LIBERATION

Soviet soldiers were the first to liberate concentration camp prisoners in the final
stages of the war. On July 23, 1944, they entered the Majdanek camp in Poland,
and later overran several other killing centers. On January 27, 1945, they entered
Auschwitz and there found hundreds of sick and exhausted prisoners. The Germans
had been forced to leave these prisoners behind in their hasty retreat from the
camp. Also left behind were victims' belongings: 348,820 men's suits, 836,255
women's coats, and tens of thousands of pairs of shoes.

British, Canadian, American, and French troops also freed prisoners from the
camps. The Americans were responsible for liberating Buchenwald and Dachau,
while British forces entered Bergen-Belsen.. Although the Germans had attempted
to empty the camps of surviving prisoners and hide all evidence of their crimes, the
Allied soldiers came upon thousands of dead bodies "stacked up like cordwood,"
according to one American soldier. The prisoners who were still alive were living
skeletons.

Bill Barrett, an American army journalist, described what he saw at Dachau:

"There were about a dozen bodies in the dirty boxcar, men and women alike. They

had gone without food so long that their dead wrists were broomsticks tipped with
claws. These were the victims of a deliberate starvation diet..."

Allied troops, physicians, and relief workers tried to provide nourishment for the
surviving prisoners, but many of them were too weak to digest food and could not
be saved. In spite of the liberators' efforts, many camp survivors died. Half of the
prisoners discovered alive in Auschwitz died within a few days of being freed.

Survivors had mixed reactions to their newfound freedom. While a few looked
forward to being reunited with other family members, some felt guilty for
surviving when so many of their relatives and friends had died. Some felt
overwhelmed, as one survivor, Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist, expressed: "Timidly,
we looked around and glanced at each other questioningly. Then we ventured a few
steps out of the camp. This time no orders were shouted at us, nor was there any
need to duck quickly to avoid a blow or a kick. 'Freedom,' we repeated to
ourselves, and yet we could not grasp it."

KEY DATES
JULY 23, 1944
SOVIET FORCES LIBERATE MAJDANEK CAMP
Soviet forces are the first to approach a major Nazi camp, reaching the Majdanek

camp near Lublin, Poland. Surprised by the rapid Soviet advance, the Germans
attempt to demolish the camp in an effort to hide the evidence of mass murder. The
camp staff sets fire to the large crematorium at Majdanek, but because of the hasty
evacuation the gas chambers are left standing. Soviet forces later liberate
Auschwitz (January 1945), Gross-Rosen (February 1945), Sachsenhausen (April
1945), Ravensbrueck (April 1945), and Stutthof (May 1945).
APRIL 11, 1945
AMERICAN FORCES LIBERATE BUCHENWALD CAMP
US forces liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany, in
April 1945, a few days after the Nazis began evacuating the camp. On the day of
liberation, an underground prisoner resistance organization seizes control of
Buchenwald to prevent atrocities by the retreating camp guards. American forces
liberate more than 20,000 prisoners at Buchenwald. American forces also liberate
the main camps of Dora-Mittelbau (April 1945), Flossenbuerg (April 1945),
Dachau (April 1945), and Mauthausen (May 1945).
APRIL 15, 1945
BRITISH FORCES LIBERATE BERGEN-BELSEN CAMP
British forces enter the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, near Celle, Germany.
Some 60,000 prisoners, most in critical condition because of a typhus epidemic,
are found alive. More than 10,000 die of malnutrition or disease within a few

weeks. British forces liberate other camps in northern Germany, including

Neuengamme (April 1945).