--- title: "Ravensbrück" description: "What was the former Nazi concentration camp Ravensbrück" url: "https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/ravensbrueck" date: "2026-07-28T20:54:37+00:00" language: "en-GB" --- ![](https://www.normandy1944.info/images/photos/Holocaust/Ravensbruck/d-day-normandy-beyond-ravensbruck-slider.jpg) # Ravensbrück ## History of Ravensbrück Concentration Camp Victims: ± 28,000 prisoners lost their lives [](#) [](#) - [ Ravensbrück](#) Remember the victims of Ravensbrück ![ A Star of David, a yellow star as a tool of exclusion of the Jews](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/32/D-Day-normandy-beyond-Jodenster-32c9fec7.png?src=images/jews/D-Day-normandy-beyond-Jodenster.png&thumbnail=550,579,&hash=3d6ad4d5) **Ravensbrück Concentration Camp**, the largest women's concentration camp in the **German Reich**, was established in **1939** in the Prussian village of **Ravensbrück**, near **Fürstenberg**, a health resort that historically belonged to **Mecklenburg**. In the spring of **1939**, the [**SS**](https://www.normandy1944.info/home/key-events/the-rise-of-the-ss) transferred the first female prisoners from **Lichtenburg Concentration Camp** to Ravensbrück. In **April 1941**, a men's camp was added, remaining under the command of the women's camp commandant. In **June 1942**, the adjacent **Uckermark "Juvenile Protective Custody Camp"** was also brought into operation. "Survival is a privilege which entails obligations. I am forever asking myself what I can do for those who have not survived". ##### *Simon Wiesenthal* - [ History ](#history) - [ Footage ](#footage) - [ Liberation ](#liberation) - [ Testimony ](#testimony) - [ Commanders ](#commanders) ![The women prisoners of Ravensbrück](https://www.normandy1944.info/images/photos/Holocaust/Ravensbruck/d-day-normandy-beyond-ravensbruck-001.jpg)### The women prisoners of Ravensbrück ![Forced labor by the women prisoners of Ravensbrück](https://www.normandy1944.info/images/photos/Holocaust/Ravensbruck/1680.jpg)### Forced labor by the women prisoners of Ravensbrück ![Medical experiments on the prisoners of Ravensbrück](https://www.normandy1944.info/images/photos/Holocaust/Ravensbruck/heiml_Foto_MK.jpg)### Medical experiments on the prisoners of Ravensbrück ![The camp and barracks of Ravensbrück](https://www.normandy1944.info/images/photos/Holocaust/Ravensbruck/csm_1642_1643_neu_b269218028.jpg)### The camp and barracks of Ravensbrück ![Barracks of Ravensbrück](https://www.normandy1944.info/images/photos/Holocaust/Ravensbruck/1945_1032-1.jpg)### Barracks of Ravensbrück ![The crematoria at Ravensbrück](https://www.normandy1944.info/images/photos/Holocaust/Ravensbruck/1945_1061-1.jpg)### The crematoria at Ravensbrück ![SS Guards at Ravensbrück](https://www.normandy1944.info/images/photos/Holocaust/Ravensbruck/1622.jpg)### SS Guards at Ravensbrück ![Forced labour in Ravensbrück](https://www.normandy1944.info/images/photos/Holocaust/Ravensbruck/d-day-normandy-beyond-ravensbruck-003.jpg)### Forced labour in Ravensbrück ![Inside the workshops at Ravensbrück](https://www.normandy1944.info/images/photos/Holocaust/Ravensbruck/d-day-normandy-beyond-ravensbruck-002.jpg)### Inside the workshops at Ravensbrück ![Liberated by the Russians](https://www.normandy1944.info/images/photos/Holocaust/Ravensbruck/d-day-normandy-beyond-ravensbruck-004.jpg)### Liberated by the Russians ![Marked women of Ravensbrück](https://www.normandy1944.info/images/photos/Holocaust/Ravensbruck/d-day-normandy-beyond-ravensbruck-005.jpg)### Marked women of Ravensbrück [](#) [](#) - [The women prisoners of Ravensbrück](#) - [Forced labor by the women prisoners of Ravensbrück](#) - [Medical experiments on the prisoners of Ravensbrück](#) - [The camp and barracks of Ravensbrück](#) - [Barracks of Ravensbrück](#) - [The crematoria at Ravensbrück](#) - [SS Guards at Ravensbrück](#) - [Forced labour in Ravensbrück](#) - [Inside the workshops at Ravensbrück](#) - [Liberated by the Russians](#) - [Marked women of Ravensbrück](#) Copyright: USHMM, Bundesarchiv, Camps, Arolsen Archives and others (used with permission) ### Establishment and operational history **The Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp was continually expanded until 1945.** The SS had more and more huts erected to house prisoners, and in the autumn of 1944, a large tent was added. Within the camp’s perimeter wall, an industrial complex comprising several production facilities was established, where female prisoners were forced to carry out tasks traditionally considered women’s work such as sewing, weaving or knotting. **The company Siemens & Halske had 20 workshops constructed** outside the camp’s perimeter, where prisoners were forced to work from the late summer of 1942. As the war progressed, over 40 satellite camps in which Ravensbrück prisoners were forced into slave labour were set up all over the German Reich. **Around 120,000 women and children, 20,000 men and 1,200 adolescent girls and young women (imprisoned in the Uckermark “juvenile protective custody camp”) were registered as Ravensbrück prisoners between 1939 and 1945.** These prisoners came from over 30 nations and included Jewish, Sinti and Roma people. Tens of thousands of them were murdered, died of hunger and disease or were killed in medical experiments. In the course of **“Operation 14 f 13”**, prisoners considered infirm or unfit for work were selected and murdered. Along with the victims of **“14 f 13”**, a number of Jewish prisoners were taken to the Bernburg “sanatorium and nursing home” and were murdered in the facility’s gas chamber. From 1941 onward, **Ravensbrück** was used as a place of execution. Countless women, the exact number is not known, were shot to death. In early 1945, the SS set up a provisional gas chamber at Ravensbrück in a hut next to the crematorium, where between 5,000 and 6,000 prisoners were gassed between late January and April 1945. Among them were approximately 100 prisoners from the men’s camp. Shortly before the end of the war, the International, **Danish and Swedish Red Cross evacuated around 7,500 prisoners** to Sweden, Switzerland and France. Following an evacuation order from [**Himmler**](https://www.normandy1944.info/home/commanders/life-and-death-of-heinrich-himmler), **Ravensbrück’s commandant Fritz Suhren** had the remaining 20,000 prisoners marched towards the north-west in several columns. On 30 April 1945, the Red Army liberated the camp and around 2,000 sick prisoners who had been left behind. But for most of the women, men and children imprisoned in Ravensbrück, the suffering did not end with their liberation. Many of them died in the following weeks, months or years, and many of the survivors suffered from the consequences of their imprisonment even decades after their liberation. ### Camp statistics - In operation from: May 1939 - April 1945 - Prisoners during operation: ± 131,000 people - Recorded deaths: ± 28,000 people --- ### Location map ![](https://www.normandy1944.info/templates/yootheme/assets/images/consent_placeholder_map.svg) ![](https://www.normandy1944.info/templates/yootheme/assets/images/consent_icon_openstreetmap.svg)OpenStreetMap service required to load this map. ![](https://www.normandy1944.info/templates/yootheme/assets/images/consent_icon_openstreetmap.svg)OpenStreetMap service required to load this map. Location: Fürstenberg/Havel, Germany --- [ Official website or memorial ](https://www.ravensbrueck-sbg.de/) --- Page updated on: 25 July 2026 ###### Original video footage Copyright of this video: lzpbnrw and Loretta Walz ##### Real eyewitness testimony from Ravensbrück ##### Wanda Wos Lorenc - Ravensbrück survivor > "A warm thank you to the **United States Holocaust Memorial Museum** for their willingness to help in allowing their testimonies to be featured on my website". [**Visit their website here**](https://www.ushmm.org/ "United States Holocaust Memorial Museum") ### When did Ravensbrück cease to exist? ### The camp ceased operations on: 30 April 1945 following its liberation by soldiers of the following unit(s) ![](https://www.normandy1944.info/images/patches/Soviet_Order_of_the_Red_Star.png)### Soviet army [](#) [](#) ##### Ravensbrück camp commmanders An overview of the people who ordered and inflicted the atrocities on the prisoners. ![](https://www.normandy1944.info/images/commanders/german/Gunther-Tamaschke-.jpg) ### Günther Tamaschke May 1939 to August 1939 ![](https://www.normandy1944.info/images/commanders/german/Max-Koegel.jpg) ### Max Koegel January 1940 to August 1942 ![](https://www.normandy1944.info/images/commanders/german/Fritz-Suhren.jpg) ### Fritz Suhren August 1942 to April 1945 [](#) [](#) [](#) ###### Other concentration camps [ ![Dachau](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/29/D-Day-Normandy-beyond-Dachau-05-294e35fc.jpg?src=images/photos/color/dachau/D-Day-Normandy-beyond-Dachau-05.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=51b41554) ### Dachau Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/dachau) [ ![Auschwitz](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/f3/d-day-normandy-beyond-auschwitz-007-f3ac14cd.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/Auschwitz/d-day-normandy-beyond-auschwitz-007.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=a7f70b59) ### Auschwitz Oswiecim, Poland ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/auschwitz) [ ![Natzweiler-Struthof](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/43/Entrance-at-Natzweiler-Struthof-after-liberation-4371364c.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/Majdanek/Entrance-at-Natzweiler-Struthof-after-liberation.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=5b77a022) ### Natzweiler-Struthof Natzweiler, France ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/natzweiler-struthof) [ ![Workcamp Geesbrug](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/ce/kamp-geesburg-concentration-camp-grounds-ce4229ff.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/Geesburg/kamp-geesburg-concentration-camp-grounds.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=ba09cad2) ### Workcamp Geesbrug Geesbrug, The Netherlands ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/workcamp-geesbrug) [ ![Sobibor](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/aa/d-day-normandy-beyond-sobibor-002-aaccdbd1.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/Sobibor/d-day-normandy-beyond-sobibor-002.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=37bd7805) ### Sobibor Sobibor, Poland ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/sobibor) [ ![Kamp Schoorl](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/3c/kamp-schoorl-concentration-camp-grounds-3cb46d65.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/Schoorl/kamp-schoorl-concentration-camp-grounds.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=8f45bba9) ### Kamp Schoorl Schoorl, The Netherlands ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/kamp-schoorl) [ ![Majdanek](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/de/majdanek-concentration-camp-history-prisoners-group-dee8c783.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/Majdanek/majdanek-concentration-camp-history-prisoners-group.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=5c642390) ### Majdanek Lublin, Poland ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/majdanek) [ ![Neuengamme](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/05/Entrance-to-the-SS-barracks-with-the-first-wooden-guard-tower-neuengamme-05be6f2a.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/Neuengamme/Entrance-to-the-SS-barracks-with-the-first-wooden-guard-tower-neuengamme.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=296b9bba) ### Neuengamme Hamburg, Northern Germany ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/neuengamme) [ ![Camp Erika](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/72/camp-erika-netherlands-road-entrance-to-camp-724886e3.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/Erika/camp-erika-netherlands-road-entrance-to-camp.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=994d1cbc) ### Camp Erika Ommen, The Netherlands ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/camp-erika) [ ![Mauthausen](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/dd/d-day-normandy-beyond-Mauthausen-main-gate-dd7bcf90.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/Mauthausen/d-day-normandy-beyond-Mauthausen-main-gate.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=dbd10bca) ### Mauthausen Mauthausen, Upper Austria ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/mauthausen) [ ![Buchenwald](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/4f/D-day-normandy-beyond-Liberated-Prisoners-Buchenwald-April-18-1945-003-4faefff1.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/Buchenwald/D-day-normandy-beyond-Liberated-Prisoners-Buchenwald-April-18-1945-003.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=183f2b27) ### Buchenwald Weimar, Germany ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/buchenwald) [ ![Ravensbrück](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/d5/d-day-normandy-beyond-ravensbruck-001-d51ec609.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/Ravensbruck/d-day-normandy-beyond-ravensbruck-001.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=e44759c8) ### Ravensbrück Fürstenberg/Havel, Germany ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/ravensbrueck) [ ![Bergen Belsen](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/92/d-day-normandy-beyond-bergen-belsen-011-9261470b.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/Bergen/d-day-normandy-beyond-bergen-belsen-011.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=f9c5da8a) ### Bergen Belsen Lower Saxony, Northern Germany ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/bergen-belsen) [ ![Westerbork](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/9d/D-day-normandy-beyond-Westerbork-008-9d0ea87e.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/Westerbork/D-day-normandy-beyond-Westerbork-008.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=c36763f2) ### Westerbork Westerbork, the Netherlands ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/westerbork) [ ![Kamp Vught](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/47/d-day-normandy-beyond-vught-001-47dd1820.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/vught/d-day-normandy-beyond-vught-001.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=9cd240bb) ### Kamp Vught Vught, Netherlands ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/kamp-vught) [ ![Amersfoort](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/4b/D-day-normandy-beyond-Amersfoort-004-4bf094d7.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/Amersfoort/D-day-normandy-beyond-Amersfoort-004.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=a9a794c0) ### Amersfoort Amersfoort, The Netherlands ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/amersfoort) [ ![Sachsenhausen](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/ad/d-day-normandy-beyond-Sachsenhausen-010-ad5676b5.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/Sachsenhausen/d-day-normandy-beyond-Sachsenhausen-010.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=8555e6e1) ### Sachsenhausen Oranienburg, Germany ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/sachsenhausen) [ ![Mittelbau Dora](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/11/d-day-normandy-beyond-concentration-camps-dora-mittelbau-026-11ce5fed.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/dora/d-day-normandy-beyond-concentration-camps-dora-mittelbau-026.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=8afd68fd) ### Mittelbau Dora Nordhausen, Germany ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/mittelbau-dora) [ ![Flossenbürg](https://www.normandy1944.info/media/yootheme/cache/34/d-day-normandy-beyond-concentration-camp-flossenburg-germany-001-3471f7e3.jpg?src=images/photos/Holocaust/Flossenburg/d-day-normandy-beyond-concentration-camp-flossenburg-germany-001.jpg&thumbnail=350,210,&hash=4f9217c9) ### Flossenbürg Flossenbürg, Germany ](https://www.normandy1944.info/holocaust/concentrationcamps/flossenbuerg) [](#) [](#) #### Cite this historical page I aim to provide accurate, open-access 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