Claire Dawson
The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was liberated by British forces on 15 April 1945. British soldiers found thousands of unburied bodies and tens of thousands of severely ill prisoners. The camp was burned to the ground due to a typhus epidemic and louse infestation. The British set up an emergency hospital at the nearby Wehrmacht barracks, which later became a camp for displaced persons.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Hospital at Bergen-Belsen | A hospital was set up by the British in the nearby Wehrmacht barracks after the liberation of the camp |
| Who was treated there | The hospital treated the survivors of the camp, who were given the status of displaced persons |
| Number of survivors treated | Nearly 29,000 survivors were transferred from the camp to the hospital |
| Medical teams | Two specialist teams were dispatched from Britain to deal with the feeding problem and reduce the death rate |
| Medical team members | The first team, led by A. P. Meiklejohn, included 96 medical student volunteers from London teaching hospitals |
| Other medical personnel | Norna Alexander, a nurse with the 29th British General Hospital, arrived at Bergen-Belsen just over a month after its liberation |
| Other hospitals mentioned | A Red Cross hospital is mentioned, where the sister of Alice Lok Cahana was taken |
| Typhus hospital | There was supposed to be a typhus hospital at the camp, but Major Dick Williams, one of the first British soldiers to enter, reported that there was none |
| POW hospital | The SS took over the POW hospital in January 1945 and expanded the women's camp |
| Exchange camp | The SS evacuated the exchange camp in early April 1945, and around 6,700 prisoners were taken on trains to the Theresienstadt ghetto |
| Hospital for Italian military internees | 500 patients suffering from tuberculosis were transferred to Bergen-Belsen from Fallingbostel-Oerbke |
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What You'll Learn
The liberation of Bergen-Belsen
Bergen-Belsen was originally established in 1941 as a POW camp for Soviet prisoners. It was significantly expanded that year to hold up to 20,000 POWs and became known as Stalag XI-C (311). However, by the end of March 1942, about 14,000 Soviet POWs had perished due to starvation, disease, and exposure. In April 1943, the SS took over the southern section of the camp, turning it into an "exchange camp" for Jewish prisoners.
As the Eastern front began to collapse in 1944, the SS began evacuating camps near the front lines, resulting in tens of thousands of prisoners being transported to more centrally located camps, including Bergen-Belsen. This led to severe overcrowding, with the camp population soaring to around 60,000 by April 1945, far exceeding its capacity of 10,000 inmates.
The overcrowding, coupled with a lack of food and poor sanitation, caused outbreaks of diseases such as typhus, tuberculosis, and dysentery. As a result, thousands perished even before the liberation. The British forces who liberated the camp encountered a horrific scene, with approximately 60,000 starving and ill prisoners and 13,000 unburied corpses.
Following the liberation, massive efforts were undertaken to provide food and medical treatment to the survivors. An emergency hospital was set up by the British in the nearby Wehrmacht barracks, and two specialist teams were dispatched from Britain to address the feeding problem. Despite these efforts, about 13,000 people died after liberation, highlighting the dire situation that existed within the camp.
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Prisoner experiences
The prisoner experience at Bergen-Belsen was harrowing, to say the least. The camp was severely overcrowded, with 60,000 prisoners packed together in April 1945, far beyond its capacity of 10,000 inmates. This overcrowding led to a rapid spread of diseases like typhus, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and dysentery, as well as malnutrition and starvation.
The conditions at the camp were inhumane, with a lack of food, water, and basic sanitation. Prisoners were subjected to forced labour, and those who could no longer work due to illness were sent to the so-called “men's camp". The SS evacuated the exchange camp in early April 1945, and around 15,000 new prisoners were housed in nearby Wehrmacht barracks.
The arrival of thousands of new prisoners, many of them survivors of forced evacuations, put immense strain on the camp's already meagre resources. The SS expanded the women's camp and the men's camp, but the available huts were still overcrowded. The situation was further exacerbated by the transport of at least 85,000 men, women, and children to Bergen-Belsen in overcrowded cattle cars and death marches, which began in December 1944.
The British troops who liberated the camp on April 15, 1945, were shocked by the conditions they encountered. They found thousands of unburied bodies and tens of thousands of severely ill prisoners. The British set up an emergency hospital at the nearby Wehrmacht barracks, which later became a camp for displaced persons, providing survivors with food and medical treatment. Despite these efforts, about 9,000 people died in April, and another 4,000 by the end of June 1945.
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Post-liberation emergency aid
On April 15, 1945, British forces liberated the notorious Bergen-Belsen concentration camp near Hanover, Germany. The camp was in a dire state, with thousands of bodies lying unburied, and around 60,000 starving and mortally ill people packed together without food, water, or basic sanitation. Many suffered from typhus, dysentery, and starvation.
The British troops were shocked by the conditions and immediately began providing emergency aid to the survivors. They set up temporary hospitals in the German Army's former barracks and burned down the dirty, lice-infested huts that the prisoners had previously occupied to control the spread of disease. The surviving internees were stabilised, deloused, and moved to the nearby tank training barracks at Bergen-Hohne, which became a Displaced Persons (DP) camp.
The Round House at Bergen-Hohne was used as a hospital, and the internees received medical treatment, new clothes, and food. They were also registered and prepared for repatriation. Within four weeks, 28,900 people had been moved and the last casualty had been buried. The Hungarians and SS guards, as well as other German prisoners of war, were forced to help with the burials.
Despite these massive efforts, about 9,000 people died in April, and by the end of June 1945, another 4,000 had died. Two specialist teams were dispatched from Britain to deal with the feeding problem, including a team led by A. P. Meiklejohn with 96 medical student volunteers from London teaching hospitals, who were credited with significantly reducing the death rate.
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Prisoner deaths
The death rate at Bergen-Belsen was already high before the dramatic increase in prisoner numbers in early 1945. In July 1944, there were 7,300 prisoners interned in the camp, a number that had increased to 15,000 by December 1944 and 22,000 by February 1945. On March 1, 1945, there were more than 41,000 prisoners in the camp. This rapid increase in the prisoner population overwhelmed the camp's already meagre resources.
The arrival of thousands of new prisoners, many of them survivors of forced evacuations, placed additional strain on the camp's limited resources. The SS responded by dissolving the northern portion of the camp complex, which was still being used as a POW camp, and establishing a "large women's camp" in its place. This camp housed women evacuated from other concentration camps, further contributing to the overcrowding and deteriorating conditions at Bergen-Belsen.
The neglect and deterioration of the camp by the Germans in the final months of the war resulted in a massive increase in deaths. By the time British forces liberated the camp on April 15, 1945, they discovered approximately 55,000 to 60,000 prisoners, many of them seriously ill, and thousands of corpses lying unburied. Despite the efforts of British medical teams, about 9,000 people died in April, and by the end of June 1945, another 4,000 had died. In total, 13,994 people died after the liberation of the camp.
The high death toll at Bergen-Belsen was not an isolated incident. The larger camp complex, which included three satellite camps, held tens of thousands of additional prisoners. By the end of March 1942, some 41,000 Soviet POWs had died in these camps from starvation, exhaustion, and disease. By the end of the war, the total number of dead had increased to 50,000.
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The British response
The British 11th Armoured Division liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on 15 April 1945. The British soldiers were accompanied by military photographers and cameramen, who documented the conditions in the camp and the emergency aid measures. The British troops found approximately 60,000 prisoners inside, most of them half-starved and seriously ill, and another 13,000 corpses lying around the camp unburied.
Despite these efforts, about 9,000 people died in April, and by the end of June 1945, another 4,000 had died. To prevent the spread of disease, the British burned down most of the wooden huts in the grounds of the former concentration camp. The British also set up an emergency hospital at the nearby Wehrmacht barracks, which developed into a camp for Polish and Jewish displaced persons. Nearly 29,000 survivors were transferred from the camp to this emergency hospital.
The hundreds of photos, film reels, and notes taken by the British military photographers and cameramen from the day of liberation through June 1945 give some indication of the extent of the crimes committed in Bergen-Belsen.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, there was a hospital at Bergen-Belsen. Initially, it was a POW hospital for Soviet prisoners of war. Later, the British set up an emergency hospital at the nearby Wehrmacht barracks to treat survivors of the camp.
The hospital at Bergen-Belsen was described as a typhus hospital, with thousands of prisoners suffering from diseases such as typhus, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and dysentery.
Medical professionals, including doctors and nurses, worked at the hospital in Bergen-Belsen. Brigadier Glyn Hughes, deputy director of Medical Services of the 2nd Army, and James Johnston, the Senior Medical Officer, led the medical efforts.
After the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, the emergency hospital set up by the British became a displaced persons camp, providing shelter and care for those who had survived the horrors of the concentration camp.
