overviewBergen-Belsen was a Nazi concentration camp. It was not an extermination camp, but many people or prisoners died there during the camp. Located in the small towns of Bergen and Belsen. It was originally a prison camp, but in 1943 some parts began to become a concentration camp. After the entire camp was handed over to the SS, it was divided into three main components: the "prisoner of war (prisoners of war) camp" which lasted from 1940 to January 1945. The "residence camp" began around April 1943 until to April In 1945 it was composed of 4 subcamps. The "prisoner camp" lasted from 1943 to April 194, it also had several other subcamps. Overall Bergen-Belsen was made up of Jews, prisoners of war, political prisoners, Roman gypsies, "asocial" criminals, Jehovah's Witnesses and homosexuals. How Bergen-Belsen became a concentration camp The camp was initially run by the SS; Hauptsturmführer Adolf Hass. But in 1944 Hass was replaced by the SS; Hauptsturmführer Josef Kramer. Kramer had had past experiences with concentration camps, had been involved in concentration camps since 1934 and before Bergen Belsen Kramer was in Auschwitz-Birkenau. While in Bergen Belsen was nicknamed; "beast" because of the way he killed prisoners or left them to starve. One boy who survived wrote “Kramer has lost his temper. A strange twinkle hid in his little eyes and he worked like crazy. I saw him throw himself at an unfortunate woman and with a single blow of his truncheon shatter her skull. In 1943 Bergen Belsen officially became a concentration camp. it was a camp primarily for Jews. Prisoners were sectioned for their beliefs. This camp was not predominantly forced labor but in 1944 the situation changed because other prisoners were transformed, there were around 7,300 prisoners between...... half of the paper ......945. Anne dies a few days later, the camp is liberated only a few weeks later. Liberation On 15 April 1945, British troops liberated the German concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen. Inside the camp, the soldiers were horrified by all the rotting corpses they found and by other starving people crowding among the dead. This camp was the first to be liberated by the English. Huge graves were dug to hold 5,000 corpses at a time. Brigadier Llewellyn Glyn-Hughes was in charge of clearing the camp and assigned many workers to help. Of the 38,500 in the camp, 28,00 died after and before the liberation. The entire camp was burned due to the spread of typhus disease. The last hut was burned on May 21, 1945. In December 1945, camp leader Josef Kramer was hanged after being found guilty of war crimes in Luneberg. The field is now a landscaped park.