In the summer of 1941, the Germans rebuilt the camp at Bergen-Belsen that had previously housed French and Belgian prisoners of war. Room had to be found for captured Soviet soldiers because Germany was to attack the Soviet Union on 22 June. Two other prisoner of war camps were constructed in the vicinity of the camp.
By autumn, more than 20,000 prisoners had already been brought in. They were left to their own devices. There were too few barracks and not enough food. Many of the prisoners had to sleep outside, in pits they had dug themselves. Within a year, over 41,000 Soviet soldiers died because of the poor conditions.
More than one in two captured Soviet soldiers died in German hands. A total of 3,300,000 Soviet prisoners of war succumbed.
In the summer of 1943, the SS took over part of the camp. It was turned into an ‘Austauschlager’, a camp for imprisoned Jews who could be exchanged for Germans POWs held abroad. A small group of Jews was eventually released.
