Buchenwald Memorial - Memorializing the Little Camp

U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad

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Little Camp Memorial at Buchenwald, Germany

The Commission was the U.S. sponsor of a memorial to the victims of the most horrific part of the Nazis’ Buchenwald Concentration Camp, the "Little Camp." It raised and provided much of the funding and helped design and obtain approvals for construction of the memorial on the site.

The memorial was dedicated on April 14, 2002, the 57th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald. More than 1,000 people attended the opening ceremonies, including survivors from 24 countries, diplomats and German officials. The opening culminated a seven-year effort on the part of Commission Chairman Warren L. Miller to develop the memorial. The Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation was the German sponsor of the project.

A month earlier, on March 13, 2002, the memorial was commemorated during the event at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Over 400 distinguished guests, including senior members of the Bush Administration, Members of Congress, the ambassadors of most countries in Europe, survivors and liberators of the camp attended. (To read Chairman Miller’s remarks click here.)

In his remarks, Josh Bolten, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, said: “ On behalf of the President, I want to commend the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, and especially its Chairman, Warren L. Miller, for your vision and hard work in putting together the extraordinary memorial to the Little Camp at Buchenwald.”

President George W. Bush separately hailed the memorial in a special message.

Fred S. Zeidman, Chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, said: “The Museum is grateful to the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad for its invaluable work and commitment to these sites of sacred memory.”

Chairman Miller conceived of the idea of the "Little Camp" memorial during a 1994 visit to the Buchenwald Memorial. Finding the site of the Little Camp obliterated and unmarked, he convinced the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation to approve and join in the project. He then raised much of the funding for the memorial from private donors, including Little Camp survivors and their descendents. In addition, Mr. Miller authored a compelling narrative that was engraved on the memorial in six languages.

The memorial exposes the horrors that the inmates endured and provides a peaceful setting for reflection. The Little Camp was the part of Buchenwald in which the young Elie Wiesel, later a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, was incarcerated. Wiesel sent a poignant letter for the dedication of the memorial.

The memorial was designed by New York architect Stephen Jacobs, who was liberated from the camp at the age of five. Miller recruited Jacobs for the work and Jacobs donated his services for it. The design won the New York Council’s Society of American Registered Architects design award of honor.

Chairman Miller has described the memorial as follows:

…it seems a remarkably simple place. But it’s a subtle creation that provides a refuge for serious contemplation. The memorial is built of stone from Ettersberg Mountain, where Buchenwald is located, close to the quarry where breaking and carrying stone was the center of activity for many inmates of the Little Camp, sometimes for fourteen hours a day. On the floor in the center of the memorial is cobblestone. This recalls the streets of Central and Eastern Europe from where many of the inmates came. An entrance ramp with a ninety-degree turn into a closed space forces the visitor to experience a moment of arrival and a sense of confinement. Once inside, it is a stark space for quiet reflection. A gnarled and broken tree -- symbolizing the continuity of life after the pain and suffering inflicted on this site -- grows in a triangular planter which recalls the triangular badge that every prisoner had to wear. Around the interior perimeter floor are the names of the cities, ghettos and camps from which the inmates were transported to the Little Camp.

Click here to view pictures of the memorial.

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