Buchenwald Memorial Mittelbau-Dora Memorial Museum Zwangsarbeit im NS

Historical photos of the Buchenwald concentration camp

A dozen prisoners armed with rifles surround SS men sitting in a field

Inmates with SS men

Inmates armed with rifles capturing SS men a few hours after the camp’s liberation,11/4/1945.
Photo: Paul Bodot. ©Association Française Buchenwald-Dora, Paris

A Jeep, which was marked below the windshield with the lettering "Le Crabe". Bezin canisters and toolboxes were attached to the Jeep's radiator. Paul Bodot looks out of the side window.

Sergeant Paul Bodot

Sergeant Paul Bodot, Frenchman, officer of a reconnaissance troop of the 6th Armored Division of the 3rd U.S. Army, in the jeep in which he arrived in Buchenwald on April 11, 1945 as one of the first American soldiers to reach the camp, beginning of April 1945. Photo: Unknown photographer. ©Association Française Buchenwald-Dora, Paris

Three liberated children stand with an older prisoner at a barbed wire fence of the Small Camp. Romek Wajsman, Janek Szlajtsztajn and Dawid Perlmutter.

Liberated children

Three liberated children standing by a barbed-wire fence of the Little Camp with an older inmate, after April 11. 1945. Photo: U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

View from the tower of the gate building over the roll call area and the barracks in northern direction. The rear area of the camp disappears in the fog. In the large open area, people can be seen walking around alone or in small groups.

Roll call grounds after liberation

View of the muster ground from the gate building tower, April 14, 1945. Photo: Walter Chichersky, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

A close-up of numerous Weimar citizens in the liberated camp. In the center of the photo, a woman stands holding a handkerchief to her nose.

Citizens of Weimar in the liberated concentration camp

On April 16, more than 1,000 citizens of Weimar – in keeping with General Patton’s orders primarily members of the Nazi party – are forced to tour the liberated camp.
Photo: Walter Chichersky, U.S. Signal Corps, April 16, 1945. National Archives, Washington

Residents of Weimar during the tour of Buchenwald concentration camp ordered by the Americans in the courtyard of the crematorium in front of a truck trailer loaded with corpses. To the left of the trailer, wearing a steel helmet and light-colored jacket, the American commander Lorenz Schmuhl.

Citizens of Weimar at the crematorium

In the crematorium courtyard, U.S. soldiers confront the citizens of Weimar with the corpses found there. This was the first photo of Buchenwald to be published; it appeared in the London Times on April 18, 1945, April 16, 1945. Photo: Walter Chichersky, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

Simon Toncman standing in front on the right, undressed. He holds a jacket in front of the lower half of his body. To the left, other prisoners are lying in shelf-like scaffolding. All are looking into the camera. The men are, as far as can be seen, completely emaciated. Some are wrapped in thin blankets and use metal bowls as headrests.

Barrack 56

Liberated inmates of Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Barrack 56 of the Little Camp. Standing, at right: Simon Toncman. 2nd row, 7th fr. l.: Elie Wiesel, April 16, 1945. Photo: Harry Miller, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

US soldiers in front of the camp gate. SS ammunition boxes can be seen in the right foreground.

US soldiers at the camp gate

U.S. soldiers in front of the camp gate. SS ammunition boxes and hand grenades in the foreground. The black flag on the gate building flies at half-mast in mourning over the death of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, April 18, 1945. Photo: Ardean R. Miller, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

View from the gate building over the camp. Liberated prisoners and US soldiers are standing on the roll call square. The chamber building is in the far right background.

The liberated camp

View of the camp from the gate building. Liberated inmates and U.S. soldiers are seen standing on the muster ground. In the background, to the far right, is the camp storage building.
Photo: Ardean R. Miller, U.S. Signal Corps, April 18, 1945. National Archives, Washington

You can see liberated prisoners walking in small groups or individually along the camp street. To the right and left of the camp road, the one-story wooden prisoner barracks can be seen. On the left side, the stone barracks tower above them in the background.

Camp road

Liberated inmates on the camp road, April 18, 1945. Photo: Ardean R. Miller, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

US soldiers and former prisoners in front of a truck trailer loaded with stacked naked corpses in the courtyard of the crematorium. In the background, the SS Zoological Garden.

U.S. soldiers and former inmates

U.S. soldiers and former inmates in front of a trailer loaded with corpses in the inner courtyard of the crematorium, April 18, 1945. Photo: Ardean R. Miller, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

Two American soldiers in front of a trailer with corpses in the courtyard of the crematorium. In the background a liberated prisoner

US soldiers with hearse

Two American soldiers in front of a trailer loaded with corpses in the inner courtyard of the crematorium. In the background a liberated inmate, April 18, 1945. Photo: Ardean R. Miller, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

Emaciated liberated prisoners of the Little Camp talking to American soldiers. An emaciated shirtless former prisoner looks directly into the camera.

Liberated prisoners with US soldiers

Liberated Little Camp inmates talking to American soldiers, April 18, 1945. Photo: Ardean R. Miller, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

A prisoner of Buchenwald concentration camp holds a human bone while standing in front of a pile of bones shoveled from a crematorium.

A camp survivor standing adjacent to a pile of human bones

A liberated inmate in front of a heap of bones in the inner courtyard of the crematorium, April 18, 1945. Photo: Ardean R. Miller, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

Prisoner with a food bowl in front of Block 55 in the Small Camp.

Survivor of the Little Camp

Emaciated inmate with a food bowl in front of a wooden barrack in the Little Camp, April 18, 1945. Photo: Ardean R. Miller, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

Members of the US Army and liberated prisoners are sitting in a large hall. On the left edge of the picture, a man is holding a Jewish service.

Jewish worship service

Jewish worship service in the cinema barrack for the survivors of Buchenwald Concentration Camp, May 18, 1945. Photo: Charles W. Herr, Jr., U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

Liberated prisoners at the first memorial service for the dead of Buchenwald concentration camp. The roll call square is packed with people. In the background, the temporary memorial for the dead.. Sporadic flags.

First memorial service

Liberated inmates on the muster ground, attending the first memorial service for the dead of Buchenwald Concentration Camp. There the liberated inmates pledge not to rest until “the last perpetrator stands before the judges of the peoples”. In the background is a temporary monument to the dead, April 19, 1945. Photo: Donald R. Ornitz, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

American congresspersons touring the crematorium. Senator Alben W. Barkley is looking into one of the crematorium ovens.

Members of Congress in the crematorium

American congresspersons touring the crematorium. Senator Alben W. Barkley is looking into one of the crematorium ovens, April 24, 1945. Photo: Merge, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

A dozen men stand close together inspecting the crematorium courtyard, some men jotting down notes in their pads.

American journalists view the concentration camp

Publishers and editors of American newspapers tour the inner courtyard of the crematorium during their visit to the liberated Buchenwald Concentration Camp. 4th fr. l.: the former Austrian inmate Kurt Gatnar, who is guiding the group through the camp, April 25, 1945. Photo: Louis Nemeth, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

Portrait shot of four shirtless youths in front of a stone barrack.

Young survivors

Four adolescent inmates, naked from the waist up, in front of one of the stone barracks, mid May 1945. Photo: Alfred Stüber. ©Gedenkstätte Buchenwald

A group of children and young people stand by two railroad cars and wave at the camera.

Departure

A group of Jewish adolescents at Buchenwald Station before their departure from the liberated Buchenwald Concentration Camp, June 5, 1945. Photo: James E. Myers, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

Close-up of a truck trailer loaded with bodies of deceased prisoners in the courtyard of the crematorium.

Hearse

Close-up view of a lorry trailer loaded with the corpses of deceased inmates in the inner courtyard of the crematorium, April 16, 1945. Photo: Walter Chichersky, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

U.S. Congressman Senator Alben W. Barkley in front of a stack of bodies in the crematorium courtyard.

Senator Barkley

The American congressman Senator Alben W. Barkley in front of a heap of corpses in the inner courtyard of the crematorium, April 24, 1945. Photo: Merge, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

Surviving prisoner talking with three members of the delegation of American congressmen.

Members of Congress with survivors

Inmate survivor talking to three members of the delegation of American congresspersons, April 24, 1945. Photo: Merge, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

Members of the Allied War Crimes Commission walking through the camp during their visit to the liberated Buchenwald concentration camp.

"Allied War Crimes Commission" in the camp

Members of the “Allied War Crimes Commission” touring the camp during their visit to the liberated Buchenwald Concentration Camp, April 26, 1945. Photo: Louis Nemeth, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington

American congressmen visiting the liberated Buchenwald concentration camp in one of the prisoners' quarters.

Members of Congress view a barrack

American congresswoman in one of the inmate barracks during her tour of the liberated Buchenwald Concentration Camp, April 24, 1945. Photo: Merge, U.S. Signal Corps. ©National Archives, Washington


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