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 Stations "A" and "Z" - Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, Germany
N 52° 46.219 E 013° 15.561
33U E 382570 N 5848141
Crematory of the former Sachsenhausen Concentration CAmp
Waymark Code: WMHEBT
Location: Brandenburg, Germany
Date Posted: 06/30/2013
Views: 8
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Sachsenhausen was one of the largest concentration camps in Nazi Germany. An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 people died here, about half of them Russian prisoners of war.
Between 1936 and 1945, over 200,000 people were incarcerated here or passed through the camp on their way to other, even more gruesome destinations.
Sachsenhausen was not an extermination camp, but for many of the about 20,000 Jewish people who passed through this camp, it was the first stage on a voyage of suffering that only too often ended in the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka and Majdanek.
Cover of DVD Holocaust - Dachau and Sachsenhausen.
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In the contemptuous language of the SS guards, prisoners went from "A to Z." "A" was the main gate next to "Watch tower A", while "Z" was the crematory.
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Wath tower "A"
Source: ww2f.com |
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Prisoners are marched through the gate in 1936
Source: ww2f.com
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Reconstruction of the watch tower "A" |
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The gate today
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For an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 people the trail of suffering ended here in Sachsenhausen's "Station Z", consisting of an execution trench, a gas chamber, and a crematory.
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Execution trench and crematory |
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Incinerators
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The pictures above were taken shortly after the liberation of the camp in 1945 and are now part of the exhibition. The crematory and the gas chamber were demolished in 1953. In 1961, a memorial was dedicated at the location of "Station Z." The restored execution trench and the remains of the demolished furnaces became part of that memorial.
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Restored execution trench |
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Remains of incinerators
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In the execution trench |
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Restored remains of the crematory
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Since 1961, there is a memorial at the site, showing two prisoners holding a dying comrade.
And I know one thing more - that the Europe of the future cannot exist without commemorating all those, regardless of their nationality, who were killed at that time with complete contempt and hate, who were tortured to death, starved, gassed, incinerated and hanged..."
Former prisoner Andrzej Szczypiorski
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Physical Address:
Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen
Straße der Nationen 22
Oranienburg, Brandenburg Germany
16515
Date Dedicated: 04/22/1961
Supporting Website: [Web Link]
Fee/Donation: general admission free, guided tours €15
Memorial Type: Location/Site
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Visit Instructions:
A picture of you is required at the site. A full description of your thoughts and experience on the site.
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