Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, Oranienburg, Germany

WARNING: people may find photos and commentary in this post disturbing.

Due to the fact the final train station for this journey was closed (which I had no idea about) I had to catch two trains and two busses. It took me about two hours to get there.

The day was cold, damp, windy and overcast with a gentle fog. These conditions added to the feeling of sombreness.

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp was built in the summer of 1936. The camp area is very expansive. It was actually the first concentration camp designed architecturally before any building work started. Prior to this, existing premises would be claimed and turned into a camp.

It was a common practice to carry out experiments on inmates at Sachsenhausen. Over twenty different experiments were performed using mustard gas, hepatitis and poisoned ammunition to name a few.

The room in the photo below was used as a food servery. Meals were minimal and partly synthetic to keep costs down and ensure efficiency.

Due to the high mortality rate within the camp this room next to the servery was used as a dissecting room.

This is the pathology building. The only real autopsies performed here were mostly on those who had been subjected to experiments. Orderlies were the ones who did most of the work. And when I say work, many autopsies were mere token efforts. Incisions would be made and then the bodies sewn back up to give the appearance that the work had be carried out. Prior to the construction of this building, body's would be stacked in wooden sheds.

These two photos are of the pathology basement where the deceased would be kept and the ramp leading to it.

Next to the pathology building was a brothel. This building is no longer standing. The women who were forced into prostitution here were prisoners from another camp nearby.

Apart from members of the SS and Camp Commanders some 'worthy' or 'trusted' prisoners were allowed to visit these poor women. The SS even provided coupons which some other prisoners could use if they were on good behaviour. This provided an incentive to other inmates.

The photos below are shots of the execution trench. Ashes of the dead were buried in the grounds surrounding this trench. Need say no more.

This photo shows the crematorium and gas rooms. What's left of them. They were partially demolished (like many other buildings) to make way for a firing range some time after the Soviets abandoned the site at the end of WW2. Demolition was halted after protests from a preservation group.

This three sided obelisk was completed in 1961 as a memorial. The 18 red triangles at the top represents the 18 European countries in which political prisoners came from that ended up at this camp.

The long rectangles filled with rock that you may see in this photos depict the size and location of the barracks.

The jail block. Forced to be built by the camps prisoners. One of the first to be built on the site. This building became imprinted on the memories of survivors as a gruesome place where numerous murders, cruelty and abuse was performed.

The three posts you see in this photo were used to string up naked prisoners and hold them in place while numerous tortuous acts were performed upon them. Some were tortuored for over three hours or more.

Here you can see the wash rooms and toilets inside a barrack. Up to 400 men would be housed in each barrack and had a short amount of time each morning to eat, wash and prepare for the hard day ahead. As many as ten men at a time would hover around these wash fountains filled with cold water. SS guards were known to drown men in these if they were caught washing their feet.

Given the rush to get ready before roll call, the old, weak and sick men would often fall down in the toilet area. They would be trampled on and left to lie in the excrement. This was an unventilated room.

This is the 'death strip'. A no go zone. Any prisoner venturing into the this strip would be shot immediately. Soldiers who shot and killed those attempting to do so would be awarded bonus pay and granted special leave. Some prisoners would deliberately enter this zone in shear despair.

It was starting to get dark by the time I thought about leaving and the trip home. Yep the station was still closed and now the trains were running thin. After waiting about 45 minutes in the rain for the first of two buses and then caching another two trains I finally returned home. All part of the experience.

It was a memorable day. One I won't forget.

If you have a bad day at work tomorrow just think about these poor abused prisoners and the forced helpless prostitutes.

War is bad. No good can come of it. We learn nothing.