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Storage Depot

The so-called storage depot was the largest building at the camp. This is where the civilian clothing and the possessions of the inmates were kept—and where keys, wooden shoes, and prison uniforms were distributed.

Exterior view of the chamber building. The building is, long, has three floors with small windows, and a high gable roof. On the right side of the picture a double-sided staircase marks the entrance to the building
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Together with the large basement, the chamber building has five storeys, 1943. Photo: Identification service of the Buchenwald concentration camp.

© Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation, Besançon.
The picture shows a longer room divided into two areas by a long counter. On the right you can see a corridor and windows on the wall. On the left behind the counter, four large shelves can be seen, which are stocked with clothes and hangers. At the very back of the room, a shelf with wooden shoes can be seen.
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Clothing room on the 1st floor. Photo: Identification service of the Buchenwald concentration camp, 1943.

©Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation, Besançon
Two young visitors stand in front of a display cabinet in the exhibition in the former chamber building.
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The chamber building has housed the exhibitions on the history of the Buchenwald concentration camp since 1985, 2022. Photo: Lukas Severin Damm.

On different floors of this massive building were the equipment storage, clothing storage, and stockroom. The passage through the storage depot was part of the same, consistent entry procedure for every new arrival: Here each person received—in addition to a uniform—two coloured pieces of triangular cloth and a number, which had to be sewn onto one's jacket and trousers. From then on, the number became a one’s name, and the triangular pieces of fabric indicated an individual’s inmate category—a predetermination of a one's role within the enforced social structure of the camp.  

The former storage depot has housed the exhibition on the history of the concentration camp since 1985.

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