Key Points
Establishment
Sachsenhausen was opened in July 1936 and was one of the first camps built specifically for political prisoners. It initially housed communists, socialists, and other opponents of the Nazi regime.
Inmate Population
Over its years of operation, Sachsenhausen held approximately 200,000 prisoners, including Roma and Sinti, male homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other groups targeted by the Nazis. The number of Jewish prisoners in Sachsenhausen varied over the course of the camp's existence but ranged from 21 at the beginning of 1937 to 11,100 at the beginning of 1945. In the latter phases of the war, Poles, Hungarians, and Soviet prisoners of war were sent to the camp. Many of the Soviet prisoners were shot upon arrival. In 1937, the SS constructed a Cell Block for the punishment, interrogation, and torture of prisoners. Prominent figures included Pastor Martin Niemöller, former Austrian chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg, Georg Elser, Herschel Grynszpan, and Joseph Stalin's son, Yakov Dzhugashvili.
Brutal Conditions
The camp was known for its harsh conditions, including overcrowding, inadequate food, forced labor, and severe mistreatment by guards. Many prisoners died from exhaustion, disease, malnutrition, pneumonia, abuse, and medical experiments
Medical Experiments
German scientists and medical researchers conducted medical experiments on prisoners in Sachsenhausen. SS doctors conducted around 40 different types of experiments, including sterilizations, castrations, experimenting with hepatitis, inserting infectious material into incisions of the muscle, and testing the effects of potassium cyanide, phosphorous and other toxins on the human body. These experiments were conducted without consent and often led to suffering and death.
Forced Labor
The SS authorities forced the prisoners to perform hard labor. Before the outbreak of the war, camp authorities assigned prisoner work detachments largely to construction and industrial sites in the vicinity of the camp. Many prisoners worked in a brick factory. During the war, forced labor utilizing concentration camp prisoners became increasingly important in German armaments production.
Extermination Operations
In the autumn of 1941, the SS murdered at least 10,000 Soviet prisoners of war, among whom many were Jews, in a purpose-built “neck shot unit” and in the testing of gassing vehicles. About six months later, in the spring of 1942, an extermination unit was built in the industrial yard, with a crematorium and a neck shot unit, with a gas chamber added in 1943.
Operation Bernhard: Inmate artisans were forced to work in a currency counterfeiting operation producing forged United States and British currency with the goal of undermining those countries’ economies. The Germans introduced fake British £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes into circulation in 1943: the Bank of England never found them. Plans had been made to drop British pounds over London by plane.
Liberation
As the Soviet army drew closer to the camp in late April 1945, the SS evacuated some 33,000 prisoners who were sent on a forced march northwest. The SS shot those unable to keep up. Thousands of internees died on these Death Marches. On April 22, 1945, units of the Soviet and Polish armies liberated the approximately 3,000 emaciated and sick prisoners, many of whom were suffering from the effects of malnutrition and disease.
