What happened to the former Bergen Belsen camp?
The area of the former Bergen-Belsen camp fell into neglect after the burning of the buildings and the closure of the nearby displaced persons’ camp in the summer of 1950. The area reverted to heath; few traces of the camp remained.
What is the meaning of Bergen Belsen?
Bergen-Belsen [ˈbɛʁɡn̩.bɛlsn̩], or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concentration camp.
How many bodies are buried at Bergen-Belsen?
Seventeen panels placed throughout the grounds feature short texts and photographs with information about the camp’s history. The victims of Bergen-Belsen who died in the concentration camp in the final weeks before and immediately after the liberation are buried in thirteen mass graves and fifteen individual graves.
Who was the new commandant of Bergen Belsen?
In December 1944 SS-Hauptsturmführer Josef Kramer, previously at Auschwitz-Birkenau, became the new camp commandant, replacing SS-Hauptsturmführer Adolf Haas (de), who had been in post since the spring of 1943. In January 1945, the SS took over the POW hospital and increased the size of Bergen-Belsen.