The former concentration camp actually contained an extensive library collection of over 16,000 books. After the war, the books were scattered, some taken by former prisoners and some were destroyed. The memorial has only 115 books currently in its collection. Two more will now be added: while going through the institute library’s inventory, researchers at the JKU’s Institute for Modern and Contemporary History made a monumental discovery. Prof. Marcus Gräser, head of the institute, remarked, "The books came to us from the Documentation Archives of the Austrian Resistance when the institute was founded in 1970." The discovery includes a true gem as the loan card and a note containing instructions were also found. The one book is titled "Der praktische Landwirt" and the other book is about the French Revolution.

Over a quarter of a million people were imprisoned in Buchenwald between 1937 to the end of the war in 1945 and approximately 60,000 people lost their lives during time.