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Most were named for the town or vicinity they were nearest to. A few, e.g. "9th Fort" was named for a structure, or for example a Killing Center of the T4 Euthanasia program such as Hartheim was named for a castle which had been turned into a mental institution. Flossenberg, Mathausen, Belzec, Auschwitz, were examples of those named after their nearby locations, although Auschwitz, was given the German 'Auschwitz' instead of the local town,

Oświęcim.

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The basic principle was place-names. The only camp where the name caused problems for the Nazis was Buchenwald, which was originally called Ettersberg. As this place-name has close associations with Goethe, Germany's leading poet, it was changed.

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15y ago

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