The establishment of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Oranienburg 90 years ago

Presentations and discussion

Opening Remarks: Dr. Andrea Riedle, Director of the Topography of Terror Foundation
Panel Discussion:
Dr. Andrea Kaltofen, former Director of the Esterwegen Memorial
Dr. Astrid Ley, Chair of the Standing Conference (2026) and Director of the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum
Prof. Dr. Johannes Tuchel, former Director of the German Resistance Memorial Center
Moderator: Prof. Dr. Günter Morsch, former Director of the Brandenburg Memorials Foundation

Ninety years ago, in the summer of 1936, the SS began construction of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Oranienburg, which by 1945 had developed into one of the largest camp complexes in the German Reich. In July 1936, the first 50 prisoners from the Esterwegen concentration camp arrived in Oranienburg, where they were forced to work on the construction of the new Sachsenhausen camp. On September 5, 1936, the Sachsenhausen concentration camp was officially opened and henceforth occupied a central position within the system of Nazi concentration camps. Due to the dissolution of other concentration camps and the transfer of their inmates, the number of prisoners rose to over 1,600 as early as the beginning of 1937. Under the most grueling conditions, they built a sprawling camp complex that, in addition to the actual prisoner camp, also included SS troop areas, residential settlements, and numerous infrastructural and economic facilities. By the end of World War II in 1945, more than 200,000 people from numerous European countries had been imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. More than 50,000 of them did not survive their imprisonment.Translated with DeepL

Meeting point: Auditorium

Next date:

• Date Tuesday, 30/June/2026 19:00 bis 20:30
• Venue Topographie des Terrors - Dokumentationszentrum
• Address Niederkirchnerstraße 8, 10963 Berlin-Kreuzberg