Mindestens 42 500 nationalsozialistische Zwangsarbeitslager

Der US-Historiker Geoffrey Megargee stellte im Auftrag des Washingtoner 'Holocaust Memorial Museum' fest, dass es mindestens 42.500 NS-Lager gab, an denen Menschen getötet wurden. 15 bis 20 Millionen Menschen sollen Opfer des Nazi-Terrors geworden sein. 

Die Gefangenen-Lager waren nach Megargee überall. In lokalen Geschäften, Schulen, auf Bauernhöfen. Weite Teile der deutschen Gesellschaft, darunter die Industrie, das Militär, die SS, die Hitler-Jugend, das Reichsjustizministerium und andere Ministerien, hatten ihre eigene Lager. Von normalen Menschen wird die Zahl der Lager meist um das Zehnfache oder sogar Hundertfache unterschätzt. Es gab sogar noch viel mehr Camps als die, die von Megargee bisher erfasst wurden: 3.000 Lager allein in Berlin und 1.300 Lager in Hamburg. 

Für die derzeit noch mehr als 500.000 Holocaust-Überlebenden könnte Megargees Studie eine neue Möglichkeit bieten, Ansprüche auf Entschädigung zu belegen. Denn wer in einem Lager oder Getto inhaftiert war oder im Versteck und in der Illegalität gelebt hat, erhält eine lebenslange monatliche Rente von 300 Euro. Megargee erinnert sich an eine besonders bewegende Begegnung mit einem Holocaust-Überlebenden: Plötzlich stand dieser gebrechliche Mann auf, legte seine Hand auf unser Buch und sagte: "Das ist für mich ein heiliges Buch."


President Barack Obama and Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel pause for a moment of silence in the Hall of Remembrance as they toured the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, Monday, April 23, 2012.

Obama said: And as we walked, I was taken back to the visit that Elie mentioned, the time that we traveled together to Buchenwald. We stopped at an old photo - men and boys lying in their wooden bunks, barely more than skeletons. And if you look closely, you can see a 16-year old boy, looking right at the camera, right into your eyes. You can see Elie.

This is the photograph of Buchenwald survivors that Allied Supreme Commander General Dwight David Eisenhower ordered, in April 1945, to be posted in every German town and city. It is possible that it was made according to Eisenhowers specifications as a photo fakery. In the US, it was first published in the New York Times on May 6, 1945 with the caption “Crowded Bunks in the Prison Camp at Buchenwald”. A huge blown-up version then went on tour in the United States. It was plastered on the front pages of newspapers across the country. Thus it became one of the most iconic images representing WWII and of what later came to be known as 'The HOLOCAUST'. The standing figure, the part that makes the biggest, most memorable impact on the viewer, was added later. 

Allegedly, the photo was taken inside Block #56 by Private H. Miller of the Civil Affairs Branch of the U.S. Army Signal Corps on April 16, 1945, five days after the Buchenwald camp was liberated by a division of the US Third Army on April 11, 1945. In October 1983, the New York Times published this photograph again indicating that Elie Wiesel was the man circled in the photo. People who describe Wiesel as a liar, contest that statement:

President Barack Obama continued his speech after he had toured the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, Monday, April 23, 2012: "I said I will always be there for Israel. So when efforts are made to equate Zionism to racism, we reject them. When international fora single out Israel with unfair resolutions, we vote against them. When attempts are made to delegitimize the state of Israel, we oppose them. When faced with a regime that threatens global security and denies the Holocaust and threatens to destroy Israel, the United States will do everything in our power to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. And so with allies and partners, we will keep increasing the pressure, with a diplomatic effort to further isolate Assad and his regime, so that those who stick with Assad know that they are making a losing bet. We’ll keep increasing sanctions to cut off the regime from the money it needs to survive.- To Elie and to the survivors who are here today, thank you for not giving up. You show us the way."

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