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A Beech Forest

Le bois de hêtres
Een beukenbos
Philippe Mesnard
Traduction de Anneleen Spiessens
p. 22-33
Cet article est une traduction de :
Le bois de hêtres  [fr]

Texte intégral

Main entrance to the Buchenwald camp

Main entrance to the Buchenwald camp

© Ph. M.

1Avast beech forest covers the Ettersberg hill, overlooking the city of Weimar. Goethe used to wander in these woodlands on sunny days. After the First World War, Weimar became the centre of the Bauhaus movement and the birth place of the new German constitution. The his­torical “Weimar Republic”, deriving its name from the famous city, was besmirched, however, when the Nazis came into power. In July 1937, they opened a concen­tration camp on the wooded slope –Buchenwald is German for beech forest – adding a sinister twist to this “vacation area”.

2Given its sad reputation, it is tempting to associ­ate the large forest on the Ettersberg to a small birch meadow – Birkenau in German – in Poland. Both places seem like two photo negatives of the same subject – the prints Nazi terror left on the lives of so many, with a violence that cannot be exposed clear enough. While Birkenau (Auschwitz II) becomes the Nazi’s most sophisticated and deadly extermination camp, Buchenwald, perched on the beautiful hillside, was promoted to the Reich’s largest concentration camp: 250,000 deportees were imprisoned here; 56,000 died of star­vation, through police torture or medical experiments. 8,000 Soviet POWs were killed one by one, shot in the neck – reminding us of yet another event, namely the killing, in a similar way, of part of the 22,000 members of the Polish elite, mostly military, in the spring of 1940. Back then, the agents of the NKVD pulled the trigger.

3During the war years, the Buchenwald Empire expanded across the Thuringia territory. It consisted of 136 satellite camps including Gandersheim, where Robert Antelme was held prisoner, and Zeitz, where Imre Kertész was sent. Jorge Semprún was locked up in the main camp, the same place where Elie Wiesel’s death march following the evacuation of Auschwitz stranded.

  • 1 The article of Jean-Louis Rouhart in our “Readings” section discusses the communist legend of the c (...)

4The camp was liberated by the American troops on 11 April 19451. But the history of the beech forest does not end on that day.

5After the retreat of the Americans, the domain fell within the authority of the so-called Soviet Occupa­tion Zone (SBZ: sowjetische Besatzungszone). The old camp was instantly replaced by a new one. Indeed, why not use what was already available and, more­over, fully operational? “Special Camp No.2” was part of a network of ten Soviet camps and three prisons. The Speziallager, known for its extremely harsh living conditions, was hermetically sealed from the outside world. Functionaries of the Nazi party (NSDAP) were brought in, as well as suspects and victims of denunci­ation. In total, 28,000 prisoners were locked up in the camp; 7,000 died during the terrible winter of 1946­1947. In February 1950, shortly after the establishment of the German Democratic Republic (7 October 1949), arrangements were made to dissolve the infernal little planet that was Special Camp No.2.

6Parallel to the Nazi camp’s resuscitation into a Soviet one, the process of its memorialization started. After the first commemoration on 19 April 1945 (see photo above), the former Nazi camp became a major player on the memorial scene. Throughout the forty­year history of the GDR, it has been the apologetic thea­tre of antifascist heroism. There was not a single East German who was not compelled to identify with the promoted icon. Later on, in the 1990s, the defoliated lands of the campsite, once and for all stripped from the wooden barracks, seemed ready for a new flowering season. Little by little, commemorative plaques in hon­our of the victims of Buchenwald sprung up, whereas in the communist discourse they did not have a place. In the new museum, visitors can now discover the his­tory of the Soviet camp. The camp’s entrance, in fact, leads onto the mass grave, also memorialized, which contains the piled-up bodies of the NKVD campaign. The immense tonsure of the vast and slanted beech forest, operated by the concentrationary machinery, is today covered with plaques.

The “Bell Tower”

The “Bell Tower”

In 1954, the East German government orders the construction of a “National Memorial” (Nationale Mahn- und Gedenkstätte) on the southern slope of the Ettersberg. The monument is dedicated in 1958. Its so-called “Bell Tower”, proclaimed symbol of liberty and light, dominates the area.

© Ph. M.

Statues of the sculptor Fritz Cremer (1958) celebrating the resistance struggle in the camp

Statues of the sculptor Fritz Cremer (1958) celebrating the resistance struggle in the camp

© Ph. M.

The path of the “National Memorial” trail

The path of the “National Memorial” trail

This path is part of the “National Memorial” trail. It is lined with seven steles symbolizing the seven years of the camp and bearing scenes depicting life in the camp.

Sculptors: René Graetz, Waldemar Grzimek and Hans Kies; texts on the reverse sides: Johannes R. Becher.
© Ph. M.

The path of the “National Memorial” trail

The path of the “National Memorial” trail

This path is part of the “National Memorial” trail. It is lined with seven steles symbolizing the seven years of the camp and bearing scenes depicting life in the camp.

Sculptors: René Graetz, Waldemar Grzimek and Hans Kies; texts on the reverse sides: Johannes R. Becher.
© Ph. M.

Main entrance

Main entrance

© Ph. M.

The wrought-iron camp gate bears the inscription “Jedem das Seine”, “To Each His Own”

The wrought-iron camp gate bears the inscription “Jedem das Seine”, “To Each His Own”

The wrought-iron camp gate made in early 1938 bears the inscription “Jedem das Seine”, “To Each His Own”. At the order of the camp commander, it was installed in such a way as to be readable from the inside. It was to be in plain view for the inmates standing on the muster ground at all times. According to the Memorial’s website (www.buchenwald.de), the inscription is based on “suum cuique”, a Roman legal maxim dating back to millennia: “Iuris praecepta sunt haec: honeste vivere, alterum non laedere, suum cuique tribuere
– “The precepts of the law are these: To live honourably, not to injure another, to give each his due.”

© Ph. M.

Appellplatz (muster ground), photo from 1999

Appellplatz (muster ground), photo from 1999

As many as 20,000 inmates could form up here. There were roll calls which lasted for seventy-two hours (www.buchenwald.de).

© Ph. M.

Appellplatz (muster ground), photo from 2014

Appellplatz (muster ground), photo from 2014

The new information board contains the assigned code for the audio guide. As many as 20,000 inmates could form up here. There were roll calls which lasted for seventy-two hours (www.buchenwald.de).

© Ph. M.

Commemorative Symbol (1995) dedicated to all of the dead of the Buchenwald concentration camp

Commemorative Symbol (1995) dedicated to all of the dead of the Buchenwald concentration camp

At the fiftieth anniversary of the camp’s liberation, the plaque was inaugurated on the former Appellplatz. The metal plaque, embedded in the ground, is engraved with the acronym “K.L.B.” (Konzentrationslager Buchenwald) as well as the names of more than fifty nations and victim groups in alphabetical order. Its centre is kept at human body temperature (37°C). The symbol was designed and realized by Horst Hoheisel and Andreas Knitz.

© Ph. M.

Plaque (1954) commemorating the imprisonment of 2000 Soviet soldiers on 18 October 1941

Plaque (1954) commemorating the imprisonment of 2000 Soviet soldiers on 18 October 1941

© Ph. M.

Commemorative stones in memory of all victim groups that were deported to the camp

Commemorative stones in memory of all victim groups that were deported to the camp

From left to right: (2014) soldiers of the Allied Air Force; (2006) homosexual men; (2002) Jehovah’s Witnesses; (date unknown)“conscientious objectors” who refused to serve in a criminal regime’s army.

© Ph. M.

An old oak tree, designated “Dicke Eiche” (Fat Oak) on maps of the area

An old oak tree, designated “Dicke Eiche” (Fat Oak) on maps of the area

An old oak tree had been left standing by the SS on the camp grounds. After being damaged by bombing in August 1944, it was felled; its stump can still be seen today. The inmates called it “Goethe Oak”, even though this tree bears no connection at all to the one the famous writer used to visit (and which in fact turned out to be a simple beech planted somewhere entirely different).

© Ph. M.

A quarantine zone – the “Little Camp”

A quarantine zone – the “Little Camp”

In late 1942, a quarantine zone – the “Little Camp” – was set up on the northern edge of the camp and separated from the main camp by barbed wire. The arrival of mass transports from Auschwitz, Gross-Rosen and other camps in the east in 1944-1945 turned the Little Camp into a place of death, to which above all thousands of Jewish inmates were committed. Demolished after 1945, this zone played no role in the National GDR Memorial complex. Archaeological work begun in 1991 has uncovered structural relics.

© Ph. M.

Memorial to the Sinti and Roma victims (1995)

Memorial to the Sinti and Roma victims (1995)

Black basalt steles form the memorial on a small elevation at former block No.14, where Burgenland Roma were held in 1939-1940. The steles bear the names of other concentration and extermination camps. The inscription in English, German and Romani reads: “In memory of the Sinti and Roma victims of Nazi Holocaust.”

© Ph. M.

A replica of a cart downhill from the crematorium

A replica of a cart downhill from the crematorium

Downhill from the crematorium is a replica of a cart – of the kind used for the transport of stones from the quarry – and a hanging post for the inmates. The incineration system was installed in 1940 by the Topf & Söhne Company of Erfort, which was also commissioned to build the ovens at the Birkenau death camp.

© Ph. M.

The Buchenwald camp was liberated on 11 April 1945.
This year, we celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the event.

The graveyards of the Sovietspecial camp (1945-1950)

The graveyards of the Sovietspecial camp (1945-1950)

At the end of 1989, the public learned of the existence of graveyards where the victims of the Soviet special camp were buried. The anonymous mass graves were marked with steel steles.

© Ph. M.

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Notes

1 The article of Jean-Louis Rouhart in our “Readings” section discusses the communist legend of the camp’s self-liberation.

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Table des illustrations

Titre Main entrance to the Buchenwald camp
Crédits © Ph. M.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/docannexe/image/1940/img-1.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 288k
Titre The “Bell Tower”
Légende In 1954, the East German government orders the construction of a “National Memorial” (Nationale Mahn- und Gedenkstätte) on the southern slope of the Ettersberg. The monument is dedicated in 1958. Its so-called “Bell Tower”, proclaimed symbol of liberty and light, dominates the area.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/docannexe/image/1940/img-2.png
Fichier image/png, 2,8M
Titre Statues of the sculptor Fritz Cremer (1958) celebrating the resistance struggle in the camp
Crédits © Ph. M.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/docannexe/image/1940/img-3.png
Fichier image/png, 2,3M
Titre The path of the “National Memorial” trail
Légende This path is part of the “National Memorial” trail. It is lined with seven steles symbolizing the seven years of the camp and bearing scenes depicting life in the camp.
Crédits Sculptors: René Graetz, Waldemar Grzimek and Hans Kies; texts on the reverse sides: Johannes R. Becher.© Ph. M.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/docannexe/image/1940/img-4.png
Fichier image/png, 2,9M
Titre The path of the “National Memorial” trail
Légende This path is part of the “National Memorial” trail. It is lined with seven steles symbolizing the seven years of the camp and bearing scenes depicting life in the camp.
Crédits Sculptors: René Graetz, Waldemar Grzimek and Hans Kies; texts on the reverse sides: Johannes R. Becher.© Ph. M.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/docannexe/image/1940/img-5.png
Fichier image/png, 4,0M
Titre Main entrance
Crédits © Ph. M.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/docannexe/image/1940/img-6.png
Fichier image/png, 3,1M
Titre The wrought-iron camp gate bears the inscription “Jedem das Seine”, “To Each His Own”
Légende The wrought-iron camp gate made in early 1938 bears the inscription “Jedem das Seine”, “To Each His Own”. At the order of the camp commander, it was installed in such a way as to be readable from the inside. It was to be in plain view for the inmates standing on the muster ground at all times. According to the Memorial’s website (www.buchenwald.de), the inscription is based on “suum cuique”, a Roman legal maxim dating back to millennia: “Iuris praecepta sunt haec: honeste vivere, alterum non laedere, suum cuique tribuere” – “The precepts of the law are these: To live honourably, not to injure another, to give each his due.”
URL http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/docannexe/image/1940/img-7.png
Fichier image/png, 2,5M
Titre Appellplatz (muster ground), photo from 1999
Légende As many as 20,000 inmates could form up here. There were roll calls which lasted for seventy-two hours (www.buchenwald.de).
URL http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/docannexe/image/1940/img-8.png
Fichier image/png, 5,6M
Titre Appellplatz (muster ground), photo from 2014
Légende The new information board contains the assigned code for the audio guide. As many as 20,000 inmates could form up here. There were roll calls which lasted for seventy-two hours (www.buchenwald.de).
URL http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/docannexe/image/1940/img-9.png
Fichier image/png, 7,8M
Titre Commemorative Symbol (1995) dedicated to all of the dead of the Buchenwald concentration camp
Légende At the fiftieth anniversary of the camp’s liberation, the plaque was inaugurated on the former Appellplatz. The metal plaque, embedded in the ground, is engraved with the acronym “K.L.B.” (Konzentrationslager Buchenwald) as well as the names of more than fifty nations and victim groups in alphabetical order. Its centre is kept at human body temperature (37°C). The symbol was designed and realized by Horst Hoheisel and Andreas Knitz.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/docannexe/image/1940/img-10.png
Fichier image/png, 10M
Titre Plaque (1954) commemorating the imprisonment of 2000 Soviet soldiers on 18 October 1941
Crédits © Ph. M.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/docannexe/image/1940/img-11.png
Fichier image/png, 3,6M
Titre Commemorative stones in memory of all victim groups that were deported to the camp
Légende From left to right: (2014) soldiers of the Allied Air Force; (2006) homosexual men; (2002) Jehovah’s Witnesses; (date unknown)“conscientious objectors” who refused to serve in a criminal regime’s army.
Crédits © Ph. M.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/docannexe/image/1940/img-12.png
Fichier image/png, 3,6M
Titre An old oak tree, designated “Dicke Eiche” (Fat Oak) on maps of the area
Légende An old oak tree had been left standing by the SS on the camp grounds. After being damaged by bombing in August 1944, it was felled; its stump can still be seen today. The inmates called it “Goethe Oak”, even though this tree bears no connection at all to the one the famous writer used to visit (and which in fact turned out to be a simple beech planted somewhere entirely different).
Crédits © Ph. M.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/docannexe/image/1940/img-13.png
Fichier image/png, 3,1M
Titre A quarantine zone – the “Little Camp”
Légende In late 1942, a quarantine zone – the “Little Camp” – was set up on the northern edge of the camp and separated from the main camp by barbed wire. The arrival of mass transports from Auschwitz, Gross-Rosen and other camps in the east in 1944-1945 turned the Little Camp into a place of death, to which above all thousands of Jewish inmates were committed. Demolished after 1945, this zone played no role in the National GDR Memorial complex. Archaeological work begun in 1991 has uncovered structural relics.
Crédits © Ph. M.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/docannexe/image/1940/img-14.png
Fichier image/png, 3,7M
Titre Memorial to the Sinti and Roma victims (1995)
Légende Black basalt steles form the memorial on a small elevation at former block No.14, where Burgenland Roma were held in 1939-1940. The steles bear the names of other concentration and extermination camps. The inscription in English, German and Romani reads: “In memory of the Sinti and Roma victims of Nazi Holocaust.”
Crédits © Ph. M.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/docannexe/image/1940/img-15.png
Fichier image/png, 3,4M
Titre A replica of a cart downhill from the crematorium
Légende Downhill from the crematorium is a replica of a cart – of the kind used for the transport of stones from the quarry – and a hanging post for the inmates. The incineration system was installed in 1940 by the Topf & Söhne Company of Erfort, which was also commissioned to build the ovens at the Birkenau death camp.
Crédits © Ph. M.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/docannexe/image/1940/img-16.png
Fichier image/png, 5,0M
Titre The graveyards of the Sovietspecial camp (1945-1950)
Légende At the end of 1989, the public learned of the existence of graveyards where the victims of the Soviet special camp were buried. The anonymous mass graves were marked with steel steles.
Crédits © Ph. M.
URL http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/docannexe/image/1940/img-17.png
Fichier image/png, 15M
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Philippe Mesnard, « A Beech Forest »Témoigner. Entre histoire et mémoire, 120 | 2015, 22-33.

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Philippe Mesnard, « A Beech Forest »Témoigner. Entre histoire et mémoire [En ligne], 120 | 2015, mis en ligne le 01 avril 2015, consulté le 12 décembre 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/temoigner/1940 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/temoigner.1940

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