Detail of cremation ovens with open doors in the crematorium of Buchenwald concentration camp

A close-up detail of Buchenwald cremation ovens with open doors showing the interior of blackened refractory bricks. Fresh flowers placed in front of one of the ovens are a tribute from visitors to the victims. These ovens, built by Topf und Sohne, were designed to operate continuously and "efficiently," a chilling testimony to the banality of industrialized evil. The engineers who designed them continued to work in post-war Germany without ever being prosecuted. Buchenwald's ovens cremated the bodies of over 56,000 victims.

Buchenwald, cremation ovens, detail, victims, Topf und Sohne, memory