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Bergen-Belsen ( pronounced [ˈbɛʁɡn̩ˌbɛlsn̩] ), 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, [1] in 1943, parts of it became a concentration camp.
Aug 22, 2023 · Background. German military authorities established the Bergen-Belsen camp in 1940. It was in a location south of the small towns of Bergen and Belsen, about 11 miles north of Celle, Germany. Until 1943, Bergen-Belsen was exclusively a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp.
Jun 26, 2024 · Bergen-Belsen, Nazi German concentration camp near the villages of Bergen and Belsen, about 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Celle, Germany. It was established in 1943 on part of the site of a prisoner-of-war camp and was originally intended as a detention camp for Jews who were to be exchanged for.
Bergen-Belsen was first established in 1940 as a POW camp British forces liberated Bergen-Belsen on 15 April 1945. Thousands of bodies lay unburied around the camp and some 60,000 starving and mortally ill people were packed together without food, water or basic sanitation.
Bergen-Belsen operated near the town of Celle, Lower Saxony in Northern Germany. It consisted of a number of camps, developing into a complex camp system. It became known as Bergen-Belsen in 1943, when it was officially designated a Concentration Camp.
On 12 April 1945, the Nazis agreed to surrender the Bergen-Belsen camp. On 15 April 1945, the British troops officially occupied and liberated the camp. The huge influxes of prisoners following the death marches of early 1945 meant that conditions within the camp were extremely inhumane.
The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was part of the official concentration camp system from the time it was established in April 1943. Today, many consider it the embodiment of Nazi crimes. However, Bergen-Belsen differed from all other Nazi concentration camps in several key aspects.
