Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp

About

The Konzentrationslager (KL) Natzweiler, better known in France as the Struthof camp or Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp, is a Nazi concentration camp located in 1941 in the territory of Alsace annexed in fact by Nazi Germany. In September 1940, the Nazis discovered, on Mount Louise, near the village of Natzwiller, Germanized in Natzweiler, a rose granite line. In March 1941, Himmler ordered a concentration camp to be set up on the site to exploit the rock for the benefit of the Reich.

Between 1941 and 1945, approximately 50,000 prisoners were registered in the main camp and/or its network of side camps. Thirty-two nationalities are represented. For the main camp, detainees are mostly political opponents or resistors.

For the side camps, they are mainly forced workers who have been raided in the countries of Eastern Europe, 17% of whom are Jews. The KL Natzweiler is the only concentration camp established by the Nazis on French territory. Medical experiments are carried out on prisoners in the main camp.

In 1942, it became a place of execution for death sentences handed down by...