Buchenwald

In July 1937 the Nazis began the construction of Buchenwald, one of four infamous prewar camps. The other three camps were Dachau, Ravensbruck, and Sachsenhausen.

The initial construction phase ended with the electrical wiring, enclosing 40 hectares and over 3.2 kilometers long. Buchenwald was actually a series of internal subcamps with wooden and stone barracks, old horse stables, and tent cities. The "Little Camp" was the most badly reputed. It had no stoves, blankets, or mattresses. It provided not even water, cots, latrines, clothes, spoons, or mess gear. Windowless, toiletless, 2,000 prisoners competed for the space of 28 horses. The Little Camp also experienced several major epidemics, wiped out even more inmates.

Until 1943 Buchenwald housed mostly Germans. As the war progressed, prisoners from every nation poured into the camp. The Jews soon outnumbered the criminals. By camp policies, Jews and homosexuals were segregated into the lowest castes. Like other camps, Buchenwald had a group of "notable" prisoners housed near the SS officer residence. They included former lead of the German Social Democratic Party, the Italian Princess, the business magnate, German industrialists, members of families of disgraced German officers, and the former French Premier.

Buchenwald was the place for live children. They were separated from their parents and were sent to stay in Buchenwald. In the camp the underground succeeded in protecting many of them in a special barrack. The adult prisoners aided them as best they could. The story of the youngest child in camp, Stefan Jerzy Zweig, was described by Bruno Apitz in his novel, Naked Among Wolves. A group of prisoners brave death to keep that child alive. He did survived and became a strong all-star player on the Israeli national handball team.

The Nazis, with their peculiar minds, provided leisure as well as torture for their charges. They permitted moments of relaxation and recreation. They allowed the prisoners to play soccer, handball, and volleyball. Those inmates assigned to easy work were in good enough health to play these sports. The SS also provided prostitutes for those prisoners who could steal enough food to trade for this service. Buchenwald inmates listened to radio through the public address system. They saw motion pictures and made use of the prison library.

Despite all the good things mentioned above, Buchenwald also had its bad side. It was one of the largest labor-exploitation centers in all of Europe. It traded prisoners to industries for money. When the industries sent back an unfit worker, he would be sent to the crematorium. In a period when every bit of human energy should be used toward war effort, SS officers used much labor force for private and illegal purposes. They made money from producing a wide range of luxury goods.

Buchenwald never possessed a gas chamber. However, the authorities managed to kill thousands by using a variety of other methods. For example, the SS doctors laid out a large number of syringes filled with a concentrated phenol solution, and the orderlies used them to kill prisoners. Many inmates died of beating and torture administered in the bunkers. The Nazis would hanged prisoners in their cells, beat them to death with an iron bar, and poisoned them.

Just like all other camps, Buchenwald had its own medical experiments. SS doctors conducted test series with typhus, yellow fever, smallpox, cholera, diphtheria, poisoned ammunition, stored blood too cold to use, and other poisons. The experiments killed most of the subjects. The scientists learned how to shrunk human skull from a returned traveler from Africa. They provided these shrunken heads as special treasures for SS visitors. The human skin was put to several uses. The scientists sent some pieces to the tattoo collection at a special museum at Berlin. They also used the skin to made lamp shades, which the wife of the commandant adored.

As the war drew to a close, the Nazis decided to evacuate the prisoners. Between April 3 and April 10 Buchenwald underwent an immense and chaotic evacuation that affected 28,000 of the 48,000 prisoners. Most of them died. The 20,000 inmates left behind waited for the coming of liberation and survived.