The Bergen-Belsen Memorial Is Located Around the Documentation Centre 60 Kilometres North-East of Hanover

Stiftung niedersächsische Gedenkstätten The Bergen-Belsen Memorial is located around The Documentation Centre 60 kilometres north-east of Hanover. During World In order to appropriately represent the site’s War II, the site was the location of a POW camp national and international significance, the Lower operated by the Wehrmacht, the German armed Saxony Memorials Foundation, with financial The Bergen-Belsen Memorial forces. The 20,000 POWs who died there, most support from the German Federal Government and of them from the Soviet Union, were buried in a the State of Lower Saxony, built a new Documen- cemetery around one kilometre from the camp. tation Centre which opened in October 2007. In 1943, the SS took over parts of the grounds and established a concentration camp. At least The new permanent exhibition at the Centre is 52,000 men, women and children died in this made up of several individual exhibition sections: camp, most of them during the last few months • The Wehrmacht POW Camps of the war. When British troops liberated Bergen- 1939 – 1945 Belsen on 15 April 1945, they found thousands of • The Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp unburied bodies and completely emaciated pris- 1943 – 1945 oners, many of whom were at death’s door. • The Bergen-Belsen The victims of the concentration camp were Displaced Persons Camp 1945 – 1950 buried in mass graves in the grounds of the former • The Prosecution of the Perpetrators camp. Today, graves, monuments and memorial after 1945 stones commemorate their suffering and death. A few foundations are the only structural traces of These exhibitions rely on the effects of historical the camp that still remain. evidence. Texts, photographs, documents, ex- After the liberation, a displaced persons camp hibits and excerpts from many biographical inter- was set up at the nearby former Wehrmacht bar- views with survivors inform visitors about the racks. Until 1950, up to 12,000 people lived at this, history of Bergen-Belsen. the largest Jewish DP camp in Germany. In 1945, the British Military Government ordered a memorial site to be created, and in 1952 a central monument was unveiled in the grounds. Since 1966, exhibitions about the concentration camp’s history have been shown at Bergen- Belsen, complemented by exhibitions on the history of the POW camp since 1990. A 7 A 27 from Hamburg The Educational Department Research and Documentation Offices from Bremen Soltau Uelzen The Memorial’s reference library contains more than Soltau Süd exit Wietzendorf cemetery Guided tours 7,000 publications on topics such as persecution Wietzendorf The Memorial offers guided tours for schools or other during the Nazi era and the system of the concen- Bad Fallingbostel groups of at least ten persons by prior arrangement. tration camps, with a particular focus on the history Oerbke cemetery The tours are available in various languages and of Bergen-Belsen. Oerbke Bergen usually take around three hours. At the computer terminals in the library’s reading M.B. 89 room, visitors can search the list of prisoners who Hörsten cemetery Bergen-Belsen Memorial Possible topics for guided tours: were imprisoned in the Bergen-Belsen concentration Winsen • Introduction to the history of the camp and access the additional information provided Bergen-Belsen camp at the computer terminals in the exhibition as well • Tour of the permanent exhibition as the videos. A 7 Celle • Tour of the grounds of the former concentration Source material from the Memorial’s archive is and POW camps available in cases of special academic or personal Mellendorf • Visit to the Soviet POW cemetery interest. exit B 3 Study days To enquire about the archives, from The Memorial’s Educational Department organises please phone +49 5051 4759-0 Bielefeld A 2 study days for groups which allow participants to or e-mail Osnabrück Dortmund explore particular topics from the camp’s history in [email protected]. Hanover more depth. Please book well in advance so there is from Berlin time to arrange topics and organisational details. Also visit the Memorial’s website at www.bergen-belsen.de for more information on To make arrangements for guided tours the Memorial’s activities and recent news. and study days, please call + 49 5051 4759-112 (weekdays from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m.) or e-mail [email protected]. Getting There By car Take the A7 motorway and use the Soltau-Süd exit if coming from the north, and the Mellen- dorf exit if coming from the Photographs copyright by Klemens Ortmeyer (2) and south. The Memorial is sign- Stiftung niedersächsische Gedenkstätten/ posted from both exits. It is Bergen-Belsen Memorial (2) located around 25 kilometres Design by Weidner Händle, Stuttgart from the Soltau-Süd exit and December 2020 around 40 kilometres from the Mellendorf exit. By public transport A bus service to the Memorial operates on week-days and Saturdays from Celle station. For more information, visit the Memorial’s website Bergen-Belsen Memorial (www.bergen-belsen.de) Anne-Frank-Platz or check the website of the 29303 Lohheide, Germany Celle Transport Association Phone 0049 5051 4759-0 (www.cebus-celle.de, Fax 0049 5051 4759-118 in German). bergen-belsen @ stiftung-ng.de www.bergen-belsen.de All parts of the Memorial open to the public are completely access- The exhibition is open daily. ible.Wheelchairs are available April to September: from the information desk. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Filming and photography are October to March: permitted with some restrictions. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dogs are not allowed in the The Documentation Centre is Memorial’s grounds. closed during the Lower Saxony winter holidays. Admission is free..

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