The Natzweiler concentration camp and its satellite camps
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The Natzweiler concentration camp and its satellite camps
The KZ complex Natzweiler consisted of the main camp in Alsace and at least 50 satellite camps on both sides of the river Rhine. The main camp opened on the May 1st 1941, while the satellite camps were built from winter of 1942/43 on. Their number increased significantly in 1944.
A total of approximately 52.000 prisoners from 30 nations were run through the main camp and/or the satellite camps. Only about one third of the prisoners ever set foot into the main camp; two thirds of the prisoners were solely imprisoned in the satellite camps.
In documents from the Nazi time the concentration camp is always called “Natzweiler”, but in France “Le Struthof” developed later as a name for it. This is why in the literature often the double name “Natzweiler-Struthof” is found. This portal uses the historic name “Natzweiler”.