Mar 7, 2024 | Sachsenhausen

What Was the Purpose and Impact of the Concentration Camp Just Outside Berlin?

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The concentration camp was one of several ones established during the Second World War; the camp was situated near Berlin, Germany. Since this is my first essay, with a topic related to history, it is crucial to define the objective, effect and chronological location of this concentration camp among the number of camps that was initiated and controlled by the Nazi government.

1. Background and Establishment of the Camp

Primarily called Sachsenhausen concentration camp, it was created in 1936 by Heinrich Himmler who was the chief of the SS. It was located at Oranienburg, about 22 miles north of Berlin and it was one of the earliest established by the Nazis. This contributed to both functions because the Nazi government needed a strategic location close to Berlin for a number of reasons.

2. The Purpose of Sachsenhausen

Consequently, the main goal of Sachsenhausen was to detain and torture a number of people who the Nazi party seen as problematic. The prisoners incorporated political opponents, Jews, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and disabled individuals. Sachsenhausen also played the role of a training base of cruel SS officers who were posted to other concentration camps next.

2.1 Forced Labor and Experiments

Moreover, the most significant and often spoken of sections in Sachsenhausen were torturing prisoners and utilizing inmates as slaves as well as conducting medical experiments on them. These cruel tests were performed for the purpose of advancing the Nazi’s theory of the supposed superiority of the Aryan race and resulted in numerous victims’ suffering.

3. Conditions and Daily Life in the Camp

Thus, life in Sachsenhausen was cruel, dehumanizing, and characterized by the feeling of constant fear. These prisoners were subjected to very dehumanizing experiences such as cramped and cramped accommodation as well as poor diet, health hazards, and lack of adequate sanitary facilities. They also suffered from the physical and psychological deterioration by the side of the SS guards.

4. Liberation and Post-War Legacy

The Soviet forces liberated Sachsenhausen on the 22nd of April, 1945 shortly before the end of the second world war. This proves that the camp was multi-purpose from the beginning and after the war was used as a special camp for Germans by the Russians military. However, what is left of Sachsenhausen today is a symbol of memory, that is a complex of a museum and a memorial that offers an insight into the experiences of the concentration camp prisoners.

4.1 Importance of Remembering

It immensely significant to visit sites like the Sachsenhausen so as to appreciate the effects of holocaust and ensure that stringer measures are put in place to ensure that incidence like these are not repeated in future. It is about making sure that the community is informed and learns from the past and especially to prevent such dreadful act from happening in future.

5. Conclusion

One such of the many concentration camps that existed during the Nazi reign was placed near Berlin and was known as Sachsenhausen. They were used as a place to torture, to enslave people and to test new methods of extermination. It therefore makes much sense to understand the history and the effects it had in a bid to celebrate those who lost their lives and any other methods that can be employed to avoid such a repeat.

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