The Prelude to the Terror

An exhibition by the working group “memorials at the sites of early concentration camps”

90 years ago, at the end of January 1933, the National Socialists took power in Germany. Concentration camps played a central role in enforcing and securing Nazi rule. Today, many know the names of the large concentration or death camps such as Buchenwald or Auschwitz, but few have heard of small, early ones like Ahrensbök and Breitenau. The early concentration camps were set up in the initial months of the Nazi dictatorship; some were closed after a few weeks or months. The National Socialist regime was testing its instruments of violence. This did not preordain, but did pave the way for, the later mass murder of millions. The early concentration camps were the prelude to the terror.

The exhibition provides information on the role and function of these camps, gives a view of the further development of the Nazi system and finally illuminates the history of memorialising the early camps. The exhibition, created in a collaborative project between the member institutions of the working group “memorials at the sites of early concentration camps”, will be presented partly simultaneously at various sites across Germany from the end of February 2023.