Ohrdruf concentration camp

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Ohrdruf was a German forced‑labor and concentration camp near the town of Ohrdruf in Thuringia. Opened in November 1944, it was part of the Buchenwald camp system. At first it operated as a separate SS camp, but soon became a subcamp of Buchenwald. The camp used huts built for troops and also included tents and bunkers. It was known as Außenlager S III and had a northern and a southern area, with later additions at Espenfeld and Crawinkel.

Prisoners were used for forced labor on a planned railway and a tunnel project connected to a supposed underground headquarters under Mühlberg Castle in Ohrdruf. The work would have linked the castle to the main rail line and created emergency shelters, but the project was not completed because American forces advanced quickly. By late 1944 about 10,000 prisoners lived there; by March 1945 about 20,000 had passed through Ohrdruf. Inmates came from many countries, including Russia, Poland, Hungary, France, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Greece, Belgium, Yugoslavia and Germany. Living conditions were very harsh: there were few beds, long work days, little food, and poor sanitation.

In January 1945 guards from Auschwitz were sent to Ohrdruf to reinforce the camp. At the end of the war prisoners were forced to work on a subterranean complex for the government, intended to be used if Berlin fell, but it was never finished. A nearby site called Olga was used as quarters for the Army High Command in the final months. Some researchers think Jonastal was meant for a weapons project or even a nuclear test site, but this is not proven.

Those unable to work were moved to Sterbelager, and by late March 1945 the camp held about 11,700 to 13,000 prisoners. As the Allies closed in, many were evacuated on death marches starting April 1; about 1,000 prisoners were killed during these marches or inside the camp. In total, thousands died from exhaustion or murder.

Ohrdruf was liberated on April 4, 1945, by the US 4th Armored Division and the 89th Infantry Division. It was the first Nazi concentration camp liberated by the US Army. The sight shocked many Allied leaders, and Eisenhower visited the camp on April 12 to witness and report what had happened. General Patton also described the horror in his diary.

After liberation, the area was briefly used by different forces, and the Nordlager was destroyed in July 1945. Since 1993, the area has been managed by the German military (the Bundeswehr). Today only a few bunkers from the camp period remain, along with two memorials to the victims.