Site of Stalag XI-C / Hospital for POWs / Large Women's Camp (Grosses Frauenlager)

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Because of the Army base which was located there, the area near the village of Belsen was first used for a Prisoner of War camp for 600 French and Belgian soldiers, who were housed in the existing Army barracks, beginning in 1940. In May 1941, the POW camp became known as Stalag 311.
Stalg XI-C Bergen-Belsen, initially called Stalag 311, was a German Army prisoner-of-war camp.
The Stalag population increased dramatically in 1941 with the arrival of 20000 POW's from the East after the invasion of the Soviet Union, the majority of whom perished in the winter of 1941/42.
In 1943, after further development of the site an Internment camp was established for Jews who were intended for exchange for Germans held abroad. The POW's were removed to other Stalag's in the area and the POW camp became a hospital for sick Soviet POW's.
The Nazi crimes against Soviet Prisoners of War relates to the deliberately genocidal policies taken towards the captured soldiers of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany.
April 1943: Part of the camp is turned into a hospital for POWs. The remainder of the camp is separated and taken over by the SS to house Jews intended for shipment overseas in exchange for German civilians.
Late 1943: The POW camp is closed and the entire facility becomes Bergen-Belsen concentration camp

Large Women's Camp (Grosses Frauenlager)
According to Eberhard Kolb, there were 9,735 men and 8,730 women in Bergen-Belsen on January 1, 1945. By January 15, 1945, there were 16,475 women and a new camp had to be set up for them. The former camp hospital in the POW camp was incorporated into the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and the 36 barracks there were used to house the women. By March 1, 1945, there were 26,723 women in this camp. On March 15, 1945 there were 30,387 women in the new Women's camp.

Little remains of the camp today except some foundations.