Day of Nazi Concentration Camps Prisoners Liberation Date in the current year: April 11, 2024

Nazi concentration camps were designed for confining groups of people who were in some way undesirable in German society: Jews, Gypsies, communists, homosexuals, people with disabilities, etc. The first concentration camp in Nazi Germany, Dachau, was erected shortly after Hitler seized power in 1933.

After the beginning of World War II, concentration camps became places where millions of people were confined. According to different sources, the number of Nazi concentration camps in all of occupied Europe was between 1,200 and 15,000. Many camp prisoners died of starvation, disease, and overwork or were executed.

Buchenwald was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps in Germany. It was established in 1937. The estimated number of deaths in Buchenwald from 1937 to 1945 is approximately 56,500.

Buchenwald was liberated by American troops on April 11, 1945. It was the first concentration camp to be liberated by the US Army. However, after its liberation the camp was administered by the USSR.