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N0KFQ > TODAY 11.04.08 08:30l 35 Lines 1501 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Apr 11
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From: N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
To : TODAY@ALLUS
April 11, 1945
The U.S. army liberates Buchenwald concentration camp
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.
As American forces closed in on the Nazi concentration camp at
Buchenwald, Gestapo headquarters at Weimar telephoned the camp
administration to announce that it was sending explosives to blow
up any evidence of the camp--including its inmates. What the
Gestapo did not know was that the camp administrators 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 camp held thousands of prisoners, mostly slave laborers.
There were no gas chambers, but hundreds, sometimes thousands,
died monthly from disease, malnutrition, beatings, and
executions. Doctors performed medical experiments on inmates,
testing the effects of viral infections and vaccines.
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.
Among those saved by the Americans was Elie Wiesel, who would go
on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.
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