Key Points
Establishment
Bergen-Belsen was originally established in 1940 as a prisoner-of-war camp. It was later converted into a concentration camp in 1943, primarily for Jewish prisoners and political dissidents.
Inmate Population
By the end of the war, Bergen-Belsen held tens of thousands of prisoners, including Jews from various countries, Roma & Sinti, criminals, Jehovah's Witnesses, gay men, and political prisoners.
Conditions
The “prisoners” camp became particularly infamous for its poor conditions, overcrowding, and the horrific treatment of prisoners. It lacked adequate food, water, and medical care. As the war progressed, the conditions deteriorated further, leading to a rampant spread of disease, malnutrition, and death.
“Star Camp”
This “residence” camp, established by the SS in 1943, housed about 4,000 Jewish prisoners. Most of them came from the Netherlands via the Westerbork transit camp. The German intent was to exchange these prisoners for German nationals interned by the Allies. These prisoners lived in barracks and were generally forced to work in labor detachments. In June, 1944, the Germans permitted 222 "star camp" prisoners, who had ties to Palestine, to leave for Palestine in exchange for German citizens held on British territory. A German-American exchange allowed 136 Jews with Central and South American papers to reach Switzerland at the end of January 1945.
Collection Center for Survivors of the Death Marches
Tens of thousands of prisoners evacuated from other camps continued to arrive to the “prisoners” camp. As a result, the camp population increased dramatically, despite the high death rate. On March 1, 1945, there were more than 41,000 prisoners in the camp. From late 1944, food rations throughout Bergen-Belsen continued to shrink. By early 1945, prisoners would sometimes go without food for days; fresh water was also in short supply. As a result of the Germans’ neglect, conditions were allowed to deteriorate further in the last months of the war, causing many more deaths.
Liberation
Bergen-Belsen was liberated by British forces on April 15, 1945. Upon liberation, the soldiers encountered horrifying scenes, with approximately 55,000 emaciated and dying inmates, but by that time, tens of thousands of prisoners had already died from starvation, disease, and mistreatment. Among the victims were Anne Frank and her sister Margot who had arrived from Auschwitz-Birkenau and died of typhus in March 1945, only a few weeks before the camp’s liberation.
Shocking photographs and movies of dead and dying prisoners drew the attention of the world to the horrific conditions the liberators had found at the camp. Despite heroic British efforts to save people, some 13,000 prisoners died after liberation from malnutrition and disease.
Post-Liberation
After the liberation, the British faced the overwhelming task of providing medical care and support to the surviving inmates. Many were severely malnourished and suffering from infectious diseases, leading to further casualties in the aftermath of liberation. British occupation authorities established a displaced persons (DP) camp that housed more than 12,000 survivors. It was located in a German military school barracks near the original concentration camp site and functioned until 1951.
