Buchenwald summary

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Buchenwald.

Buchenwald , One of the first and biggest of the German Nazi concentration camps, established in 1937 near Weimar. In World War II it held about 20,000 prisoners, most of whom worked as slave labourers in nearby factories. Though there were no gas chambers, many perished—through disease, malnutrition, exhaustion, beatings, and executions. Inmates were used to test the effects of viral infections and vaccines. The commandant’s wife was the infamously sadistic Ilse Koch (1906?–67), the “Witch of Buchenwald.” See also Holocaust.

Nazi Party summary

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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Nazi Party.

Nazi Party, German political party of National Socialism. Founded in 1919 as the German Workers’ Party, it changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party when Adolf Hitler became leader (1920–21). The nickname Nazi was taken from the first word of its full name, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei. The party grew from its home base in Bavaria and attracted members from disaffected elements throughout Germany. It organized strong-arm groups (later the SA) to protect its rallies. Though the failed Beer Hall Putsch diminished the party’s influence, the effects of the Great Depression brought millions of new members, and in 1932 the party became the largest bloc in the Reichstag. After Hitler was named chancellor in 1933, he obtained passage of the Enabling Act, and his government declared the Nazi party to be the only political party in Germany and required bureaucrats to become members. The party controlled virtually all activities in Germany until Germany’s defeat in World War II (1945), after which the party was banned.