Natzweiler-Struthof

For Kristy's birthday, Stephen and I decided to take her to a historical sight about 1.5 hours from us in the French mountains. She is a big history buff, so we thought she would "enjoy," if that is even possible, seeing a concentration camp. I had never been to see the camp either so it was a bonus for me to get to tag along.

Here is some information about the Camp:

— Information from wikipedia:

"Natzweiler-Struthof was a German concentration camp located in the Vosges Mountains close to the Alsatian village of Natzwiller (German Natzweiler) in France, about 50 km south west from the city of Strasbourg. It was the only concentration camp established by the Nazis on present-day French territory."  

 — Information from Stuthof Website:  http://www.struthof.fr/en/home/

On 21 April 1941, near the village of Struthof, the Nazis opened a concentration camp, KL-Natzweiler.

The central camp, the only concentration camp in France, was located in the then annexed Alsace département. Its annexes, scattered over the 2 sides of the Rhine, made up a network of nearly 70 camps, more or less large. Of the nearly 52,000 detainees of KL-Natzeiler, about 35,000 did not go through the central camp.

A labour camp supporting the Nazi war industry, it was also used for medical experiments by Nazi professors from the Reich University of Strasbourg.

On 23 November 1944, the Allies discovered the site evacuated by the Nazis since September. Some deportees from the camp annexes had their sufferings prolonged in the spring of 1945 on the "Death Marches".

From 1941 to 1945, the KL-Natzweiler was one of the most murderous camps of the Nazi system. Nearly 22,000 deportees died there.

“I learned how to stand pain that would have been unbearable for a human being in normal circumstances, but I also learned how to savour tiny pleasures: a ray of sunshine, light playing on the mountain, a few instants of peaceful sleep, a hint of bad meat at the bottom of my bowl, a civilised conversation with an old comrade...”   —  Jean LEGER

This was a holding cell they would put prisoners in. 

Your hands will bleed,

Your feet will bleed

You suffer, the mountain hits you

On your tired back, your bruised arms

On your gasping chest

On your clear head.

You will fall! But energy, the will to live

For a child, for a mother,

For a woman or your God

You will stand back up, grit your teeth,

You will start walking again.

— Léon BOUTBIEN

Le Gourou, témoignage de déportation au KL-Natzweiler

Monument built to memorialize the area.