Belsen and Its Liberation is an illustrated record of how the Nazi’s ran this notorious concentration camp. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, Jewish hostages were held there with the intention of exchanging them for German prisoners of war held overseas. However, by 1943 the SS took over the camp and decided to expand the camp to accommodate Jews from other concentration camps. What followed were scenes of absolute horror and barbarity on a grand scale, perpetrated by both male and female guards. Accompanied by rare and unpublished photos, this book presents a unique visual account of one of history’s most infamous episodes. Some of the imagery in it will show the murderous activities of individual SS-men inside Belsen, and reveal another disturbing side to them relaxing in their barracks or visiting their families and loved ones. The book provides an absorbing insight into how the SS played a key part in murdering, torturing and starving to death the inmates. During the latter part of the war, as many as 500 a day were perishing from the long-term effects of starvation and disease. The reader will find a wealth of information on how the camp was run and on all aspects of life for the inmates.
With the war dramatically drawing to an end, the final episode of Belsen is witnessed by British soldiers of the Second Army, who were neither physically nor psychologically prepared for what they encountered when they arrived at the gates of the camp. Inside the camp they were greeted with some 10,000 unburied dead, in addition to the mass graves which already contained 40,000 more corpses.
This volume captures the story of those that ran Belsen, those that perished, and the troops that liberated the living from their hell.