Liberation of the concentration camps
Prisoners, some in striped concentration camp prisoner clothing , after the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp, photo from April 29, 1945
The concentration camps were liberated in 1944/1945. The concentration camps operated during National Socialism were liberated by the Allies .
Before the Allies reached the camps, the National Socialists murdered tens of thousands of prisoners in the camps or on death marches to other camps. Therefore, often only a few hundred survivors were found when the Allied soldiers liberated the camps.
List of exemption (selection)
- July 23, 1944: Majdanek concentration camp , Poland; liberated by Soviet troops
- October 13, 1944: Riga-Kaiserwald concentration camp , Latvia; liberated by Soviet troops
- October 27, 1944: Herzogenbusch concentration camp , Netherlands; liberated by Canadian forces
- November 23, 1944: Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp , France; liberated by US troops
- January 27, 1945: Auschwitz concentration camp , Poland; liberated by Soviet troops
- February 13, 1945: Groß-Rosen concentration camp , Poland; liberated by Soviet troops
- April 7, 1945: Vaihingen subcamp ; liberated by French troops
- April 11, 1945: Buchenwald Concentration Camp , Germany; liberated by US troops
- April 11, 1945: Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp , Germany; liberated by US troops
- April 15, 1945: Bergen-Belsen concentration camp , Germany; liberated by British forces
- April 22, 1945: Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp , Germany; liberated by Soviet and Polish troops
- April 23, 1945: Flossenbürg Concentration Camp , Germany; liberated by US troops
- April 29, 1945: Dachau Concentration Camp (main article: Liberation of the Dachau Concentration Camp ), Germany; liberated by US troops
- April 30, 1945: Ravensbrück concentration camp , Germany; liberated by Soviet troops
- May 2, 1945: Neuengamme concentration camp , Germany; liberated by British forces
- May 5, 1945: Mauthausen concentration camp , Austria; liberated by US troops
- May 9, 1945: Stutthof concentration camp , Poland: liberated by Soviet troops
Commemoration
The liberation of the concentration camps is commemorated annually.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Day (International Holocaust Remembrance Day) on January 27 was introduced by the United Nations in 2005 to commemorate the Holocaust and the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp .