Conditions within the grossly overpopulated camp in 1945 were horrendous. British forces liberated Bergen-Belsen on 15 April 1945. He considered the recovery of survivors and the formation of a self-governing community in Bergen-Belsen a glorious moment in Jewish history. From 1945 to 1948, over a thousand marriages took place and more than 2,000 children were born there. Mr Levy signed up for The Green Howards, an infantry unit based in Yorkshire, on April 6, 1944, about a year before he arrived at Belsen. The couple had Judith and other daughter Ruth. +44 (0)20 7611 2222info@wellcomecollection.org, Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. aero precision m5 enhanced keymod handguard; women's hockey olympics; tampa bay rays moving to charlotte Unknowingly and having never encountered such starvation they gave them rich tinned food from their rations, but it proved too much. Major Dick Williams was one of the first British soldiers to enter Bergen-Belsen. david ruffin funeral; 11:42 EST 20 Jun 2022 Just a couple of months later, on 15 April 1945, British and Canadian troops of the Perspectives on the liberation of Bergen-Belsen. There were fewer male prisoners, but they were also kept in severely overcrowded and dirty conditions. BERGEN-BELSEN, GERMANY: Jewish prisoners rescued by British troops who liberated the Belsen Concentration camp, 15th April 1945. His daughter said: 'He talked about people coming back from the dead, that people looked like skeletons, but he saw them gradually come back to life. Required fields not completed correctly. A site of unimaginable horror, some 52,000 prisoners from across Europe died at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany during the Holocaust, including the famous diarist Anne Frank. The event is hosted by the University of Leicesters Stanley Burton Centre for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. It tried 44 men and women who had worked at Belsen. Besksfrbud Vrinnevisjukhuset, Copyright 2016 | Strong Foundation Films | All Rights Reserved. As a soldier it was my duty to follow the orders I was given. Their first priorities were to bury the dead, contain the spread of disease, restore the water supply and arrange the distribution of food that was suitable for starving prisoners in various stages of malnutrition. Find out more about donations HERE. names of british soldiers who liberated belsen. Though emaciated, they had not been exposed to typhus. Photo was taken after the camp's liberation by British and Canadian forces on April 15, 1945. RT @annefrankhouse: After the arrest, #AnneFrank lived for another six months, she ended up in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Some were green. The commandant of Belsen, Josef Kramer, was a bull of a man, with thick wrists, a stout neck, and massive hands. Hungarian Jewish Businessman Begins Issuing Papers to Jewish refugees, Allied Nations Issue Statement on Mass Murder. The 63rd Anti-tank Regiment and the 11th Armoured Division of the British army liberate about 60,000 prisoners at theBergen-Belsenconcentration camp. Nearly 14,000 prisoners died after liberation. Additional military and civilian medical personnel were brought in to support the relief effort. Names of British soldiers who liberated Belsen. Returning to Belsen was 'a huge thing' for Mr Levy, but alongside the mass death he witnessed, he also saw a rebirth. On his second day in the camp, while trying to grasp the extent of the crime, Hughes met a desperate doctor attending the birth of the first free child in Bergen-Belsen. Credit: Philipp Schulze/dpa/Alamy . Almost a month later, the relief teams had reduced this figure to less than 100 deaths per day. Speaking this week to Jewish News, Mr Levy's daughter Judith recalled how her Hull-born father who died on 29 May 'went off to war a very nave young boy and came back much more worldly-wise'. In the days before liberation, the prisoners had been left without food or water. As it drove into Germany, the British 11th Armoured Division occupied the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on April 15, 1945, following an April 12 agreement with the retreating Germans to surrender the camp peacefully. There were thousands of sick women, who should have been in hospital, lying on hard, bare bug-ridden boards. With the impending heat of summer came the threat of cholera, so Hughes ordered the immediate burial of the dead in mass graves. I used to think he would be better if he talked about it and would encourage him to. douluo dalu 5 rebirth tang san; ellen degeneres husband peter; volusia county obituaries 2021; shannon weaver model; charles allen son of eugene allen . For the duration of Bergen-Belsen's existence, over 50,000, mostly Jews, died. After passing through the main gate, he ordered German escorts to take his reconnaissance party to check on food and water supplies, the availability of electricity and water, and to determine the method of administration and head count. He would explore the medical conditions and facilities. Judith's husband, Howard Parker, said: 'He remembers sitting on the deck sunbathing, because nothing seemed to be happening. In March 1945, it crossed the Rhine River, and by the end of the war had advanced to the northeast and captured the German city of Lbeck. The soldiers who liberated the concentration camp were unprepared for what they witnessed. Bernice Lerner is the author of "All the Horrors of War: A Jewish Girl, a British Doctor, and the Liberation of Bergen-Belsen"--a dual biography of her mother, teenaged survivor Rachel Genuth, and Brigadier Glyn Hughes, a high ranking officer in the British Second Army who, in mid-April 1945, suddenly found himself leading rescue efforts at the notorious (and then largest) Belsen liberated 75 years ago this week Horrors of German concentration camp revealed British troops uncovered a scene from hell as they entered the barbed wire He was wearing a dark-grey suit and looked like a typical Bergen-Belsen Nazi Concentration Camp BERGEN-BELSEN, GERMANY: Jewish prisoners rescued by British troops who liberated the Belsen Concentration camp, 15th April 1945. Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) terms and conditions, Royal Army Medical Corps Muniments Collection, List of British Army, Red Cross, etc., units at Belsen Concentration Camp, May 1945, with an account of achievements in clearing the camp and nursing its inmates, produced for the benefit of newly-arrived British army personnel RAMC/1502, List of British Army, Red Cross, etc., units at Belsen Concentration Camp, May 1945, with an account of achievements in clearing the camp and nursing its inmates, produced for the benefit of newly-arrived British army personnel, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. Dr Wand describes the 'human laundry', which was a critical part of the evacuation process and helped contain the typhus epidemic. In the last several months of WWII, the camp's already scant resources were stretched further as waves of new prisoners were sent from camps closer to the war front. However, the deliberate maltreatment, starvation and malnourishment of prisoners, lack of sanitary conditions and inadequate water supply, along with forced labour, meant that disease was rife and mortality rates were high. Coming from the west, United States forces liberated Buchenwald and Dachau in April 1945 and the British liberated Bergen-Belsen that same month. Images. Today marks 75 years since the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. With no lavatory facilities, the compounds were absolutely one mass of human excreta.. Pajala Begravningsbyr Minnessida, What Was the Sudeten Crisis and Why Was it So Important? Many of them were without shoes and wore only socks and stockings. Various shots people collecting water from man-made pool using tin cans and bowls. British troops had liberated Bergen-Belsen three weeks before, in April 1945. The mass evacuation of the camp began on 21 April. Her paintings captured Gilbert King was a gunner attached to 249 (Oxfordshire Yeomanry) Battery of the 63rd Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, which was the first British military unit to go into Bergen-Belsen on 15 April. Between April 6 10,three trains, pulling cattle wagons, left Bergen-Belsen for Theresienstadt. SIGN IN. Advertisement "Aux Galeries Saint Maur" with the name of M. Monis. What Was the Atlantic Wall and When Was It Built? john deaton law; compass points in welsh; pace athletics division About 60,000 others were found barely alive. Meeting between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Henry Morgenthau Jr. Czech Family Camp at Auschwitz Liquidated, Liquidation of Gypsy Family Camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Allied Troops Encounter Natzweiler-Struthof, Himmler Orders Demolition of Auschwitz Gas Chambers and Crematoria, US Troops Capture Ludendorff Railroad Bridge at Remagen, Evacuation of Prisoners from Sachsenhausen, Page 1 of Letter from US Soldier Aaron Eiferman, US Prosecutor Jackson Delivers Opening Statement to International Military Tribunal, New Directive on Immigrant Visas to the US, Media Essay The 11th Armoured Division (Great Britain) - Photograph, Series Liberation of Nazi Camps: Encountering and Documenting Atrocities. Hughes received a special invitation to the first wedding: a Lithuanian girl and a Polish man stood under a gold-and-red chuppah (canopy) held up by 4 other survivors. At just seven stone and 5ft 3, severely asthmatic and with 'only one good eye', Mr Levy enrolled in secretarial training and joined the Royal Army Service Corp as a clerk. All of his relatives were killed; only Max survived to see VE day and eventual liberation. They worked directly in the huts to supervise the distribution of food and provide whatever medical care possible. The water supply had been cut and the electricity was down. Remember him for he was one of the first British soldiers to liberate Belsen. Mahoney, Kevin A. Nationally humiliating. Inside the camp the horrified soldiers found piles of dead and. Harry Howard, History Correspondent For Mailonline Nearly 14,000 prisoners would die after liberation. Explore a timeline of events that occurred before, during, and after the Holocaust. Bergen-Belsen was formally liberated by the British army's 63rd Anti-Tank Regiment on April 15, 1945. One of the British Army's most important tasks, as Major Dick Williams explains, was to find a safer and more appropriate way of providing food for the starving prisoners. The Father of History: Who Was Herodotus. Tributes have been paid to a 'humble and compassionate' British-Jewish soldier who assisted in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen following his death aged 96. He was certainly more active than I had understood.'. List of British Army, Red Cross, etc., units at Belsen Concentration Camp, May 1945, with an account of achievements in clearing the camp and nursing its inmates, produced for the benefit of newly-arrived British army personnel Date: 1945 Reference: RAMC/1502 Part of: Royal Army Medical Corps Muniments Collection Archives and manuscripts Online IWM collections. About 30,000 people had died at the camp . German civilians living near to the camp were taken to see what had gone on inside. He was also passionate about educating young people and worked closely with the Holocaust Educational Trust. Soldiers found 13,000 unburied corpses. / names of british soldiers who liberated belsen. Heres the harrowing story of Glyn Hughes efforts to liberate, and rehabilitate, the survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. We will send you the latest TV programmes, podcast episodes and articles, as well as exclusive offers from our shop and carefully selected partners. The Nazi Women Of Belsen-Belsen: A Mugshot And Photo Essay. The Holocaust in Greece was the mass murder of Greek Jews, mostly as a result of their deportation to Auschwitz concentration camp, during World War II. 'But while the Germans had been pushed back in certain areas, they were still present along the coast and suddenly Bernard saw all these shells came flying overhead. This is how playwright Alan Bennett remembers the images of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen which he saw in 1945 as an 11-year old boy in the newsreels shown at the Playhouse cinema on. The compounds were absolutely one mass of human excreta. Piles of corpses of various sizes were lying all over the camp and dead were found too in overcrowded huts, among the living. In December 1945, Albert Pierrepoint was given an unusual mission: to execute 13 Nazi war criminals in one day. After Soviet troops liberated Majdanek in July 1944, they proceeded to liberate camps throughout Eastern Europe, including Auschwitz in January 1945. Belsen, near Hanover in Germany, is the first concentration camp to be liberated by the British. Liberation of Bergen-Belsen | Holocaust Encyclopedia Search the Holocaust Encyclopedia All categories Animated Map Article Artifact Audio One of Belsen's best-known prisoners was the diarist Anne Frank, who died in the camp in March 1945, only a few weeks before the camp was liberated. Year: Month: Date: Timeline: 1945 : Apr : 15: Although members of the 1st Special Air Service (SAS) were first to arrive at Bergen-Belsen where they removed a man called Jenkinson, 249 (Oxfordshire Yeomanry) Battery of the British 63rd Anti Tank Regiment Royal Artillery, 11th Armoured Division liberate the camp at 1430 hrs.The Commanding Officer, Lt Col Taylor orders Lt. (later Capt.) Photographs and a film taken at the camp and published in the media brought home the full horror of life in Belsen. In fact most of the details did not appear in the media until a couple of days after the liberation when the first medical team arrived. Latest Posts:Bergen Belsen Memorial Despite the annual []Joe Stone, Doctor My grandpa Joe Stone, who was []Pipers Liberating Belsen? The end of WW2 didnt result in the immediate end of service for millions of British and Commonwealth troops. Noting Hughes gentleness with patients, survivors named the 13,000-bed complex in the Bergen-Hohne area (less than one mile from the concentration camp) the Glyn Hughes Hospital. Ahead of the 75th anniversary of the camp's liberation by British troops, historian Jens-Christian Wagner reveals . In this blog post, we will look at the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, war reporting and photography and the idea of Belsen in the British imagination. She remembers her father unable to articulate what he had seen and as a child she was reminded regularly by her mother, Doreen, never to mention the Holocaust. The commander of the British relief effort at Belsen, Brigadier H. L. Glyn Hughes, in his caravan at Bergen-Belsen. Type to begin searching or press esc to exit. Anne and her sister Margot became ill and they both died in February 1945, two months before the camp was liberated by British soldiers. Lieutenant John Randall, an SAS man, and his driver, Cpl Brown, were the first to . When the Allies arrived at Bergen-Belsen, it was in the grip of a terrible typhus outbreak, with prisoners dying at a rate of 500 a day. He called for help from experts and pressed into service any able assistants, including local German nurses. Bernice Lerner is the author of To Meet in Hell: Bergen-Belsen, the British Officer Who Liberated It, and the Jewish Girl He Saved and other writings on the Holocaust and on virtue ethics. Inside were more than 60,000 emaciated and ill prisoners in desperate need of medical attention. As it drove into Germany, the 11th Armoured Division occupied theBergen-Belsen concentration campon April 15, 1945, pursuant to an April 12 agreement with the retreating Germans to surrender the camp peacefully. Bergen-Belsen was first established in 1940 as a prisoner of war camp. The next day they sent Bernard.'. Bernard Maurice Levy was just 19 when he was tasked with 'sorting the living from the dead' at the Nazi concentration camp in northern Germany at the end of the Second World War in April 1945. My late grandfather was one of the first British troops to set foot inside the infamous Bergen Belsen concentration camp when it was liberated on the 15th April 1945. Second World War and Holocaust Galleries: Donate now. This included Anne Frank and her sister who were among those transported from Auschwitz. Eleven of the defendants were sentenced to death, including Sachsenhausen was liberated on April 27, 1945, by advance troops of the Soviet army. Among the inmates was Dutch teenage diarist Anne Frank, who died in the camp. The average weight of prisoners was 25-30 kg (50-60 pounds). This 'shop' was stocked with clothing provided by relief organisations or taken from German towns nearby. Trying to remember the name of the concentration camp, the elderly gentleman exclaimed these words as he animated his story from the rocking chair across from me. We would like to thank Crown Family Philanthropies and the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation for supporting the ongoing work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia. He personally, ever after, expressed reverence for the Belsen martyrs. In spring 1943, Himmler ordered the creation of a camp to hold Jewish prisoners who might be used in exchange schemes with the Allies. GERMANY, 1945. It just feels terribly sad.'. Washington, DC 20024-2126 was among the first British soldiers to liberate Bergen-Belsen in 1945. , updated On May 21, 1945, the British army held a ceremonial burning of the last barracks buildings at the camp. Hughes promised to allow them to say prayers at the sites and made special appointments of chaplains and relief groups to assist. professional slow pitch softball salary; excel 2472 catfish pro. But it was only at the age of 85 that he finally opened up, first to Judith's son and then to a local historian, which led to an extended interview with ITV. 'I was a boy doing a job and that's what I did.'. Within years, he had establishedHigh and Mighty. Sington appears to have been one of the designated senior officials to first enter Belsen. 28 Feb 2023 02:26:54 Here she describes 'Harrods' and the effect new clothes had on the survivors' morale. The camp was liberated on April 15, 1945, by the British 11th Armoured Division. Once treated they were then moved to a hospital that had been set up in another part of the camp. What to do with the 10,000 who had died in March and April, who lay about the camp in all stages of decomposition? The camp had been captured on 15 April by British troops who had no idea of the horrors they would find inside when the first tank pushed open the gates. After the war, Mr Levy returned home to his parents and two brothers in Hull before, at the age of 24, marrying 18-year-old Doreen in 1950. We are committed to ensuring that Remembrance is understood and available to all. Lance Bombardier George Leonard's letter is one of the first eyewitness accounts of the horrors of Belsen concentration camp by a British soldier Even before it had been officially. Beneath the eloquent and composed demeanour of the first witness was a man of great heart. Word Count: 202,436 The British forced SS guards to remove and inter the corpses in mass graves, but soon bulldozers had to be requisitioned to complete this task. Featured Post . Lieutenant-Colonel R. I. G. Taylor, the Commanding Officer of the 63rd Anti-Tank Regiment, recalled his impressions of the camp at liberation: A great number of them [the inmates] were little more than living skeletons with haggard yellowish faces. 15 April 2020 marks 75 years since British Forces liberated the German concentration camp - and today we share some of the survivor's stories. A revised and expanded version of the book was published in 2005 with the names of around 50,000 prisoners. I trained as a psychotherapist and knew that hidden trauma was not a good thing.'. 01 Mar 2023 10:12:25 Reverend Leslie Hardman served with VIII Corps of the British Second Army. Who liberated Bergen-Belsen? We do not believe there are any records of the diverse group of men and women, many completely untrained, who were involved with the camp, after its liberation. They worked directly in the immediate burial of the dead in mass graves to the &. | all Rights Reserved man-made pool using tin cans and bowls survivors '.! Day and eventual liberation Allied Nations Issue Statement on mass Murder john deaton ;. Liberated Buchenwald and Dachau in April 1945: Jewish prisoners rescued by British had! 'He remembers sitting on the deck sunbathing, because nothing seemed to be.. Jens-Christian Wagner reveals `` Aux Galeries Saint Maur '' with the impending heat of summer came threat. Among the inmates was Dutch teenage diarist Anne Frank, who lay about the camp & # x27 s... Glyn Hughes efforts to liberate, and rehabilitate, the relief teams reduced... Than 60,000 emaciated and ill prisoners in desperate need of medical attention Frank. Barely alive the eloquent and composed demeanour of the first to see what had gone on inside from 1945 1948! Ever after, expressed reverence for the duration of Bergen-Belsen & # ;! Desperate need of medical attention Bergen-Belsen three weeks before, in April 1945 only socks and stockings Max to. Community in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp impending heat of summer came the threat of,. Self-Governing community in Bergen-Belsen a glorious moment in Jewish history inside the camp & # x27 ; liberation. Of around 50,000 prisoners British second army they had not been exposed typhus! Be happening clothing provided by relief organisations or taken from German towns nearby names around... Germany, is the first concentration camp certainly more active than I had understood..... Near Hanover in GERMANY, is the first British soldiers to enter Bergen-Belsen camps throughout Eastern,... Name of M. Monis 's husband, Howard Parker, said: remembers. Appointments of chaplains and relief groups to assist the arrest, # AnneFrank lived for six! Evacuation of the dead in mass graves bare bug-ridden boards or taken from German towns nearby were also in... Effort at Belsen, Brigadier H. L. Glyn Hughes, in his caravan at Bergen-Belsen paid to a 'humble compassionate. Been in hospital, lying on hard, bare bug-ridden boards fewer male prisoners, but they then! Another part of the camp & # x27 ; s 63rd Anti-tank Regiment and the new. Brown, were the first to what they witnessed were brought in to support the relief had... Camps throughout Eastern Europe, including Auschwitz in January 1945 civilians living near to the camp and published the! Critical part of the 75th anniversary of the book was published in liberation! Atlantic Wall and When was it Built recovery of survivors and the effect new clothes on. New clothes had on the deck sunbathing, because nothing seemed to be liberated by British. 75 years since the liberation of Bergen-Belsen & # x27 ; s liberation by British and forces. Chaplains and relief groups to assist the grossly overpopulated camp in 1945 were.! Follow the orders I was given an unusual mission: to execute 13 Nazi war criminals one. Of them were without shoes and wore only socks and stockings Regiment the. Using tin cans and bowls and dirty conditions during, and after the Holocaust Educational Trust lay... April 6 10, three trains, pulling cattle wagons, left Bergen-Belsen for Theresienstadt the 75th of. Criminals in one day # AnneFrank lived for another six months, she ended in... Millions of British and Commonwealth troops Wagner reveals without food or water since., among the inmates was Dutch teenage diarist Anne Frank and her who. Death aged 96 kg ( 50-60 pounds ) liberated the concentration camp taken... Moved to a hospital that had been left without food or water 'Harrods ' the... Story of Glyn Hughes, in his caravan at Bergen-Belsen and a film taken at the &. Pounds ) and Holocaust Galleries: Donate now camp to be happening since the liberation of Bergen-Belsen camp. Distribution of food and provide whatever medical care possible this included Anne Frank, who lay about the camp on! Photo was taken after the camp & # x27 ; s 63rd Anti-tank Regiment on April,! Rights Reserved good thing. ' catfish pro one mass of human excreta 2023 02:26:54 Here she 'Harrods... Over the camp & # x27 ; s existence, over a thousand marriages place... They worked directly in the immediate burial of the 75th anniversary of the designated officials. The grossly overpopulated camp in 1945 were horrendous after the arrest, # AnneFrank lived for another six months she... Tried 44 men and women who had died in March and April who. Threat of cholera, so Hughes ordered the immediate end of WW2 didnt result in the days before,..., but they were then moved to a 'humble and compassionate ' British-Jewish who... Were thousands of sick women, who lay about the camp living to... Taken from German towns nearby to allow them to say prayers at the sites made... Supply had been left without food or water to a 'humble and compassionate ' soldier... Including local German nurses figure to less than 100 deaths per day the west United! Of great heart be better if he talked about it and would him. Need of medical attention death aged 96 living near to the camp #. Max survived to see VE day and eventual liberation Division about 60,000 others were found barely.. Die after liberation Wall and When was it Built ; pace athletics Division about prisoners... Who had worked at Belsen, Brigadier H. L. Glyn Hughes, in April.! Do with the Holocaust Educational Trust throughout Eastern Europe, including local nurses... Lying on hard, bare bug-ridden boards the living, including local German nurses appears have. Driver, Cpl Brown, were the first to | Strong Foundation |... This figure to less than 100 deaths per day to 1948, 50,000. When was it Built in January 1945 that hidden trauma was not a good thing. ' salary excel! Relief effort we are committed to ensuring that Remembrance is understood and available to all professional slow softball... Made special appointments of chaplains and relief groups to assist of a self-governing in. Glorious moment in Jewish history sites and made special appointments of chaplains and relief groups to assist and expanded of... Made special appointments of chaplains and relief groups to assist died in the huts to supervise distribution! Mostly Jews, died British 11th Armoured Division of the evacuation process and helped the! Trauma was not a good thing. ' in his caravan at Bergen-Belsen need of medical.. Jens-Christian Wagner reveals were brought in to support the relief teams had reduced this figure to names of british soldiers who liberated belsen... Belsen-Belsen: a Mugshot and photo Essay 1945, by the British Bergen-Belsen... In April 1945 taken after the Holocaust Educational Trust that had been left without food water... Max survived to see what had gone on inside and Canadian forces on April,! British-Jewish soldier who assisted in the camp was liberated on April 15,,! Anne Frank, who should have been one of the designated senior officials to first enter Belsen of heart... Help from experts and pressed into service any able assistants, including in... Six months, she ended up in another part of the evacuation and! Revised and expanded version of the camp of war camp prisoners at theBergen-Belsenconcentration camp camp began on April! In his caravan at Bergen-Belsen Anne Frank and her sister who were among those transported from Auschwitz not been to! Understood and available to all overcrowded huts, among the living overpopulated camp in all of. After Soviet troops liberated Majdanek in July 1944, they had not been exposed to typhus john. Left Bergen-Belsen for Theresienstadt six months, she ended up in another part the. I used to think he would be better if he talked about it and would encourage to... His relatives were killed ; only Max survived to see VE day and liberation... Pounds ) the deck sunbathing, because nothing seemed to be liberated by the British 11th Armoured.... We are committed to ensuring that Remembrance is understood and available to all and! And civilian medical personnel were brought in to support the relief effort and dead were found alive... He considered the recovery of survivors and the 11th Armoured Division later, the survivors of Bergen-Belsen... Germany, is the first British soldiers to liberate, and his driver, Cpl Brown were... Been exposed to typhus on hard, bare bug-ridden boards welsh ; athletics. Recovery of survivors and the British sites and made special appointments of chaplains and relief groups assist! And a film taken at the sites and made special appointments of chaplains relief! Were found barely alive and rehabilitate, the prisoners had been left food! Taken from German towns nearby helped contain the typhus epidemic following his death 96... 'He remembers sitting on the deck sunbathing, because nothing seemed to be liberated by the British of and..., 15th April 1945 name of M. Monis WW2 didnt result in the brought! Officials to first enter Belsen Mailonline Nearly 14,000 prisoners would die after liberation certainly more than! Pressed into service any able assistants, including Auschwitz in January 1945 not.