in detail
The concentration camp Mittelbau-Dora, the last large concentration camp to be built, existed from the end of August 1943. The camp Dora was originally a satellite camp of Buchenwald and was extended in the spring of 1944 into a concentration camp complex with extensive subsidiary camps. On October 28, 1944, Dora was declared an independent concentration camp with about 40 satellite camps.
From September 1943 to April 1944, camp prisoners for the most part lived and died inside the tunnel system. This phase of tunnel construction at Berg Kohnstein and the installation of the factory for the production of V2 (and, later, V1) rockets was marked by mass deaths among the prisoners. By December 1943, some 10,000 prisoners were vegetating under inhuman conditions inside the caves.
In the spring of 1944, the production of the V2 in the underground complex of the "Mittelwerks" began. At the same time, an increased number of prisoners were moved to the barrack camp which had been completed in the late summer of 1944. Additional armaments projects were shifted to the Kohlstein and its surroundings.
The situation became more catastrophic in the concentration complex "Mittelbau" at the beginning of 1945 with the arrival of evacuation transports from Auschwitz and Gross-Rosen. Due to overcrowding and worsening living conditions, the number of illnesses and deaths increased rapidly. In addition, the number of executions of supposed saboteurs and conspirators multiplied.
After the majority of prisoners had been evacuated, American troops liberated the camp on April 11, 1945.
Today the Memorial consists of the preserved building structures (the crematorium and fire station), the museum building, the outdoor facilities (remains of the inmates´ camp, the SS and industrial areas) and a part of the underground tunnel complex of the former "Mittelwerk".
August 28, 1943
After the Peenemünde rocket center is bombed, the camp Dora in Kohnstein near Nordhausen is built as a satellite camp of Buchenwald.
September 1944
The "Mittelwerk GmbH" is founded and the construction of an underground rocket factory in Kohnstein begins.
Spring 1944
Other satellite camps of Buchenwald are set up around Nordhausen.
October 28, 1944
The Buchenwald satellite camp in sothern Harz becomes independent wth the title "Mittelbau Concentration Camp"
April 11, 1945
Liberation of the Mittelbau main camp Dora, that was cleared out by the SS beforehand.
1964
The council of the City of Nordhausen establishes a memorial site.
1991
Preparation for the redesign of the memorial and the museum
April 11, 1995
A new exhibit about the history of concentration camp Mittelbau-Dora opens and a part of the cave area is open for tours.
September 2000
International architectural competition for the new design of the memorial grounds and a new building for an education and documentation center.
2003
The Mittelbau-Dora Concentration Camp Memorial becomes part of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation.
2005/2006
Inauguration of the new museum bulding which houses the permanent exhibition on the history of the camp
