews gradually became a significant proportion of the camp’s population. There were an estimated 30 - 35,000 victims of the Nazis at Sachsenhausen, which was then used after the war by the Soviet secret police to hold low-ranking Nazis. The national memorial at Sachsenhausen was opened on 23 April 1961 by the East German authorities. Memory of National Socialist crimes followed a party line in East Germany, reflected in the exhibitions at Sachsenhausen. For example, the communist prisoners in and outside the camp were heavily featured. The genocide of European Jews was given scant attention and the suffering of non-political groups at Sachsenhausen was not mentioned. Many of the displays in the former barracks have now been completely reworked and new exhibitions are imminent.