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Germany · Weimar
Buchenwald concentration camp
Concentration campClosed 1945High
Verified
Fresh · 1mo ago
Sources last reviewed on
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.
For families
How to send mail, money, and visit Buchenwald concentration camp
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Gallery
From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).
Photo by Derv Eloper via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo by Derv Eloper via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo by Derv Eloper via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo by Derv Eloper via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo by Derv Eloper via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo by Derv Eloper via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo by Derv Eloper via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo by Derv Eloper via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Entry documented in the USHMM Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos.
Background
Buchenwald (German pronunciation: [ËbuËxnÌ©valt]; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (Old Reich) territories. Many actual or suspected communists were among the first internees. The Nazi camp prisoners came from all over Europe and the Soviet Union, and included Jews, Poles and other Slavs, Roma, the mentally ill and physically disabled, political prisoners, Freemasons, and prisoners of war. There were also ordinary criminals and those perceived as sexual deviants by the Nazi regime.
Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.
Capacity
—
Current population
—
Occupancy
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Year opened
1937
Closed 1945
Figures from official sources · verified 16 Jun 2026 · methodology
Facility profile
Operator
SchutzstaffelPopulation held
Mixed/unknown
Opened
1937
Region
Weimar
Security level
—
Death-row facility
No
Conditions
No conditions summary available yet.
Visiting
No visiting information available.
Mailing
No mailing information available.
Practical info
Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.
Known issues
No major issues documented in our database.
Notable inmates
- Josef Michler1899
- Félix Kreissler1917–2004 · historian
- Max Adolf Richard Ahrens1885–1944 · cook
- Maxime Van Praag1910–1945 · resistance fighter
- F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas1902–1964 · military personnel
Wing Commander Forest Frederick Edward Yeo-Thomas (17 June 1902 â 26 February 1964), known as "Tommy", was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent in the Second World War.
- Herbert Perl1905–1940
- Erich Matthes1908–1987 · trade unionist
- Jan Caletka1913
WacÅaw Czarnecki1902–1990 · journalist
Showing 9 of 12. Source: Wikidata + Wikipedia.
Contact & address
Conditions Risk Score
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
—
Insufficient data
We don't have enough public data on this facility to score it. Have something to add? Send us a correction.
Related facilities
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
- Niemegk concentration campConcentration camp
- Giessen concentration campConcentration camp
- Horneburg concentration campConcentration camp
- Cochem-Treis concentration campConcentration camp
- Engerhafe concentration campConcentration camp
- Bielsk Podlaski concentration campConcentration camp
Data completeness
40%How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Sources
- EHRI Authority Record
- USHMM article
- Wikipedia — Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation
- EHRI Authority List of Camps and Ghettos / USHMM Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos — European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI) / United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)
- Wikidata (Q152802)
- Wikipedia
- Wikimedia Commons
- See /data-sources for our overall methodology.
Cite this page
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
APA
World Prisons. (2026). Buchenwald concentration camp. Retrieved July 22, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/buchenwald-concentration-camp
Chicago
"Buchenwald concentration camp." World Prisons. Accessed July 22, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/buchenwald-concentration-camp.
BibTeX
@misc{worldprisons-buchenwald-concentration-ca,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {Buchenwald concentration camp},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/buchenwald-concentration-camp},
urldate = {2026-07-22}
}