Soviet Special Camp - Buchenwald Memorial

Two workshop participants stand in front of an information sign outside the Soviet administrative barracks. They both have Ipads in their hands. — Workshop participants explore the outside area of the Soviet administrative barracks with Ipads, 2024.

©Buchenwald Memorial

Please note: As of now, most of the workshop material is only available in German. Alternative workshop programmes about the history of the Soviet Special Camp are possible upon request.

From 1945 to 1950, there were ten so-called Special Camps in the Soviet occupation zone. The Soviet secret service primarily used them to imprison National Socialists who had held local positions of power. However, youth and denounced persons also found themselves in the camps. Buchenwald on its own had more than 28.500 inmates during the five years of its existence. About 7.100 of these inmates died due to hunger and illness, the consequences of inadequate care and isolation.

This workshop aims to investigate this history and its larger context:

How did the Special Camps come to exist?
Who was imprisoned in the Special Camps?
What was daily life like for the inmates and guards?
Which purpose were the Special Camps supposed to fulfill?

These and other questions can be discussed, depending on the interests of the participants. A digital tablet application allows multiple different critical approaches to sources from the time of the Special Camp. Besides interviews with former inmates and recovered objects from the Special Camp, a historical building serves as a further source that opens a window into the history of the site.

The workshop requires at least 2 hours of time and is open to 3 to 8 participants, aged 16 or over. Depending on the interests of the participants and the time available, in-depth discussions of certain aspects of the Special Camps' history are possible. This can include a look at further historical traces or an investigation into later societal attitudes towards the Special Camps.