apr 11, 1945 - Liberation of Buchenwald, April 11, 1945
Description:
The Buchenwald camp complex was one of the largest concentration camps built within the old German borders, about five miles northwest of Weimar in east-central Germany. Beginning in 1941, a series of medical experiments were carried out on prisoners at Buchenwald. These medical experiments used prisoners as test subjects for the efficacy of vaccines and treatments against contagious diseases such as typhus, and typhoid, and these medical experiments resulted in hundreds of deaths. On April 11, 1945, in expectation of liberation, starved and emaciated prisoners stormed the watchtowers, seizing control of the camp. Later that afternoon, US forces entered Buchenwald. Soldiers from the 6th Armored Division, part of the Third Army, found more than 21,000 people in the camp. Exact mortality figures for the Buchenwald site can only be estimated, as camp authorities never registered a significant number of the prisoners.
Added to timeline:
Liberation and Liberators, 1944-1945
GER 232 Group 3 Final Project
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