Sachsenhausen

Visiting the Memorial Site of the former Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp (KZ Sachsenhausen) is a very emotional and significant day tour. The Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp was built by the SS (Schutzstaffel) in the summer of 1936, within the town of Oranienburg, not far from Berlin and it became a model camp. The proximity to the capital Berlin with all Nazi governmental ministries, and the fact that as of 1938 the Inspectorate of the entire KZ System (IKL) was located on the premises, meant that KZ Sachsenhausen acquired a special role within the National Socialist concentration camp system. Most of the Commandants of the other Camps, including Rudolf Höss, later the Comandant of Auschwitz, were trained in KZ Sachsenhausen. More than 200,000 people were imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp between 1936 and 1945 and over 40,000 (estimate) died from malnutrition, disease and torture at the hands of SS guards. On our tour, we shall discuss the treatment of different groups of prisoners: Jewish, political, homosexual, Roma and Sinti (“Gypsies”) POW and others. We will hear the stories of famous prisoners like Herschel Grynszpan, Martin Niemöller and others. From “Station A”, the main entrance, to “Station Z” where the gas chambers and the crematorium stood, this place will give you a better understanding of the holocaust and the Nazi regime. Depending on time and interest we can discuss how the camp was used by the Soviets as a special camp between 1945 and 1950.