Sachsenneth Memorial

Chapter Three

Case Study (Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum Site)

3.1 Brief Overview

The memorial and museum of the former concentration camp of Sachsenhausen forms the single case study adopted in this research. Sachsenhausen concentration camp was built in the summer of 1936. The location of the camp made it one of the most famous camps as it is situated in Oranienburg, north of the Reich's capital of Berlin.

This site was chosen for numerous reasons:

• Its proximity to the residence place of the researcher which facilitated visiting the location multiple times.

• The significant historical context of the camp during the Nazi era and after its liberation is another reason for this selection. “Sachsenhausen was the school of the Nazi concentration

For example, the red triangle identified political prisoners, pink triangle identified the homosexuals, green triangle identified the criminals, blue triangle identified the foreign prisoners, etc.

Approximately 100.000 (Jewish Virtual Library) prisoners died of starvation, disease, forced labor, maltreatment or systematic execution by the SS guards in the area of the execution trench. Many prisoners were also selected for the now infamous Nazi medical experimentations which took place in the infirmary barracks of the camp.

When the Soviets reached the Oder River, the commandant of Sachsenhausen ordered the immediate evacuation of the camp. Thousands of prisoners died on the forced "death march" as a result of the freezing weather, weak health and starvation.

Around 3,000 sick prisoners who had been left behind in the camp, among them doctors and medical assistants, were liberated by Soviet and Polish troops on 22nd and 23rd April 1945. (Sachsenhausen memorial and museum site)

3.3 Soviet Special Camp

A stone statue which represents prisoners of the camp forms the base of the memorial shaped the central commemorative effigy to the GDR. It refers to the communist and social democratic prisoners; the memorial clearly ignores the other victims of the Nazi regime in Sachsenhausen. This is an evident example of how the presentation of history at dark tourism sites can be affected by the politics of a certain regime.

3.5 Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum (Since 1993)

After the reunification of Germany, Sachsenhausen memorial and museum has been a part of the Brandenburg Memorials Foundation. The foundation is a self-governing public trust, funded equally by the state of Brandenburg and the Federal Republic of Germany. (Sachsenhausen memorial and museum site)

Extensive rehabilitation and remodeling work began at the Sachsenhausen memorial in order to preserve the remains of the concentration camps' original buildings. At present, thirteen exhibitions, such as the barracks of the former prisoners, the prison cells, the prisoners' kitchen, and the infirmary barracks, are open to public access.

Unlike the National memorial of 1961, the presentation of the camp today attempts not to focus on a particular era; instead all the different layers of the camps' history are presented on-site including the Nazi concentration camp as well as the Soviet Special