The decision to turn a former Nazi concentration camp into a police training academy has sparked outrage in many quarters, but those in charge claim that, far from being disrespectful, the move will prove an educational experience for police recruits. Billy Briggs reports on a tale of truth and reconciliation in Germany

A HUNDRED metres or so away, on the opposite side of the fence, tourists file past slowly and silently in the pouring rain, their brightly coloured rainwear and umbrellas providing a stark contrast to the forbidding aura of this place. They seem almost hesitant, taking tentative steps towards a grim place synonymous with one of the most sinister eras in history. In coming to the former Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp near Berlin, they follow in the footsteps of some 200,000 prisoners brought here by the Nazis during Hitler's heinous tenure as Chancellor of Germany. As many as 100,000 of them perished here and all would have taken the same walk as the drenched tourists make today, albeit they would first have been marched up through the streets of Oranienburg from the railway station a mile or so away, and up past the former SS compound where we stand.

But while there is a memorial site at Sachsenhausen in memory of the victims of the Nazis, this part of the former concentration camp is not open to the public. Controversially, what was once a compound for Hitler's despised SS has been renovated and recently opened as a training academy for police recruits from Brandenburg State in Eastern Germany.

Amid criticism that such a move was insensitive, disrespectful and taken in order to save public money, the Brandenburg Police Academy was officially opened last November. It coincided with the 70th anniversary of the opening of the death camp in 1936, the first to be opened by Heinrich Himmler after he was appointed chief of the German police in addition to his position as Reichsführer SS. Sachsenhausen is where the SS learned their barbaric trade before being dispatched to run a network of hundreds of death camps across occupied Europe.

IN torrential rain we tour the new academy, the thunderous sky adding to the bleakness of our surroundings. Rainer Grieger, who heads the facility, stops and points to a large, beige building with a red tiled roof. "This was quarters for a SS regiment called the Death's Head; the state's riot police now use it," he explains in staccato English. We walk a bit further and Grieger points to a structure on his left. "This was a stable for the SS's horses; now it is our canteen," he says.

In addition to fronting a staff of 40, Grieger is responsible for the 250 recruits who study here for three years in order to become police officers. He has some 27 years' experience with the police and his CV includes tracking IRA bombers across Germany back in the days when they regularly targeted British army bases there.

"I've experienced a lot, but I must admit there have been moments when it's been emotional being here. It was a very controversial decision to come here and there were many critical voices. Initially we were shunned by some of the ex-prisoner groups, but after meeting and talking with them over a period of time they now understand what we are trying to achieve here," he says.

Sachsenhausen, named after an area of the town of Oranienburg, was established initially to hold political prisoners and those deemed enemies of the Nazis. As a model for other camps, and in view of its location just outside the Third Reich capital, Sachsenhausen acquired a special role in the National Socialist concentration camp system. This was reinforced in 1938 when the Concentration Camp Inspection Office - the administrative headquarters for all concentration camps - was transferred from Berlin to Oranienburg.

Sachsenhausen was one of the first to use the infamous slogan Arbeit Macht Frei (work sets us free) on its front entrance gate. Rudolf Hess, an SS captain at Sachsenhausen in 1938 before leaving to become the infamous commandant of Auschwitz, is reputed to have taken that great lie with him to the largest of the Nazis' extermination centres in Poland.

Of the 100,000 inmates who died here, many expired from exhaustion, disease, malnutrition or pneumonia contracted in the freezing cold. Others were summarily executed or died as a result of brutal medical experimentation (the SS practised methods of mass killing that were later used in other Nazi death camps). Those targeted included Jews, Communists and many Russian prisoners of war, among them Stalin's eldest son, Jakov, who was shot. Other famous prisoners included Jimmy James, a British pilot involved in the mass escape from Stalag Luft III - an incident immortalised in the film The Great Escape, starring Steve McQueen. James was recaptured by the Germans and sent to Sachsenhausen before escaping once again.

The Reverend Martin Niemöller was also imprisoned here and famously wrote: "First they came for the Communists and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up, because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me."

When the Red Army advanced in the spring of 1945, the SS ordered 33,000 emaciated inmates at the camp on a death march westwards. Most were exhausted and were shot when they fell to the ground. On April 22, 1945, the remaining 3000 prisoners were liberated by the Red Army and the Polish 2nd Infantry Division of Ludowe Wojsko Polskie. For five years after the end of the Second World War the Soviets used the camp to intern some 60,000 people, including Nazi prisoners. By the time Sachsenhausen closed in 1950, at least 12,000 of them had died of malnutrition and disease. The camp was later used by the German army and local police.

Hellish as the history of this place is, Grieger believes that much good can come from using it as a base for a modern German police force to train. "We are more than aware of the special significance of the place. We only have to look around to remember what can happen if human rights are ignored," he says.

The academy was previously based in Basdorf about 15 miles from Oranienburg, but because the campus there was too large and too expensive to run, a decision was taken by the state authorities in 2002 to relocate and renovate part of Sachsenhausen.

The total cost of refurbishment was 41 million Euros. Apart from a brand new gymnasium, all the buildings now in use were originally built by inmates of the camp. By moving to Sachsenhausen, running costs for the Federal State of Brandenburg have become 30% cheaper, but Grieger stresses that while the decision to move was influenced by costs, the historical significance of the site was predominant with a view to turning a "negative into a positive force for good".

The financial aspect of the move has certainly proved contentious. The Nazi hunter Dr Ephraim Zuroff, of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Jerusalem, says that if the decision was based solely on economic reasons then it could only be described as being "grotesque". But he agrees there could be potential for good if education is used effectively.

"Sachsenhausen is still alive for us," says Zuroff. "In the past year, Anton Geiser, a former SS guard at the camp, lost his American citizenship, while his former colleague Josias Kumps was deported from the USA for war crimes. The US authorities have also recently started proceedings against another SS guard called Josef Wittje."

Grieger is certainly aware of the criticism, particularly from Jewish groups, but he says they have accepted there was never any disrespect meant with the decision to move here. "We offered them (Jewish groups) buses for their annual gathering, but initially they turned it down. But after speaking with us they eventually understood and even invited me to the annual ceremony... they even gave me an Israeli flag. It was a very emotional moment," he says, gently thumping his chest with his right fist to demonstrate his depth of feeling.

In fact, the Central Council of Jews in Germany says there are numerous buildings across the country that have a dark history under the Nazis and which are now occupied by federal ministries, public institutions, private enterprises, and even parking lots or supermarkets.

"Is this insensitive?" asks Stephan J Kramer, the secretary general of the council. "No, because the history, in some places at least, is presented to the visitors and the employees and everybody knows about the dark side of the past. Knowing about it gives us a chance to learn from it for the future. It depends how the Brandenburg police are recognising the historical facts about the barracks. History is not a burden, but a challenge for the future."

Kramer adds, however, that he is angry that guarantees over noise levels have not been kept and that visitors to the memorial have been disturbed by activities in the gymnasium and sports field. "Under any circumstances the respect for the camp and its victims must be guaranteed. I am very concerned about this development. We have the feeling of being somehow cheated and we will be in discussions with the responsible politicians," he says.

The official opening of the academy on November 4, 2006, came shortly after the Central Council of Jews in Germany called for more education on the history of the Nazis in former Communist East Germany. Charlotte Knobloch, the president of the council, said students were taught far too little about the Holocaust and that it should be made legally binding for all Germany's states to teach a course on this era of history.

Knobloch, a 73-year-old Holocaust survivor, went as far to say there were teachers in the former German Democratic Republic who "hardly know anything about history". But her comments were met with indignation from teachers' unions as well as the Council of Regional Educational Ministries. Ute Erdsiek, president of the council and education minister of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, said the Nazi era was a mandatory, integral and exhaustive part of history lessons in all schools in Germany. However, Erdsiek added that in the face of new political challenges, such as the rise of right-wing extremism and increasing multi-culturalism in society, the council was prepared to open a dialogue with the Central Council of Jews about a contemporary revamping of history lessons about the Holocaust.

At the police academy education is paramount. Grieger takes us to meet with recruits Christopher Koppe and Denise Gorsdorf. "It was compulsory at school to study the Nazis and we returned to the Holocaust over and over again at different levels of our education. We also had class trips to former concentration camps," says 21-year-old Gorsdorf, from Bad Liebenwerda in Brandenburg.

Koppe nods his head in agreement. Both will learn more about the Nazis while studying here, and from October students will be able to read for a Bachelor degree that will include human rights, the history of the German police and how the Nazis came to prominence. It is a unique project that does not exist elsewhere in Germany, Grieger says. In particular, the course will examine how the Nazis in the Thirties rescinded human rights enshrined in the Weimar Constitution and were able to transform the German police force.

"The police force was a state institution whereas the SS was a private army. But as the Nazis became more powerful senior police officers were removed from their positions. There was a complete shift away from human rights and the police then arrested and imprisoned people without trial. By 1936, the SS and police force were unified in the person of Himmler, despite being different organisations. It is this we must understand and learn from," Grieger says.

As we continue our tour in the rain, Koppe stops me and points over to the memorial site. "How could we ever forget the past when every day we see those who come to honour the dead?" he says. "We have all this to remind us, every single day. It is our duty to learn from the past. This is a new generation and a new time - but the Holocaust is very important to us."