COMMEMORATING THE DEAD - Buchenwald Memorial

Liberated prisoners gather on the roll call square to commemorate the dead, 19 April 1945. A wooden obelisk with the inscription “K.L.B. 51,000” (for the number of victims estimated at the time) served as a makeshift memorial. This is the only photograph of the memorial service known to exist. Photo: Donald R. Ornitz (U.S. Signal Corps) ©National Archives at College Park, Maryland

The French survivor André Respaut describes the memorial service on 19 April 1945:

“The comrades worked all day on a memorial. We head to the roll call square where the memorial service for the 51,000 dead of Buchenwald is being held. The national groups with flags are at the front, funeral marches are played, everyone takes their place in front of or next to the memorial. [...] Once everyone arrives, a minute of silence is observed. Then the delegates of each group give a short speech honouring the memory of the martyrs, lambasting the murderous and barbaric fascism and solemnly swearing to defeat it. After each speech, the comrades repeat the chant with raised arms: ‘We swear!’ The camp commander steps up to the microphone and declares his support for the rally and everyone’s wishes.”

André Respaut, Buchenwald, terre maudite, Narbonne 1946.

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Banner on the gate building inviting members of the U.S. Army to attend the memorial service, 19 April 1945. At the request of the International Camp Committee, the American camp commander
Lorenz C. Schmuhl gave a short speech. Unknown photographer ©Arolsen Archives

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Three U.S. Army clergymen, from left: Father Thomas Midura, Rabbi Robert S. Marcus and Reverend Homer C. Milford, at the ecumenical commemorative service held at the cemetery near the Bismarck Tower, 20 June 1945. On this day, 1,286 urns, which contained the ashes of the dead and which had been found in the crematorium, were buried. Photo: George A. Haynia (U.S. Signal Corps)
©National Archives at College Park, Maryland

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Bismarck Tower on the third anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp, 11 April 1948. Photo: Ernst Schäfer ©Buchenwald Memorial

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Dedication of the memorial grove on the south slope of the Ettersberg, 11 September 1949. The Bismarck Tower was demolished in 1949. The memorial grove was created near the cemetery in 1949 and included two earth pits used by the SS to bury thousands of dead in early 1945. Photo: Ernst Schäfer ©Buchenwald Memorial

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Makeshift memorial on Goetheplatz in Weimar on the first anniversary of the liberation of
Buchenwald concentration camp, 11 April 1946. In addition to commemorative events held in
the city, a wreath-laying ceremony was conducted at the graves near the Bismarck Tower. Photo: Ernst Schäfer
©Buchenwald Memorial

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People on a French “pilgrimage” attend a commemoration at the memorial grove, 9 August 1951.
In the early 1950s, the French “Amicale de Buchenwald” began organising trips to Buchenwald for survivors and relatives. Photo: Ernst Schäfer ©Buchenwald Memorial

The survivors commemorated the camp’s dead on the roll call square on the evening of 19 April 1945. A group of liberated prisoners had organised the memorial service on behalf of the International Camp Committee. Loudspeakers broadcasted the ceremony to the barracks where the sick and weak lay. In the following weeks, commemorations moved to the new cemetery at the Bismarck Tower on the south side of the Ettersberg. Another memorial service was held there in late June before the U.S. Army withdrew. During the time of Soviet Special Camp No. 2, the area around the cemetery continued to serve as a remembrance site to those who died in the camp.