Okla-homey
4/11/2007, 06:29 AM
Despite what the a$$-hat who is currently running Iran would have you believe...
April 11, 1945: The U.S. army liberates Buchenwald concentration camp
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/14949/2005278761274952646_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005278761274952646)
62 years ago on this day in 1945, the American Third Army liberates the Buchenwald concentration camp, near Weimar, Germany, a camp that will be judged second only to Auschwitz in the horrors it imposed on its prisoners.
http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/13621/2006004964277981527_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006004964277981527)
The photo above was taken from inside the gatehouse at the Buchenwald concentration camp, looking out at the administration building outside the camp; the sign on the gate can only be read from the inside. In English, it means "To Each his Own," or "Everyone gets what he deserves."
Buchenwald was a Class II for hard-core political prisoners, mainly Communists, who were considered to be harder to "rehabilitate." Consequently, conditions in the Buchenwald camp were more severe than at Dachau, which was a Class I camp where many prisoners were released after being brain-washed into accepting such Nazi principles as obedience and hard work. The sign over the iron gate at the Class I Dachau camp read "Arbeit Macht Frei" or Work Brings Freedom.
As American forces closed in on the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald, Geheime Staatspolizei ("Gestapo") headquarters in the nearby city of Weimar telephoned the camp administration to announce that it was sending explosives to blow up any evidence of the camp--including its inmates.
This measure was deemed necessary to destroy damning evidence of the crimes committed there, especially since the camp had run out of coal to run the crematory ovens due to the effect of Allied strategic bombing. Thousands of emaciated corpses littered the camp environment.
http://aycu08.webshots.com/image/14527/2005282434150871182_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005282434150871182)
Post-liberation photo by US Army photographer
What the Gestapo did not know was that the camp administrators and SS guard force had already fled in fear of the Allies. A prisoner answered the phone and informed headquarters that explosives would not be needed, as the camp had already been blown up, which, of course, was not true.
The 9th Armored Infantry Battalion, Sixth Armored Division reached the nearby town of Hottelstedt at noon. SS guards were found in the town and a small contingent of American soldiers was sent to investigate the location of a possible concentration camp. They stumbled upon Buchenwald and liberated 21,000 prisoners.
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/13215/2005213398595907101_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005213398595907101)
The "Super Sixth"
The camp held thousands of prisoners, mostly slave laborers. The camp also had fairly recently received thousands of Jewish prisoners transferred from camps in Poland and elsewhere in the Nazi Empire who had been moved to camps in Germany ahead of advancing Allied forces.
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/13690/2000860624369377460_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000860624369377460)
Since Buchenwald was primarily a place where inmates were literally worked to death, there were no gas chambers, but hundreds, sometimes thousands, died monthly from disease, malnutrition, beatings, and executions. Nazi doctors performed medical experiments on inmates, testing the effects of viral infections and vaccines on their human guinea pigs.
After the camp's liberation by US forces, the sight of the ovens and the dead bodies scattered around enraged the American soldiers. They released some of the prisoners so that they could hunt down the guards, who were still hiding in the woods outside the camp. Approximately 80 SS guards were brought back to the camp and summarily executed by the prisoners, while some of the enraged American soldiers joined in.
Among the camp's most gruesome characters was Ilse Koch, wife of the camp commandant, who was infamous for her sadism. She often beat prisoners with a riding crop, and collected lampshades, book covers, and gloves made from the skin of camp victims.
http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/13734/2006024209147396789_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006024209147396789)
Frau Koch became known as the "Bitch of Buchenwald" and only escaped execution after her conviction during the post-war tribunals by managing to become pregnant while in pre-trial custody. Instead, she received a life sentence and hanged herself in prison in 1967.
Among those saved by the Americans was Elie Wiesel, who would go on to win a Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/14288/2000894721141726931_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000894721141726931)
Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel greeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the Conference of Nobel Laureates on May 17th 2005.
April 11, 1945: The U.S. army liberates Buchenwald concentration camp
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/14949/2005278761274952646_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005278761274952646)
62 years ago on this day in 1945, the American Third Army liberates the Buchenwald concentration camp, near Weimar, Germany, a camp that will be judged second only to Auschwitz in the horrors it imposed on its prisoners.
http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/13621/2006004964277981527_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006004964277981527)
The photo above was taken from inside the gatehouse at the Buchenwald concentration camp, looking out at the administration building outside the camp; the sign on the gate can only be read from the inside. In English, it means "To Each his Own," or "Everyone gets what he deserves."
Buchenwald was a Class II for hard-core political prisoners, mainly Communists, who were considered to be harder to "rehabilitate." Consequently, conditions in the Buchenwald camp were more severe than at Dachau, which was a Class I camp where many prisoners were released after being brain-washed into accepting such Nazi principles as obedience and hard work. The sign over the iron gate at the Class I Dachau camp read "Arbeit Macht Frei" or Work Brings Freedom.
As American forces closed in on the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald, Geheime Staatspolizei ("Gestapo") headquarters in the nearby city of Weimar telephoned the camp administration to announce that it was sending explosives to blow up any evidence of the camp--including its inmates.
This measure was deemed necessary to destroy damning evidence of the crimes committed there, especially since the camp had run out of coal to run the crematory ovens due to the effect of Allied strategic bombing. Thousands of emaciated corpses littered the camp environment.
http://aycu08.webshots.com/image/14527/2005282434150871182_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005282434150871182)
Post-liberation photo by US Army photographer
What the Gestapo did not know was that the camp administrators and SS guard force had already fled in fear of the Allies. A prisoner answered the phone and informed headquarters that explosives would not be needed, as the camp had already been blown up, which, of course, was not true.
The 9th Armored Infantry Battalion, Sixth Armored Division reached the nearby town of Hottelstedt at noon. SS guards were found in the town and a small contingent of American soldiers was sent to investigate the location of a possible concentration camp. They stumbled upon Buchenwald and liberated 21,000 prisoners.
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/13215/2005213398595907101_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005213398595907101)
The "Super Sixth"
The camp held thousands of prisoners, mostly slave laborers. The camp also had fairly recently received thousands of Jewish prisoners transferred from camps in Poland and elsewhere in the Nazi Empire who had been moved to camps in Germany ahead of advancing Allied forces.
http://aycu11.webshots.com/image/13690/2000860624369377460_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000860624369377460)
Since Buchenwald was primarily a place where inmates were literally worked to death, there were no gas chambers, but hundreds, sometimes thousands, died monthly from disease, malnutrition, beatings, and executions. Nazi doctors performed medical experiments on inmates, testing the effects of viral infections and vaccines on their human guinea pigs.
After the camp's liberation by US forces, the sight of the ovens and the dead bodies scattered around enraged the American soldiers. They released some of the prisoners so that they could hunt down the guards, who were still hiding in the woods outside the camp. Approximately 80 SS guards were brought back to the camp and summarily executed by the prisoners, while some of the enraged American soldiers joined in.
Among the camp's most gruesome characters was Ilse Koch, wife of the camp commandant, who was infamous for her sadism. She often beat prisoners with a riding crop, and collected lampshades, book covers, and gloves made from the skin of camp victims.
http://aycu15.webshots.com/image/13734/2006024209147396789_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006024209147396789)
Frau Koch became known as the "Bitch of Buchenwald" and only escaped execution after her conviction during the post-war tribunals by managing to become pregnant while in pre-trial custody. Instead, she received a life sentence and hanged herself in prison in 1967.
Among those saved by the Americans was Elie Wiesel, who would go on to win a Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/14288/2000894721141726931_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2000894721141726931)
Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel greeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the Conference of Nobel Laureates on May 17th 2005.