SAVING LIVES - Buchenwald Memorial

The image depicts a scene in a medical or emergency care setting. Two men in uniform are attending to a patient lying under a checkered blanket. The man on the right is leaning over the patient, seemingly checking vital signs or providing assistance, while the man on the left is preparing an intravenous drip. In the background, there is a window with an old frame, and below it, a radiator is visible. The setting appears simple and functional, possibly in a military or emergency response context. The posture of the two men suggests that they are providing professional and attentive care to the patient. — U.S. Army medics attend to a survivor in SS barracks, which had been converted into an emergency hospital, around 24 April 1945. Photo: Thérèse Bonney
©The Regents of the University of California, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. This work is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

The American journalist Percy Knauth describes the immediate medical measures taken after liberation:

“They lay there quietly, their dark eyes fixed on the ceiling as the soothing heat went into them; what they were thinking God only knows. […] After their baths the prisoners were taken to wards fixed up in the SS sleeping and living quarters. Each man had a cot or a wooden bunk with a mattress, and a warm GI blanket. […] The problem was by no means solved by baths and beds, however. These men had to be fed, and feeding them was a delicate job. Some could take no nourishment whatsoever because their digestive organs could not hold it. Some died at the first swallow. Some had to be injected with nourishment.”

Percy Knauth, Germany in Defeat, New York 1946.

The image shows a historical medical scene, likely from a hospital or surgical setting. Four men, dressed in white medical attire, are gathered around an operating table where a patient, possibly a child, is lying face down. The patient’s legs are being held by one of the doctors, suggesting they are preparing for a medical procedure. The presence of a large surgical lamp above the table indicates that this could be an operating room. In the background, medical equipment, covered instruments, and a group of figures—possibly medical staff or mannequins—can be seen through a window or reflection. The atmosphere suggests a mid-20th-century medical environment, characterized by the uniforms and equipment used. The medical professionals appear focused and engaged in their task, indicating a serious and professional setting. — 1/7

Doctors and nurses treat a liberated prisoner in one of the camp’s operating rooms, after 11 April 1945. Like most of the former prisoner doctors, the Czech internist Miloslav Matoušek (third from right) helped save the lives of the ill after liberation. Unknown photographer ©Arolsen Archives

The image depicts a historical scene featuring an American flag waving on a flagpole in the foreground. In front of the flag, there is a sign with writing on it, though the text is only partially legible. In the background, several large, multi-story brick buildings with broken or open windows can be seen, suggesting a military or war-related setting. To the left of the image, there are tents, indicating a temporary camp or provisional facility. A soldier or a person in uniform is walking toward the camera. — 2/7

A sign from the 45th Evacuation Hospital in front of the SS barracks, after 28 April 1945. The doctors and nurses in this unit mainly cared for tuberculosis patients. Some were transferred to the former state sanatorium in Blankenhain, which now functioned as a tuberculosis hospital. Unknown photographer ©Courtesy WWII US Medical Research Center

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Survivors in a barrack, around 15 April 1945. Photo: Charles C. Haacker
©ACME Newspictures

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American medics in a barrack in the Little Camp, after 11 April 1945. Photo: Ronello Brown ©From the collection of The National WWII Museum

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Liberated prisoners being transferred from the Little Camp to emergency hospitals in the SS barracks, around 17 April 1945. To contain the spread of infectious diseases, prisoners had to remove their clothing before entering the emergency hospitals. Unknown photographer ©United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

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Liberated prisoners being transferred from the Little Camp to emergency hospitals in the SS barracks, around 17 April 1945. To contain the spread of infectious diseases, prisoners had to remove their clothing before entering the emergency hospitals. Unknown photographer ©United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

A man lying on a stretcher, wrapped in a blanket, is loaded into a van. A soldier with a medic's sign guides the stretcher. In the background are members of the U.S. Army and liberated prisoners. — 7/7

Members of the 120th Evacuation Hospital load a survivor of the Little Camp into an ambulance, after 11 April 1945. Photo: Peter M. Schmit ©Yad Vashem, Jerusalem

Among the liberated were thousands of critically ill and emaciated men and boys. Saving them was a matter of priority in the days and weeks after liberation. The military doctors and paramedics of the 120th and 45th Evacuation Hospitals of the U.S. Army were primarily responsible for providing urgent medical care. They worked side by side with survivors who were also trained doctors and nurses. The SS hospital, as well as a few SS guard barracks, served as improvised emergency hospitals. Most of the survivors housed there came from the Little Camp.