Photo galleries - Buchenwald Memorial

Prisoners are walking in front of one of the stone blocks from left to right. The cap of the prisoner standing in the foreground is retouched.

Georges Angéli

The French photographer stole one of the cameras kept in the photo department in June 1944 and secretly took eleven photos on a Sunday when there were no SS in the camp. The motive for these motifs, most of which were photographed in the "Little Camp", was to create testimonies that would outlive the camp. Angéli hid the original prints until liberation. (From: Digital photo exhibition "Black on White")

SS-members of a recruit unit of the SS-Totenkopfstandarte 14 marching back after their swearing in on the Blutstraße. In rows of three, a long line of uniformed men walks along the concrete slab road through the forest.

From the photo album of an SS recruit

Buchenwald as a training site for the SS, 1939/40. The original meaning of the pictures as private souvenir photos is what makes them seem remarkable from today's perspective. They show that they want to remember their service as a good time. Their task in the concentration camp by no means prevents the SS men from presenting themselves with a seemingly carefree cheerfulness. (From: Buchenwald Digital Photo Archive)

A wooden obelisk on a wooden pedestal. It bears the inscription "K.L.B - 51.000".

Alfred Stüber

The Jehovah's Witness photographed the liberated Buchenwald in April and May 1945 on behalf of the International Camp Committee. The photos were reproduced while still in the camp for the prisoners returning to their homes. He made slides for himself and gave a series of very well-attended lectures on photographs in the vicinity of Reutlingen. (From: Digital photo exhibition "Black on White")

View from the gate building over the camp. Liberated prisoners and US soldiers are standing on the roll call square. The chamber building is in the far right background.

Ardean R. Miller

The U.S. Army military photographer specialised in large colour photographs. He later describes the assignment to photograph the liberated Buchenwald concentration camp as the worst of his career. According to his wife Norma, he rarely speaks about his impressions, and when he does, it is "with incredulous horror". (From: Digital photo exhibition "Black on White")

A large crowd has gathered between the bell tower and Fritz Cremer's group of figures.

Ernst Schäfer

The Weimar photographer and photojournalist accompanied the remembrance of Buchenwald concentration camp with his camera since 1946. He also documented the inauguration of the GDR's National Memorial on 14 September 1958. (From: Buchenwald digital photo archive)