JULY 24, 1943

SOVIET FORCES LIBERATE MAJDANEK CAMP

Soviet forces are the first to approach a major Nazi camp, reaching the Majdanek camp near Lublin, Poland. Surprised by the rapid Soviet advance, the Germans attempt to demolish the camp in an effort to hide the evidence of mass murder. The camp staff sets fire to the large crematorium at Majdanek, but because of the hasty evacuation the gas chambers are left standing. Soviet forces later liberate Auschwitz (January 1945), Gross-Rosen (February 1945), Sachsenhausen (April 1945), Ravensbrueck (April 1945), and Stutthof (May 1945).

APRIL 11, 1945

AMERICAN FORCES LIBERATE BUCHENWALD CAMP

U.S. forces liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany, in April 1945, a few days after the Nazis began evacuating the camp. On the day of liberation, an underground prisoner resistance organization seizes control of Buchenwald to prevent atrocities by the retreating camp guards. American forces liberate more than 20,000 prisoners at Buchenwald. American forces also liberate the main camps of Dora-Mittelbau (April 1945), Flossenbuerg (April 1945), Dachau (April 1945), and Mauthausen (May 1945).

APRIL 15, 1945

BRITISH FORCES LIBERATE BERGEN-BELSEN CAMP

British forces enter the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, near Celle, Germany. Some 60,000 prisoners, most in critical condition because of a typhus epidemic, are found alive. More than 10,000 die of malnutrition or disease within a few weeks. British forces liberate other camps in northern Germany, including Neuengamme (April 1945).