Today’s excursions in France included a visit to the WWII Natzweiler-Struthof Concentration Camp. This camp was opened on April 21, 1941 near the village of Struthof, France. Nearly 52,000 people of 30 different nationalities (Polish, Russian and French being the highest) were deported to the Natzweiler camp or to its annexes. Most prisoners of these camps were political opponents of the Nazi regime, Roma (Gypsies), Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals and persons accused of “asocial” or socially deviant behavior. This camp was mainly used for forced labor and medical experimenting. This central camp consisted of bunkers, a prison, and a gas chamber. It was built here because of the Granite and Sand Quarry not far from the site where the prisoners were forced to work. |
- Braley Traub