Who died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp?
The victims included all groups that were declared enemies by the Nazis and excluded from the National Socialist people's community (Volksgemeinschaft): Jews, Sinti & Roma, political dissidents, homosexuals, those defamed as "antisocials" or professional criminals, Jehovah's Witnesses, people deported from occupied countries for forced labour, former prisoners of war and others.
The Schutzstaffel SS ("Protection Squadron") was responsible for the deaths of these men, women and children from all European countries. They tried to conceal their crimes by burning the dead or burying them in hastily dug pits. The Schutzstaffel SS ("Protection Squadron") also destroyed the prisoner registration system, which meant that transport lists, death overviews and individual prisoner records were irretrievably destroyed.
Since 1990, the Bergen-Belsen Memorial has compiled a wealth of information on the prisoners of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp from other sources. Despite intensive research, it has only been possible to find the names and details of around 11,500 of the dead. These names are published on a separate website as a digital book of the deaths. In addition to the names and - where known - cemeteries, the site also contains information on places of death and sources.
Due to the destruction of sources by the perpetrators, it will not be possible to reconstruct the names of all those who died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Nevertheless, the Book of the Dead is an expression of the endeavour to remember the names of all the dead. It is not complete.