The Survivors and the Dead

After the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on April 15, 1945, survivors mingled aimlessly among piles of unburied bodies. As Allied forces advanced into Germany from late 1944, Bergen-Belsen had become a collection point for tens of thousands of Jewish prisoners evacuated from other camps. The masses of new prisoners quickly overwhelmed the already insufficient resources of the camp and vastly increased the outbreak of diseases. With the ever increasing death toll, both the dying and dead lay strewn upon the ground, some of them living skeletons near indistinguishable from the dead around them.

In the camps liberated before Belsen, attempts had been made by the SS to destroy evidence and liquidate most prisoners. For example, when Auschwitz was liberated in January 1945 only 6,000 survivors remained. But by the time British and Canadian forces entered Belsen on April 15, 1945, there were 60,000 people starving, sick and dying in the camp.

Army film and photographic teams were deployed at Belsen to document the liberation and relief of the camp. Images such as this one taken by the teams were quickly distributed and souveniring was encouraged.