NKVD special camp Nr. 2 was an

NKVD special camp The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

located at the site of the former Nazi

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; literally ' beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...

. Between 1945 and February 10, 1950, the camp was administered by the Soviet Union and served as Special Camp No. 2 of the NKVD. It was part of a "special camps" network operating since 1945, formally integrated into the

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

in 1948.Cornelius, Kai ''Vom spurlosen Verschwindenlassen zur Benachrichtigungspflicht bei Festnahmen'', BWV Verlag, 2004, p. 131, . Another "special camp" in Soviet occupied Germany was

NKVD special camp Nr. 7 NKVD special camp Nr. 7 was a NKVD special camp that operated in Weesow until August 1945 and in Sachsenhausen from August 1945 until the spring of 1950. It was used by the Soviet occupying forces to detain those viewed as enemy of the people ...

at the former

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners ...

. Between August 1945 and the camp's dissolution on March 1, 1950, 28,455 prisoners, including 1,000 women, were held by the Soviet Union at Buchenwald.Petra Weber, ''Justiz und Diktatur: Justizverwaltung und politische Strafjustiz in Thüringen 1945–1961: Veröffentlichungen zur SBZ-/DDR -Forschung im Institut für Zeitgeschichte'', Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2000, p. 99, . The 22-year-old American-born

John H. Noble John H. Noble (September 4, 1923 – November 10, 2007) was an American survivor of the Soviet Gulag system, who wrote two books which described his experiences in it after he was permitted to leave the Soviet Union and return to the United State ...

and his father were amongst the inmates. A total of 7,113 people died in Special Camp Number 2, according to Soviet records, including

Joachim Ernst, Duke of Anhalt Joachim Ernst, Duke of Anhalt (11 January 1901 – 18 February 1947) was the last ruler of the Duchy of Anhalt. Biography He was born in Dessau, the son of Duke Eduard of Anhalt (1861–1918) and Princess Louise Charlotte of Saxe-Altenburg ...

. They were buried in mass graves in the woods surrounding the camp. Their relatives did not receive any notification of their deaths. Prisoners included alleged opponents of Stalinism and alleged members of the Nazi Party or Nazi organizations; others were imprisoned due to identity confusion and arbitrary arrests. The NKVD did not allow the prisoners to have any contact with the outside world. Unlike the prisoners held at the former Sachsenhausen and Bautzen camps, no prisoners at Special camp Nr. 2 were put on trial before a Soviet military tribunal.Weber, p. 100. On January 6, 1950, Soviet Minister of Internal Affairs Sergei Nikiforovich Kruglov ordered all special camps, including Buchenwald, to be handed over to the East German Ministry of Internal Affairs. There is an account of the Soviet NKVD camp by former inmate Maria Linke. Born in tsarist-era Russia as the daughter of a German foundry manager, she was taken into custody due to her fluent Russian.Hunt, Ruth; Linke, Maria Zeitner (1977). ''East Wind''. Oxford: Lion Hudson. .

Well known prisoners

(1901–1947), Duke of Anhalt * Helmut Bischoff (1908–1993), police officer, SS-Obersturmbannführer and senior government councilor * Paul Grimm (1907–1993), Historian *

Karl Ritter von Halt Dr Karl Ritter von Halt, born Karl Ferdinand Halt (2 June 1891 – 5 August 1964) was a sport official in Nazi Germany and in the German Federal Republic. He was born and died in Munich. Biography Karl Ritter von Halt was a track and field a ...

(1891–1964), sport official * Fred Kaltenbach (1895–1945), American radio propagandist * Walter Meyer (1904–1949), Olympian gold medalist *

(1923–2007), German-American entrepreneur * Max Poepel (1896–1966), politician of the NSDAP and Lord Mayor of Aue *

Paul Reckzeh Paul Reckzeh (4 November 1913 in Berlin – 31 March 1996 in Hamburg) was a physician and Gestapo spy who at the end of 1943 betrayed the members of the Solf Circle, which he had joined while claiming to be a Swiss doctor. His betrayal led to the ...

(1913–1996), doctor and Gestapo informant *

Marianne Simson Marianne Simson (July 29, 1920 – July 15, 1992) was a German dancer and film actress. She was born in Berlin as the daughter of an insurance clerk John Edward Simson. Her brother was Helmut Simson, who later served as mayor of Wolfsburg. Origi ...

(1920–1992), actress * Hans H. Zerlett (1892–1949), screenwriter and director

References

{{Authority control Buchenwald concentration camp NKVD special camps Soviet special camps