Concentration camps were one of the worst phenomena in people’s experience especially in the second world war. But when we speak of concentration camps, the names which ring a bell are Auschwitz, Dachau and Treblinka. Although there are places that everyone knows today are concentration camps in Berlin, in fact many individuals do not know that there were also concentration camps outside the capital as well.
What was the meaning of Concentration Camps?
The initial concentration camps were set by the Nazis in Germany in the 1930s and the 1940s. Initially, they were used for purposes of holding and incarcerating political dissidents; the communists, socialists, and intellectuals. But still, with time, these camp were to be meant to serve some purpose as we shall see later on.
Moreover, the concentration camp consisted of people arrested for political reasons as well as the victims of religious, ethnic, sexual, and other efficient persecution by the Nazis. These camps were meant to hold and eliminate through torture hundreds of innocent victims.
Those Which Were Outside Berlin
It is however important to note that although Berlin could not be regarded as a Concentration Camps city it was real that several of them were situated outside it. These concentration camps were essential in the genocide process by the Nazi party.
One of such camps was Sachsenhausen; it was located in Oranienburg; about 35 kilometers north of Berlin. This camp was set in 1936 and was the prototype of all other prospective concentration camps.
The other infamous camp outside Berlin was Ravensbrück apart from Sachsenhausen. The camp was mainly for women and was established in northern Germany, about 90 kilometers in the North of Berlin.
Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp knew also as Sachsenhausen.
Sachsenhausen originally was designed for holding political opponents of the fascist regime. But by later years it incorporated Jewish, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other groups which was targeted.
While conditions were brutal right through the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, prisoners were held in cramped cells, forced to work, starved, beaten and used in medical experimentation. For hunger, diseases, and executions, tens of thousands of people died in this conflict.
The Ravensbrück Concentration Camp
Ravensbrück, that was established in 1939, was the largest women’s concentration camp during the whole years of the Nazi regime. They imprisoned more than 130,000 women of different profiles, political dissidents including resistance fighters and racially and socially undesirable by the Nazis.
Conditions in Ravensbrück were harsh and women prisoners suffered from torture, medical experiments, starvation etc. It was extremely rare to survive Ravensbrück. In the period of April 1945 the camp was liberated by the Soviet’s army.
Remembering the Victims
There must be a focus to pay respect to the victims of concentration camps besides the remembering ones in and around Berlin. These camps are even today relevant to show people the actions carried out during world war II and the harm of extremism accompanied with hatred.
In order to commemorate the victims and other people who suffered from the cruelty of fascists, as well as in order to let heirs know about the horror, which took place in the territories of the former ghettos and concentration camps, several memorial complexes and museums have been created. These sites affordMAN comprehensive vision of what happened and the suffering and the death of many people.
The Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum: Adjacent to the ex camp area and includes a display of facts about the camp and the life in it.
The Ravensbrück Memorial Museum: Located at the Ravensbrück camp site it holds and preserves memories of the women who suffered immensely there.
Conclusion
Lodz Ghetto and Sobibor concentration camp were among the ones located outside Berlin that were infamous for carrying out the atrocities by the Nazi regime. Sachsenhausen and Ravensbrück are just camp examples where many people were thrown into prison, tortured and ultimately killed.
This is why one must recognize this side of history, go visit memorials and learn in order to avoid repeating the mistake again.
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