Mitchell, Curtis

Bergen-Belsen was a concentration camp in north Germany near the city of Celle and was located between the villages of Bergen and Belsen. The camp was originally built in 1940 as a prisoner-of-war camp for Belgium and French prisoners and in 1941 it was named Stalag 311. But in April 1943 it was designated as a concentration camp to be administered by the SS and was given the name Bergen-Belsen. Its purpose was to operate as a detention camp for prisoners who might be exchanged for German nationals in Allied countries. However, there were relatively few exchanges.

The camp was divided into at least eight sections: a detention camp, two women's camps, a special camp, a neutrals camp, a "star" camp, and Hungarian camp, and a tent camp. The tent camp was for prisoners who were either sick or had been injured. One of the prisoners at this tent camp was Anne Frank who later died from typhus before the camp was liberated by the British on April 15, 1945.

As allied troops advanced Bergen-Belsen became flooded with thousands of Jewish prisoners from camps nearer the front. By April 15 the camp was seriously overcrowded with 60,000 prisoners. The overcrowding, poor sanitation, and lack of food and water led to the typhus epidemic which caused the deaths of thousands of people.

From the guide to the Bergen-Belsen Photographs, 1945, (Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida)