The Soviet Special Camp No. 2 Buchenwald

Special Camp No. 2 was established in parts of the former Buchenwald concentration camp in August 1945. It was under the control of the Soviet secret service, the NKVD, and was strictly isolated from the outside world. Contact between the internees and their relatives was forbidden. Initially, Special Camp No. 2 was mainly used to intern people from Thuringia.

The living conditions were poor: there was a lack of food and medicine, which caused diseases to spread quickly. During the “hunger winter” of 1946/47, mass deaths occurred. The situation only gradually improved. Most of the internees were left to fend for themselves and not given work.

There were only a few transfers from Special Camp No. 2 to other camps. In February 1947, almost 1,100 internees were taken to the Kazakh city of Karaganda for labor deployment. By 1948, thousands of internees had been transferred to Buchenwald from other disbanded Special Camps. This also changed the regional composition of the camp society.

Shortly after the founding of the GDR, the Soviet leadership had the last special camps dissolved. But not all internees were released in the spring of 1950: Over 2,400 people were subsequently tried in the “Waldheim Trials”.

7,113 people did not survive internment in Special Camp No. 2. Their deaths were a taboo in the GDR for decades.

The Establishment of Special Camp No. 2 Buchenwald Special Camp Buchenwald

Soviet Camp Personnel Special Camp Buchenwald

Camp Society Special Camp Buchenwald

Lack of Occupation as Punishment Special Camp Buchenwald

Isolation and Escapes Special Camp Buchenwald

The Soviet special camps were isolated from the outside world. Prisoners were forbidden from having any contact with the outside world. The relatives of the internees were not officially informed of their whereabouts. Only very rarely did secret...

Starvation, Diseases and Death Special Camp Buchenwald

Nach Kriegsende herrschte Hunger in Europa. Extremes Wetter und schlechte Ernten verschlimmerten die Situation. Der „Hungerwinter“ 1946/47 traf die Internierten der Speziallager besonders hart. Bereits im Herbst 1946 halbierte die sowjetische...

Transports to the Soviet Union Special Camp Buchenwald

Transports of Special Camp internees to the Soviet Union remained the exception. A total of around 5,000 internees were taken to the Soviet Union as labourers. At the end of 1946, the heads of the Special Camps were instructed to select 27,000 inmates...