One day we took a Berlin Walks tour to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, used from 1936 to 1945, located in Oranienberg, a 25 minute train ride north of Berlin in a rather leafy area in the middle of town. Due to it's proximity to Berlin this camp was the headquarters for administering the other German camps. It was mainly used as a prisoner work camp, as were the other camps located in Germany. Our guide told us that the Nazis decided to locate the mass extermination camps outside of Germany, a fact that we never knew. 

More than 10,000 Russian prisoners were brutally treated and executed here during the war.  Ironically this camp was later used by the Soviets as Special Camp 7 for political prisoners between 1945 and 1950, with up to 12,000  prisoners losing their lives here in those years.

Today Sachsenhausen functions as a museum and memorial. It was an interesting, albeit depressing and disturbing day.

Entrance to the camp was next to tidy homes which housed camp staff back in the 30's and 40's. Not where I would choose to live today.





Our guide discusses the monument built by the Soviets dedicated to the Russian liberators of the camp, mainly extolling the triumph of communism over Nazi fascism.





Located in a separate area is the more contemporary memorial dedicated to the victims of the camp.