Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp Memorial

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Bergen-Belsen camp itself was first constructed in around 1940 as a prisoner of war camp for French, Belgian and Russian soldiers who were captured, and later named Stalag 311 in around 1941. Between construction and 1942, approximately 18000 POWs died from starvation, mistreatment and disease. In 1943, the SS took control of part of the camp in order to house Jewish prisoners who were to be exchanged for German POWs with the Allies. ...
...enjoyed my experiences at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp - but I was not there to have an enjoyable experience. I was there to see a historical site for myself. It was an eye-opener for me. Yes I have watched Schindler's List and read The Diary of Anne Frank, but actually standing in the middle of the camp brought the reality of it all crashing down on me. On entering the camp I read that it is maintained as a memorial to those who died there, ... more

This review is about the memorial site at the former concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen, which is situated in Loheide in the Lower Saxony region of Germany. Loheide is approximately a 5-10 minute drive from the centre of Bergen, which itself is in Luneburg Heath, and is about 60 Km north east of Hannover. Before I can actually give a fair review of the camp itself, I feel honour bound to give you a little of the history of this camp as not everyone knows about its existence.

History
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The history books tell us much about Adolf Hitler's rise to power and his maniacal system of ensuring that the Aryan race were superior to the rest of the world, but less is known about the places where these "Untermensch" (lesser people) were housed. Films such as Schindlers List and The Pianist tell some of the story, but really these places have to be seen for it to truly be believed.

Bergen-Belsen camp itself was first constructed in around 1940 as a prisoner of war camp for French, Belgian and Russian soldiers who were captured, and later named Stalag 311 in around 1941. Between construction and 1942, approximately 18000 POWs died from starvation, mistreatment and disease. In 1943, the SS took control of part of the camp in order to house Jewish prisoners who were to be exchanged for German POWs with the Allies. These prisoners were the lucky ones and had relatively good living conditions and decent food, unlike their less-fortunate companions "across the wire". Others imprisoned in the less fortunate part of the camp included gypsies, homosexuals and political prisoners.

The camp continued like this (with other alterations), and in 1944, female prisoners from the infamous camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau were transported here. The most famous of these prisoners is Anne Frank and her older sister Margot. The camp became exceptionally overcrowded from the beginning of 1945 as other concentration camps were closed, and the inmates transferred to Bergen-Belsen. This was the situation until 15 April 1945, when British troops liberated the camp.

The inmates, who were thereafter known as "displaced persons", were transferred from the awful conditions they had been living in, to the relative luxury of the nearby Wermacht training camp. To this day, this camp is still in use, although now occupied by the British Army, it is home to 7th Armoured Brigade (The Desert Rats). In 1946, memorials were erected to the Jewish prisoners and Russian POWs (on separate occasions) and by the British Military. The camp stayed as it was until 1952, when responsibility for the maintenance of the memorial was transferred to the local government of Land Lower Saxony, who have continued to maintain the grounds.

The Visitor Centre
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As you drive into the memorial, there is a large car park on your left and on the right there is the "Dokumentenhaus". This is basically the visitor centre, where there is a permanent exhibition inside. Inside the visitor centre there is a reception desk, where the staff are exceptionally helpful, the ones I spoke to were fluent in English, and they were eager to help in any way they could. Just next to the reception desk is the 'cinema' where you can watch a documentary on the history of the camp (although this is not suitable for children under the age of 14, and after watching it myself and coming away deeply upset, I totally agree with this).

The staff are more than happy to carry out guided tours of the camp for people who are visiting. If you would like a guided tour, I recommend that you contact the centre prior to your visit to make sure that this can be arranged (they recommend 4 weeks in advance). All tours of the camp, film presentations and entrance to the camp are completely free of charge.

The website address is - http://www.bergen-belsen.de/en/chronik/

The phone number is - (0049) (0) 5051-4759-12

In the centre of this reception area is a scale model of the camp as it was in the 1940s. This is fascinating, as it shows you just how large the camp actually was. There is also the "Book of Names". This is a book showing the demographic information of the inmates of the camp. Just before the camp was liberated, the German Military destroyed all records associated with the camp, and so the "Book of Names" is the only written record of those who suffered here.

The staff are always appreciative of any assistance with information on people who were imprisoned here or names that are not in the book. They welcome any information as they are constantly trying to maintain accurate records.

Within the visitor centre are many books for sale. I saw that the vast majority of these books were dedicated to Anne Frank, although there are others which are more general, and some other biographies. Most of these are in German, although there are some in English and French. There are also postcards. All they ask for the postcards is a donation into a box at the side. There are also maps in German, English, French and other languages. I recommend that if you are going to walk around the camp itself, you take a map, as it certainly proved invaluable to me in showing me where I was within the boundaries. Just to the right of the main entrance to the visitor centre is the main exhibition. This is a permanent exhibition to the atrocities of war. This story is told mainly in the form of photographs, including one of the infamous Irma Grese (who incidentally had a house at the Wermacht camp). There is also a couple of displays of items that were actually used at the camp, including a uniform that was worn by an inmate. I found this quite upsetting to think that someone actually had to wear this. It is housed under glass as it is so fragile (well it is over 60 years old). On exiting the permanent exhibition is the guestbook, where you are welcome to leave a message for others to read. I advise that you actually take a tour of the camp before writing a message as it certainly gives you food for thought.

The Camp
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On exiting the visitor centre, there is an opening on the left which is the entrance to the camp itself. Here you walk down a path into the main part of the camp. I personally have only been able to do a circuit of the grounds as the camp is huge. There is an area solely devoted as a memorial to the Soviet POWs - this is the part that I have not visited yet, but when I have been there I will certainly be coming back and updating the review. At the end of the path is a large stone wall with the inscription "Bergen-Belsen 1940 to 1945". This signifies that you are now in the concentration camp. I took the path to the left of this wall in order to complete my "circuit" and will let the review follow the course of this walk. On walking round the pathways, you will see various mounds with little inscriptions stating "Hier Ruhen 1000 tote April 1945" (roughly translated "here lie 1000 dead April 1945"). On some there are numbers and on others they state "here lie an unknown number of dead". It is estimated that over 30,000 Jews died here and to see these mass graves really brought the harsh reality of the camp crashing down on me like the preverbial ton of bricks. There are also small plots with individual graves; these are heartbreaking also, as they have names and ages on them.

A little further down the path, my eyes were drawn to one grave which was surrounded by candles and other items and felt compelled to go there. I am glad I did. This is the grave of Anne Frank and her older sister Margot. Both girls died here shortly before the camp was liberated. People make their own pilgramages here to pay their respects to these brave young girls and I was so touched to see this and felt honoured that I had been able to pay my own respects. This really brought it all home to me and I will admit that I did shed a tear when I saw this headstone. I have included my own photo of the grave at the end of the review. It shows my daughter (who was just 3 at the time), placing a small stone on the grave as a mark of respect. We all did likewise.

Further on, there is the "House of Silence". On entering this, you are presented with another permanent exhibition of the camp's vile history. But it is the silence that brings this history right to your feet. It is a very humbling experience to walk slowly around this small building and feel such emotion. On leaving the House of Silence, you see a large wooden cross further down the path (originally erected by prisoners, but replaced with a more durable one in the exact spot), but on the right of the path is a large memorial stone which was erected on the 15th April 1946 (one year after liberation) by the Central Jewish Committee within the area. There is another memorial stone further along the path, in the form of a wall with messages etched in various languages. These are really the main parts to the memorial as further down the path, you find the remains of buildings and other parts of the camp such as the reservoir that was filled with water which was used for fire-fighting. I think the most upsetting part of seeing these buildings was entering the area that was kept for the children. I could just imagine little kids the same ages as my two girls (who are now 4 and almost 2) living in these awful conditions without their families to love and protect them.

One thing you will notice all around the camp is that, while the camp is exceptionally well maintained, the remains of the buildings have not been tampered with in any way (apart from slight cutting back of vegetation). The people who are responsible for the upkeep of the memorial do a wonderful job in making sure that nature does not do too much damage to an area that holds so much history. One more thing you will notice is the silence. On walking round the camp with my husband, 2 kids and my parents; all four adults noticed that the camp itself if deathly quiet. If you listen very carefully you can hear the odd bird but they are few and far between. They say that the grass does not grow in Auschwitz, and I say the birds do not sing in Belsen.

My Opinion
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I cannot say that I enjoyed my experiences at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp - but I was not there to have an enjoyable experience. I was there to see a historical site for myself. It was an eye-opener for me. Yes I have watched Schindler's List and read The Diary of Anne Frank, but actually standing in the middle of the camp brought the reality of it all crashing down on me. On entering the camp I read that it is maintained as a memorial to those who died there, but really the whole area is one mass grave. It is beautifully kept by the people who work there, and to me it is a stark reminder of the horror that man can inflict on his fellow man, in a time of war. This was "ethnic cleansing" at its very worst. Yes I went, no I did not enjoy it, but I am glad that I have been there and seen for myself what happens when a maniac like Hitler gains power, and decides that they do not like certain members of society. After being there, it made me so much more appreciative of what my grandfather and great uncle went through in the Second World War, and what our servicemen and women go through in more recent years in the name of freedom. We may not all agree on the tactics used by the politicians, but surely we can all agree that murder on this scale must be stopped.

On the downside, there is no place to have something to eat. For that you would either have to sit in the car with a picnic or have something in Bergen (about a 5 minute drive). When we visited, we had our youngest in the buggy and this was not too much of a problem on the circuit but would have been a problem had we strayed from the path. I could not see any baby-changing facilities either (although I was lucky and could change her in the car). If you are taking children, I would ensure that they are fed and watered prior to going. There are toilet facilities inside the Dokumenthaus although I cannot comment on them as I was fortunate enough not to have to use them whilst there.

If you are ever in the area, I recommend fully that you visit this memorial. I cannot say it will be an enjoyable experience for you, in fact I would be so bold as to say it would be a harrowing experience, as I came away from Bergen-Belsen very upset and will admit that I openly shed tears there. But in my opinion, it is somewhere that should be visited by everyone, to try and prevent this from happening again.

And my final words on this review are = "At the going down of the sun, and in the morning - We will remember them".

Thank you for reading this. Diane xx 

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