Holocaust Pt2 Bergan- Belsen

Originally intended as a place to keep hostages to swap for captured Germans,  Belsen soon became a Prisoner of war camp and Concentration camp Liberated by the British in April 1945 ,the British were actually invited to take over the camp by the Germans as typhus had gotten out of hand and the Germans knew the end for the camp was close so a deal was struck were most of the the guards walked away while some stayed on under British Control . Anne Frank and her sister perished here just before liberation . Today there is very little of the actual camp left ,mainly just foundations but there are many mass graves and monuments to the murdered of Bergan -Belsen and  a huge visitors centre shows the story in photographs , documents and video . The camp is not far from the town of Celle . On liberation the locals denied they knew what was happening at the camp which is hard to believe when you visit especially when you see where the train station was where the prisoners arrived its location is in the town and locals must have seen the prisoners marching to the camp .

Mass Graves are marked with these small walls inscribed with the number of dead .

There are many markers to the dead which are placed around the site not actually where the bodies lay . 

Markers with descriptions show the area where key sites once stood .