SS- Adolf Haas was the camp commander from March 1943. In December 1944 SS-
, formerly in , became the new commander. In January 1945, the SS took over the prisoner of war hospital and increased the size of Bergen- Belsen . As the concentration camps in the east had been evacuated in the face of the advancing Red Army, at least 85,000 people were transported in or to Bergen- Belsen . Before that, the number of prisoners in Belsen had been much smaller. In July 1944 there were 7,300; by December 1944 the number had increased by 15,000; and by February 1945 it had increased to 22,000. The number increased to 60,000 by April 15, 1945. This overcrowding led to a large increase in deaths from disease : , , , and in a camp designed to house 10 000 prisoners.
At the point, moreover, the special status of exchange prisoners no longer applied. All inmates were subject to starvation and epidemics.
Außenlager (satellite fields)
