Bergen-Belsen concentration camp

The origins of the camp site date back to 1935, when a barracks camp for construction workers of the Bergen military training area was built here. From 1940, the Wehrmacht used it as a prisoner-of-war camp for French and Belgian soldiers. In May 1941, it was expanded into main camp XI C (311) and a hospital for Soviet prisoners of war. Thousands died here by 1942 from hunger, cold, and disease and were buried in mass graves. In April 1943, the Wehrmacht handed over the southern part of the site to the SS, who established the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp there. Initially conceived as a “residence camp” for Jewish exchange prisoners, who were to be traded for German civilians, it evolved into a concentration camp from December 1944. “Incapacitated” prisoners and evacuation transports from front-line camps were brought here, leading to the mass death of over 50,000 people. British troops liberated the camp in April 1945, finding unburied bodies and terminally ill survivors.

The former Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is located approximately 49 meters above sea level near Bergen in the district of Celle, Lower Saxony, Germany.

Today, the site serves as a memorial that can be visited and commemorates the victims of National Socialism.

• Bredebeck Castle (Castle), approx. 3.4 km away
• Hoppenstedt Manor House (Manor House), approx. 3.9 km away
• Sunder Manor House (Manor House), approx. 6.5 km away
• Celle Castle (Castle), approx. 18.9 km away