Belsen

**Keith** · 01-17-2009, 07:54 PM

I may have missed something but I can see no reference to possibly the most notorious of the camps " Belsen "
During my stint in the T.A. as a member of the R.A.M.C. I had the privilege, if that is the right word, of being stationed in the German Barracks in Hohne which were renamed The Glynn Hughes Barracks after the British SMO, Brig. Glynn Hughes who did so much to save life and relieve the suffering of the inmates.
We walked through the camp, saw the very many massed graves holding in each many thousands of dead prisoners, we visited the many exhibitions of haunting photographs of the evidence which confronted the troops.
A very daunting, sobering experience.
I can vouch for the fact that you can walk round the camp, which is very large, through the mounds of graves and through the wooded areas which shield the camps perimiter, and never hear the sound of a bird.
Try
Bergen-Belsen Exchange Camp and Concentration Camp

Keith

**liverpool annie** · 01-17-2009, 11:39 PM

Even the word "Belsen " strikes a note of horror in your heart ...... I remember growing up - hearing the most terrible stories and not wanting to believe them !! ... I just can't imagine how you felt Keith .... I think it's something that has to be seen yourself !

The camp was liberated on April 15 1945 by the British 11th Armoured Division .... 60,000 prisoners were found inside, most of them seriously ill, and another 13,000 corpses lay around the camp unburied. The scenes that greeted British troops were described by the BBC's Richard Dimbleby who accompanied them -

Here over an acre of ground lay dead and dying people. You could not see which was which ... The living lay with their heads against the corpses and around them moved the awful, ghostly procession of emaciated, aimless people, with nothing to do and with no hope of life, unable to move out of your way, unable to look at the terrible sights around them ... Babies had been born here, tiny wizened things that could not live ... A mother, driven mad, screamed at a British sentry to give her milk for her child, and thrust the tiny mite into his arms, then ran off, crying terribly. He opened the bundle and found the baby had been dead for days.
This day at Belsen was the most horrible of my life.

Richard Dimbleby

Bergen-Belsen

Irma Grese Beast of Auschwitz ended the war at the Bergen Belsen Death Camp, captured by British soldiers on April 17, 1945.

Irma Grese Beast of Auschwitz: The most notorious SS guard in the history of Auschwitz

EDIT ... Keith ... if you do a search for Belsen ... you'll find quite a bit !!

**John** · 01-18-2009, 12:24 AM

Photo's from Belsen Camp. Some are very shocking.

belsen - Google Image Search

**liverpool annie** · 01-18-2009, 12:40 AM

Originally Posted by John

Photo's from Belsen Camp. Some are very shocking.

belsen - Google Image Search

Heartbreaking ... isn't it John ??

**Keith** · 01-18-2009, 05:46 AM

Originally Posted by liverpool annie

Heartbreaking ... isn't it John ??

Hi Annie,

I would like to say that my visit was something like 20 years after the liberation of the camp.

The atmosphere still hung around of hopeless misery and grief, no visitor could fail to be touched.

There is, and probably will be for a long time, a complete silence that envelopes you when you enter and walk round.

No chatter, in fact no voices whatsoever, no one has the heart to pass any comments and as I have said no birds visit the area.

I am saddened, yet grateful that I can still feel as I feel even after forty years,

Keith.

**Kyt** · 01-18-2009, 05:46 AM

One of the most moving books I have read about the camps is actually about the liberation of Belsen and the stories of the British personnel who worked at trying to save as many lives as possible - a task that had a profound affect on everyone who experienced the camp. The book is called After Daybreak: The Liberation of Belsen, 1945 by Ben Shephard

**spidge** · 01-18-2009, 06:00 AM

Even this posted by Kyt on this forum.

http://ww2chat.com/forums/concentrat...s.html#post837

**liverpool annie** · 01-22-2009, 09:21 AM

Heres a site that maybe of interest Keith !

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. My grandfather passed away in 2001, and although he was the strongest and most respected person I have ever met, I do know those fateful days at Bergen Belsen stayed with him always

Bergen Belsen

Annie

**Keith** · 04-19-2009, 07:22 PM

Originally Posted by liverpool annie

Heres a site that maybe of interest Keith !

Bergen Belsen

Annie

Hi Annie,

A long time between posts, but I found this amongst my army snaps,
Thought it may be of interest, shows me during my visit to Belsen, paying my respects at one of the main memorials.

Cheers
Keith

**51highland** · 09-27-2011, 06:02 AM

Some video of my visit to Belsen in May this year. I have added sound track (Hartikva) and a BBC recording made a few days after liberation. Earlier post said they never heard a bird singing, well there were plenty of birds singing this day plus the sound of 3 cuckoos.