Liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp 80 years ago

Berlin, Weimar (d.de/dpa) – A ceremony on Sunday is commemorating the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar 80 years ago, on 11 April 1945. The Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation expects around ten survivors to attend the event at the Weimarhalle. Relatives and descendants are also invited to attend. Former German president Christian Wulff is to give a commemorative speech. Starting in the summer of 1937, the Nazis deported more than 280,000 people to Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar and its 139 sub-camps. 56,000 people were murdered or died of starvation, disease, forced labour or medical experiments. 

Ahead of the commemorative events, a dispute arose between the Buchenwald Memorial organisers and the Israeli embassy over a planned speech to be given by a philosopher who is viewed critically by the embassy. In this context, the German government stressed that the concentration camp memorial organisations in Germany worked independently and were subject to no external interference. This was made clear by deputy government spokesperson Wolfgang Büchner. Referring to the matter, Büchner said that he had “nothing to add with respect to the independence of the memorial organisation and its programme design”. However, he did say that the concentration camp memorial sites in Germany were essential places of learning that help ensure that people - especially the younger generation - do not forget what happened by keeping knowledge about the fates of the victims of National Socialism alive.