80 Years Later: Commemorating the Liberation of Bergen-Belsen

The 80th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen is observed with memorials by survivors and families, highlighting the horrors endured during World War II. British and Canadian soldiers confronted a scene of extraordinary suffering, as stories of the camp's brutality continue to resonate in collective memory.

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the notorious Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, over a thousand survivors and their families are converging at the site in northern Germany to reflect on the tragic events that unfolded there during World War II.

When British and Canadian troops moved to liberate the camp in April 1945, they were met with a chilling sight—13,000 unburied corpses and around 60,000 ailing, skeletal survivors. This stark reality only confirmed previously circulated rumors about the horrors taking place behind the camp's barbed wire.

Michael Bentine, one of the British soldiers who later became a renowned entertainer, described Bergen-Belsen as "the ultimate blasphemy" in his accounts after the war. Richard Dimbleby, the first broadcaster to enter the camp post-liberation, articulated the harrowing experience in his reports, stating that the day he witnessed the conditions at Belsen was the most horrible of his life.

Bergen-Belsen became infamous not merely due to the countless vivid accounts from journalists and military personnel but because the camp remained intact and was filled with evidence of the horrors experienced. Unlike other death camps like Treblinka and Auschwitz, which were destroyed by the Nazis to conceal their atrocities, Bergen-Belsen preserved its grim reality amidst the disarray of war.

The suffering continued in the final days of the Third Reich, as prisoners faced malnutrition, overcrowding, and disease. The camp saw staggering death tolls, with around 30,000 dying between January and April 1945 alone. Many perished even after liberation, their bodies unable to cope with the sudden influx of food provided by military personnel.

Among the attendees of Sunday’s commemoration are 180 British Jews, whose journey has been facilitated by Ajex, the Jewish Military Association. Wreaths will be laid by veterans and dignitaries, including Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, as a psalm is read by Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis.

Though trees now adorn the landscape where barracks once stood, the remnants of the camp’s reality persist in memorial stones, such as one marking "5,000 dead." As one survivor poignantly noted, the memory of Bergen-Belsen will continue to resonate as a somber reminder of humanity's darkest chapters.