Natzwiller

Natzwiller
Commune

Coat of arms
Natzwiller
Location within Grand Est region
Natzwiller
Coordinates: 48°26′19″N 7°15′15″E / 48.4386°N 7.2542°E / 48.4386; 7.2542Coordinates: 48°26′19″N 7°15′15″E / 48.4386°N 7.2542°E / 48.4386; 7.2542
Country France
Region Grand Est
Department Bas-Rhin
Arrondissement Molsheim
Canton Mutzig
Government
 • Mayor (2001–2008) André Woock
Area1 7.29 km2 (2.81 sq mi)
Population (2006)2 611
 • Density 84/km2 (220/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code 67314 /67130
Elevation 379–1,013 m (1,243–3,323 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Natzwiller (German: Natzweiler) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.

History

Built in spring 1941 on the territory of the commune, Natzweiler-Struthof opened for prisoners in May 1941. It was the only Nazi concentration camp on French soil. The inmates originally were German who were to supply labor for building V-2 rocket factories in man-made caves dug out of the Vosges Mountains. The prisoners lived in the cold, damp tunnels as they built them. Natzweiler-Struthof was expanded by the Nazis with the installation of a gas chamber in April 1943 and crematory. The camp's main function was temporary detention of Resistance fighters from overrun European nations, although selected Nazi experiments on Jews were carried out here.

Museum

The camp site has been preserved as a museum and includes a monument to the departed.

See also

References

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