Media Essay
Bergen-Belsen (Abridged Article) - Photograph
View of Bergen-Belsen camp after liberation
View of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after the liberation of the camp. A row of small tents has been pitched outside the barracks. A group of survivors huddles in front of one of the tents.
Item ViewBergen-Belsen is burned to the ground
Buildings of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp are burned to the ground by British soldiers to prevent the spread of typhus. Germany, May 21, 1945.
Item ViewScene in Bergen-Belsen soon after liberation
Soon after liberation, camp survivors eat near scattered corpses. Bergen-Belsen, Germany, after April 15, 1945.
Item ViewRelief operations in Bergen-Belsen after liberation
Soon after liberation, camp survivors bathe in outdoor showers set up by the British. Bergen-Belsen, Germany, after April 15, 1945.
Item ViewTwo survivors in Bergen-Belsen
Two survivors in front of the women's barracks in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Bergen-Belsen, Germany, April 1945.
© IWM (BU 3740)
Item ViewA British soldier watches women SS guards
A British soldier watches women SS guards who were forced to carry victims' corpses to mass graves. Bergen-Belsen, Germany, after April 15, 1945.
Item ViewGerman mayors view mass graves at Bergen-Belsen
After liberation of the Bergen-Belsen camp, British soldiers forced German mayors from nearby towns to view mass graves. Bergen-Belsen, Germany, after April 15, 1945.
Item ViewMass grave at Bergen-Belsen
A mass grave at Bergen-Belsen soon after the liberation of the camp. Bergen-Belsen, Germany, May 1945.
Item ViewMass grave at Bergen-Belsen
After camp liberation, one of the mass graves at the Bergen-Belsen camp. Germany, after April 15, 1945.
Item ViewThe Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
A view of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp after the liberation of the camp. Bergen-Belsen, after April 15, 1945.
As it drove into Germany, the British 11th Armoured Division occupied the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on April 15, 1945. When the 11th Armoured Division entered the camp, its soldiers were totally unprepared for what they found. Inside were more than 60,000 emaciated and ill prisoners in desperate need of medical attention. More than 13,000 corpses in various stages of decomposition lay littered around the camp.
Item ViewDr. Fritz Klein stands among corpses in a mass grave.
Dr. Fritz Klein stands among corpses in a mass grave at Bergen-Belsen, after the liberation of the camp. He was required to assist in the burial of inmates who died there. Klein was a camp doctor at both Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Germany, after April 15, 1945.
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