Natzweiler-Struthof
| Natzweiler-Struthof | |
|---|---|
| German Nazi concentration and extermination camp (1941-1944) | |
Natzweiler-Struthof Camp entrance
Monument to the Departed in background |
|
| Coordinates | 48°27′17″N 7°15′16″E / 48.45472°N 7.25444°ECoordinates: 48°27′17″N 7°15′16″E / 48.45472°N 7.25444°E |
| Known for | Nacht und Nebel resistance fighters, Jewish skeleton collection |
| Location | Nazi Germany 1941-44 (de facto) |
| Operated by | the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) |
| Commandant | |
| First built |
Hans Hüttig Spring, 1941 |
| Operational | May 1941 - September 1944 |
| Number of gas chambers | one from April 1943 |
| Inmates | mainly resistance fighters from overrun European nations |
| Number of inmates | 52,000 estimated |
| Killed | 22,000 estimated |
| Liberated by | French 1st Army, U.S. 6th Army Group, 23 November 1944 |
| Notable inmates | Boris Pahor, Trygve Bratteli, , Charles Delestraint, Per Jacobsen, Asbjørn Halvorsen, Diana Rowden, Vera Leigh, Andrée Borrel, Sonya Olschanezky |
| Notable books | Necropolis, The Names of the Numbers |
| Website | Museum website |
Natzweiler-Struthof was a German-run concentration camp located in the Vosges Mountains close to the Alsatian village of Natzwiller (German Natzweiler) in France, and the town of Schirmeck, about 50 km (31 mi) south west from the city of Strasbourg. Natzweiler-Struthof was the only concentration camp established by the Nazis on present-day French territory, though there were French-run temporary camps such as the one at Drancy. At the time from 1941 to 1944, the Alsace area in which it was established was administered by Germany as it was an integral part of the German Reich. The camp operated from 21 May 1941 to early September 1944 with prisoners. A small staff of Nazi SS remained, found when the camp was liberated by the French First Army under the command of the U.S. Sixth Army Group on 23 November 1944.
About 52,000 prisoners were estimated to be held there in its time of operation. The prisoners were mainly taken from the resistance movements in German-occupied territories. It was a labor camp, transit camp and as the war went on, a place of execution. Some died from the exertions of the labor and the poor food. There were an estimated 22,000 deaths at the camp, including the network of subcamps. Many prisoners were moved to other camps; in particular, the former head of Auschwitz concentration camp was brought in 1944 to evacuate the prisoners of Natzweiler-Struthof to Dachau as the Allied Armies neared in 1944. August Hirt conducted some of his efforts in making a Jewish skeleton collection in this camp. A documentary movie has been made about the 86 named men and women who were killed there for that project. Some of the people responsible for atrocities in this camp came to trial after the war ended.
The camp is preserved as a museum in memory of those held or killed there. The European Centre of Deported Resistance Members is located at this museum, focusing on those held at this camp. The Monument to the Departed stands at the site. The present museum was restored in 1980, after damage by neo-Nazis in 1976. Among other notable prisoners, the writer Boris Pahor was interned in Natzweiler-Struthof and wrote his novel Necropolis based on this experience.
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Wikipedia