Historical Photographs Related to Buchenwald Concentration Camp

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Photos Buchenwald Concentration Camp

Inmates with SS men
Inmates armed with rifles capturing SS men a few hours after the camp’s liberation.
Photo: Paul Bodot, April 11, 1945. Association Française Buchenwald-Dora, Paris
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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.
Photo: Unknown photographer, beginning of April 1945. Association Française Buchenwald-Dora, Paris
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Liberated children
Three liberated children standing by a barbed-wire fence of the Little Camp with an older inmate.
Photo: U.S. Signal Corps, after April 11, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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Roll call grounds after liberation
View of the muster ground from the gate building tower.
Photo: Walter Chichersky, U.S. Signal Corps, April 14, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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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
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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.
Photo: Walter Chichersky, U.S. Signal Corps, April 16, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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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.
Photo: Harry Miller, U.S. Signal Corps, April 16, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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Hearse
Close-up view of a lorry trailer loaded with the corpses of deceased inmates in the inner courtyard of the crematorium.
Photo: Walter Chichersky, U.S. Signal Corps, April 16, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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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.
Photo: Ardean R. Miller, U.S. Signal Corps, April 18, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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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
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Camp road
Liberated inmates on the camp road.
Photo: Ardean R. Miller, U.S. Signal Corps, April 18, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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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.
Photo: Ardean R. Miller, U.S. Signal Corps, April 18, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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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.
Photo: Ardean R. Miller, U.S. Signal Corps, April 18, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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Liberated prisoners with US soldiers
Liberated Little Camp inmates talking to American soldiers.
Photo: Ardean R. Miller, U.S. Signal Corps, April 18, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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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.
Photo: Ardean R. Miller, U.S. Signal Corps, April 18, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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Survivor of the Little Camp
Emaciated inmate with a food bowl in front of a wooden barrack in the Little Camp.
Photo: Ardean R. Miller, U.S. Signal Corps, April 18, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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Jewish worship service
Jewish worship service in the cinema barrack for the survivors of Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
Photo: Charles W. Herr, Jr., U.S. Signal Corps, May 18, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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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.
Photo: Donald R. Ornitz, U.S. Signal Corps, April 19, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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Members of Congress view a barrack
American congresswoman in one of the inmate barracks during her tour of the liberated Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
Photo: Merge, U.S. Signal Corps, April 24, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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Senator Barkley
The American congressman Senator Alben W. Barkley in front of a heap of corpses in the inner courtyard of the crematorium.
Photo: Merge, U.S. Signal Corps, April 24, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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Members of Congress in the crematorium
American congresspersons touring the crematorium. Senator Alben W. Barkley is looking into one of the crematorium ovens.
Photo: Merge, U.S. Signal Corps, April 24, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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Members of Congress with survivors
Inmate survivor talking to three members of the delegation of American congresspersons.
Photo: Merge, U.S. Signal Corps, April 24, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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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.
Photo: Louis Nemeth, U.S. Signal Corps, April 25, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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"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.
Photo: Louis Nemeth, U.S. Signal Corps, April 26, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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Young survivors
Four adolescent inmates, naked from the waist up, in front of one of the stone barracks.
Photo: Alfred Stüber, mid May 1945. Buchenwald Memorial
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Departure
A group of Jewish adolescents at Buchenwald Station before their departure from the liberated Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
Photo: James E. Myers, U.S. Signal Corps, June 5, 1945. National Archives, Washington
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