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Bergen-Belsen concentration camp

Bergen, Lower SaxonyBergen-Belsen concentration campCelle (district)HeidmarkLüneburg Heath
Museums in Lower SaxonyPages with German IPAUse mdy dates from June 2013Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pagesWorld War II memorials in GermanyWorld War II museums in Germany
The Liberation of Bergen belsen Concentration Camp, April 1945 BU4711 (cropped)
The Liberation of Bergen belsen Concentration Camp, April 1945 BU4711 (cropped)

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, in 1943, parts of it became a concentration camp. Initially this was an "exchange camp", where Jewish hostages were held with the intention of exchanging them for German prisoners of war held overseas. The camp was later expanded to hold Jews from other concentration camps. After 1945, the name was applied to the displaced persons camp established nearby, but it is most commonly associated with the concentration camp. From 1941 to 1945, almost 20,000 Soviet prisoners of war and a further 50,000 inmates died there. Overcrowding, lack of food, and poor sanitary conditions caused outbreaks of typhus, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and dysentery; leading to the deaths of more than 35,000 people in the first few months of 1945, shortly before and after the liberation. The camp was liberated on April 15, 1945, by the British 11th Armoured Division. The soldiers discovered approximately 60,000 prisoners inside, most of them half-starved and seriously ill, and another 13,000 corpses lying around the camp unburied. A memorial with an exhibition hall currently stands at the site.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Bergen-Belsen concentration camp (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Gedenkfeld, Lohheide

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Latitude Longitude
N 52.757777777778 ° E 9.9077777777778 °
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Gedenkfeld

Gedenkfeld
29303 Lohheide
Lower Saxony, Germany
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The Liberation of Bergen belsen Concentration Camp, April 1945 BU4711 (cropped)
The Liberation of Bergen belsen Concentration Camp, April 1945 BU4711 (cropped)
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