Camp Conditions
Extermination: "The official goal of Buchenwald was the destruction of the prisoners by work. Thousands of prisoners were murdered in Buchenwald by work, torture, beatings, or simply starvation and lack of hygiene...Thousands of inmates, especially Soviet Prisoners of War, were murdered in the infirmary by lethal injections, whereas others were the victim of medical experiments, especially many who were contaminated by the typhus bacillus. Another way to kill prisoners was used in the stable. The prisoners had to enter a fake infirmary room and place themselves under a height gauge. At this time, an SS man killed them will a revolver by shooting through a small hole placed at the height of the prisoners neck. The noise of those executions was masked by a radio at maximum volume. There were many ways to exterminate prisoners by work in Buchenwald. Thousands of prisoners died during the construction of the road leading from the foot of the Ettersberg to the entry of the camp. This road was called 'Blood Street' by the prisoners" (Buchenwald (Germany)).
Testimony of Ludwig Scheinbrunn, a survivor of Buchenwald, on the camp conditions
"As of September 21, 1939, I was obliged to carry corpses in Buchenwald. I did that for 2 and a half years. During the winter of 1939, they erected a tent camp near the actual crematorium, where more than 40 prisoners died every day, from cold and starvation. As well, the SS adjutants Blank and Hinkelmann poisoned many of them. The prisoners received a half-liter of light soup and one bread for 8 inmates. It happened once that two prisoners were carrying the corpse of one of their comrades, hoping to receive a bigger bread ration. Blank and Hinkelmann often threw the food in the mud, so the prisoners had to kneel to get it while Blank and Hinkelmann beat them with sticks and whips. . . ." (Buchenwald (Germany))
"As of September 21, 1939, I was obliged to carry corpses in Buchenwald. I did that for 2 and a half years. During the winter of 1939, they erected a tent camp near the actual crematorium, where more than 40 prisoners died every day, from cold and starvation. As well, the SS adjutants Blank and Hinkelmann poisoned many of them. The prisoners received a half-liter of light soup and one bread for 8 inmates. It happened once that two prisoners were carrying the corpse of one of their comrades, hoping to receive a bigger bread ration. Blank and Hinkelmann often threw the food in the mud, so the prisoners had to kneel to get it while Blank and Hinkelmann beat them with sticks and whips. . . ." (Buchenwald (Germany))
The conditions in Buchenwald were awful; it was designed to indirectly kill as many prisoners as possible. The older people slept in brick buildings and the younger people slept in wooden barracks. The barracks were cramped and the prisoners slept sideways in order to accommodate everyone. There were no pillows or blankets. The bathroom was a crude outhouse with a wooden wall and a board to stand on with a hole in the ground. It was unsanitary and lead to the spread of diseases. Even the process of giving out food was designed to kill. The SS gave each prisoner a medallion and they would exchange it for food. Prisoners were starving and murdered each other for the possession of a food medallion. These unhealthy conditions increased the speed in which prisoners would die or become to sickly to do manual labor (Chgs.umh.edu.).