Dates to Remember

15/04/1945: Liberation of Bergen-Belsen

On 15 April 1945, British troops liberated the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. The Camp was established in the north of Germany in 1940 and originally functioned as a Prisoner of War camp, initially housing French and Belgian soldiers. In July 1941 Soviet prisoners of war began arriving at the camp – within one year approximately 18,000 of the 20,000 inmates had died of disease, hunger or cold.

In April 1943 control of the camp was handed over to the SS who established a ‘detention camp’ primarily for Jewish prisoners, however Gay men, Roma, those termed Jehovah’s Witnesses, ‘asocials’ and criminals were also incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen.

As Allied forces liberated concentration camps closer to the front-line prisoners were transferred to Bergen-Belsen. In the period from July 1944 to April 1945 the camp population grew from approximately 7,300 to over 60,000. The inhumane conditions in the camp including lack of adequate food and water, poor sanitary conditions, overcrowding and lack of shelter led to the spread of diseases such as dysentery, typhoid fever and tuberculosis.

When the British Army liberated Bergen-Belsen on 15 April 1945 they found over 60,000 prisoners – the majority of whom were emaciated and suffering from various diseases. The liberators also found over 13,000 dead bodies.

Liberation did not mean an end to the suffering of prisoners. In the days following the arrival of the British Army approximately 500 prisoners a day continued to die as a result of the maltreatment they had previously received. Approximately 50,000 prisoners, the majority of whom were Jewish, were murdered at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Following the liberation of Bergen-Belsen the camp became a Displaced Persons’ camp which housed over 11,000 Holocaust survivors.

You can use HMDT resources to learn more about:

Liberation

The response to the liberation, as told by Richard Dimbleby

The testimony of a liberator Iolo Lewis

You can listen to a podcast of Lord Janner who describes how the experience of visiting the liberated camp affected his life and work.