©Buchenwald Memorial
In 1991, the Free State of Thuringia appointed an independent historical commission to draw up a recommendation for the re-conceptualization of the National Buchenwald Monument. In addition to changing its name from the "Nationale Mahn- und Gedenkstätte Buchenwald" (National Buchenwald Memorial) to the "Gedenkstätte Buchenwald" (Buchenwald Memorial), other recommendations included:
"There should be a commemoration of both the National Socialist concentration camp as well as the Soviet Special Camp No. 2."
- Emphasis shall be placed on the concentration camp. [...]
- The memorial sites should be clearly physically separated from one another."
In the inmates' camp, memorials were installed for groups of victims who had not yet been commemorated. Areas such as the Little Camp, the so-called "hell of Buchenwald," were accessible to viewers – as were areas such as the SS zoo, which offers an opportunity for visitors to be confronted with the people who committed the crimes.
Today the memorial site is a place of learning – in addition to serving as a cemetery and site of commemoration – which is open to all those who approach the historical location with the purpose of preventing its history from being repeated.
