On 15 April 1945, British forces entered Bergen-Belsen concentration camp for the first time.

Upon arriving at Bergen-Belsen in Northern Germany, soldiers from the 63rd Anti-tank Regiment and 11th Armoured Division of the British Army were completely unprepared for the atrocities they would face. It was here they were met with the full horrors of the Holocaust.  

Soldiers encountered thousands of unburied bodies laying around the camp. 60,000 people, mostly Jews, were starving, mortally ill and in desperate need of medical attention. They were packed together without water or basic sanitation and many were suffering from diseases such as typhus and typhoid.

What immediately followed was a large-scale relief effort. The first priorities were to organise the burial of those who had died and to introduce a form of quarantine to contain the spread of disease.

The army organised emergency medical aid, restored the water supply and arranged for the distribution of food that was suitable for starving prisoners suffering from malnutrition. Additional military and civilian medical personnel were brought in to support the relief effort.

Video: Face to face with Nazi brutality: Liberating Bergen-Belsen

A female inmate of Belsen concentration camp kisses the hand of Army Film & Photographic Unit cameraman on liberation.
IWM (IWM FLM 1226)
A woman inmate of Belsen concentration camp kisses the hand of Army Film & Photographic Unit cameraman Lieutenant Martyn Wilson on liberation.

All official documents had been destroyed by the Nazis before the Allies had arrived at the camp. 

Without the extensive photographic and video evidence captured by the the Army Film and Photographic Unit (AFPU) following the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, the atrocities that took place in the camp could not have been conceived.

Using objects on display at The Holocaust Galleries at IWM London, IWM's head of public history, James Bulgin, examines the monumental scale of horror wrought by the Nazi regime, the relief effort that took place and the aftermath following the liberation of Bergen-Belsen. 

Warning: Please be aware that this video contains graphic and disturbing content, including images of deceased individuals. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.

Watch video on YouTube: Face to face with Nazi brutality: Liberating Bergen-Belsen 

IWM collections

Explore collections objects related to Bergen-Belsen that feature in this video. They are on display in The Holocaust Galleries at IWM London.   
 

  • Menorah

    This menorah was made by a soldier from the British Army's Jewish Brigade with parts of his weapon to celebrate the first Hanukkah after the liberation at the Children's House in Bergen-Belsen. 

  • Therapy dolls

    Therapy dolls were made by survivors to help develop motor skills. This doll was given to British solider Gwyn Jones by former prisoners after the liberation of Bergen-Belsen.

  • Red jumper

    This red woollen jumper belonged to Holocaust survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch. Anita used one of her rations while in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp to exchange for the jumper before being moved to Bergen-Belsen. The jumper provided her with vital warmth in extremely challenging conditions.

The Holocaust Galleries

Holocaust exhibition with two visitors
© IWM
The Holocaust Galleries at IWM London.

This video was filmed in The Holocaust Galleries at IWM London. Over 2,000 photographs, books, artworks and personal objects on permanent display tell the stories of some of the six million Jewish people murdered in the Holocaust. 

The film footage and photographic evidence captured by the Army Film and Photographic Unit (AFPU) was crucial in reporting the extent of the atrocities that had took place at the camp.

Witness and Evidence in IWM London's Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries displays works by artists, filmmakers and photographers that capture the first-hand experiences of the atrocities of Bergen-Belsen and the Holocaust. 

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Wearing protective clothing, men of 11 Light Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps evacuate inmates from one of the huts at Belsen.
© IWM (BU 4196)
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