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Some visitors to the Nazi Buchenwald concentration camp – now a memorial – went for sleigh rides over mass graves and such abuses must end, site officials have warned.
The site spans a large wooded area in eastern Germany, as Buchenwald had several sub-camps.
“Cases of winter sports near mass graves, disturbing the peace of the dead, will be reported,” warns the memorial on its website.
Buchenwald Nazi concentration camp no place for sledding, German authorities warn https://t.co/0c4NokoEef
– BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 15, 2021
More than 56,000 inmates died there.
The Nazis imprisoned nearly 280,000 men, women and children at the Ettersberg hill site near Weimar in 1937-1945.
They were mainly Jews, Sinti and Roma, resistance activists, homosexuals and Soviet soldiers. They were beaten, starved and tortured. Some were used for medical experiments.
The site has a huge cemetery on the southern slope of Ettersberg Hill, with a bell tower at the top – the area now popular for winter excursions.
Rikola-Gunnar Lüttgenau, historian in Buchenwald, told the BBC that sporting activities were already prohibited at the site, but “last weekend it was heavily used, many toboggan runs were found on the graves and the parking lot was full ”.
“Now, due to the pandemic, winter sports facilities are closed in Thuringia [region], so they use the memorial, ”he added.
Disrupting the peace of the dead is a punishable offense in Germany, he said, adding that the memorial has now tightened its security.
“Unfortunately, more and more people are disrespecting the place, riding or riding motorcycles in the woods.”
In April 1945, US troops liberated Buchenwald, where they found piles of dead bodies, torture cells, a crematorium, and emaciated survivors. Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “Nothing has ever shocked me more than this spectacle.”
BBC radio reporter Edward Ward reported on the horrors of Buchenwald in 1945. You may find part of his description distressing.
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