Skip to main content

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  • Site
    • English home page
    • المصادر بالعربية
    • Πηγές στα Ελληνικά
    • Recursos en español
    • منابع موجود به زبان فارسی
    • Ressources en français
    • Gyűjtemény és tudástár magyar nyelven
    • Sumber Bahasa Indonesia
    • Materiali e risorse in italiano
    • 日本語のリソース
    • 한국어 자료
    • Recursos em Português (do Brasil)
    • Материалы на русском языке
    • Türkçe Kaynaklar
    • اُردو ری سورسز
    • 中文参考资料
  • Events
  • Plan Your Visit
  • Support the Museum
  • Connect
  • Donate
  • Learn About The Holocaust
  • Remember Survivors and Victims
  • Confront Genocide and Antisemitism

  • Home
  • Learn about The Holocaust
Holocaust Encyclopedia

We’ve been reworking our Holocaust Encyclopedia, and we would love for you to explore the new experience. Click the button at right to start using the new version. The version you are viewing now will remain online until June 30, 2018.

  • Introduction to the Holocaust
  • Information for Students
  • Timeline of Events
  • Holocaust Encyclopedia
  • Holocaust and Related Maps
  • The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students
This page is also available in:
  • عربيArabic
  • ΕλληνικάGreek
  • EspañolSpanish
  • فارسیFarsi
  • Bahasa IndonesiaIndonesian
  • 日本語Japanese
  • 한국어Korean
  • Português (BR)Portuguese-Brazilian
  • РусскийRussian
  • TürkçeTurkish
  • اُردوUrdu
  • 简体中文Chinese

Oral History

Back to Article

Thomas Buergenthal

Born: 1934, Lubochna, Czechoslovakia

Describes the liberation of the Sachsenhausen camp [Interview: 1990]

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

— US Holocaust Memorial Museum - Collections

Transcript

This camp was to be liquidated, and people were lined up to march out of the camp. We, we really couldn't walk, and the people in the hospital ward were left behind, and we assumed that, uh, they would come in and shoot everybody in our beds. And it was extremely, I remember the day when people lined up, and then it became extremely quiet, and you couldn't hear anything, you only....And we waited, basically on the assumption that any minute now they would, they would come in. Nothing happened. And of all the people in that, uh, barracks, I probably could move better. By then I had a crutch and I could move on, on one leg. And finally, I went out to look, because all this silence. And the machine gun on the gate of the, overlooking the, the sort of plaza in the, in the camp was empty, for the first time. And the Germans had left. You, by then, you could hear already the rumbling of artillery in, in the background. And there wasn't a soul to be seen. Nothing happened for a while, except, you know, we, we realized that maybe we were, we were going to live. The shooting came closer. Eventually, uh, the gates swung open, and, uh, Russian troops came in. And they began ringing the, the camp bell to say that we were free.

Thomas's family moved to Zilina in 1938. As the Slovak Hlinka Guard increased its harassment of Jews, the family decided to leave. Thomas and his family ultimately entered Poland, but the German invasion in September 1939 prevented them from leaving for Great Britain. The family ended up in Kielce, where a ghetto was established in April 1941. When the Kielce ghetto was liquidated in August 1942, Thomas and his family avoided the deportations to Treblinka that occurred in the same month. They were sent instead to a forced-labor camp. He and his parents were deported to Auschwitz in August 1944. As Soviet troops advanced in January 1945, Thomas and other prisoners were forced on a death march from Auschwitz. He was sent to the Sachsenhausen camp in Germany. After the Soviet liberation of Sachsenhausen in April 1945, Thomas was placed in an orphanage. Relatives located him, and he was reunited with his mother in Goettingen. He moved to the United States in 1951.

Browse all ID Cards

Browse all Oral Histories

Related Articles

  • Liberation
  • Previous
  •  
  • Next

Copyright © United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC

This page is also available in:

  • عربيArabic
  • ΕλληνικάGreek
  • EspañolSpanish
  • فارسیFarsi
  • Bahasa IndonesiaIndonesian
  • 日本語Japanese
  • 한국어Korean
  • Português (BR)Portuguese-Brazilian
  • РусскийRussian
  • TürkçeTurkish
  • اُردوUrdu
  • 简体中文Chinese

Museum Information

  • Today at the Museum
  • Plan Your Visit
  • Exhibitions and Collections
  • Traveling Exhibitions

Resources for Academics and Research

  • Ask a Research Question
  • Research in Collections
  • Research about Survivors and Victims
  • Academic Programs

Resources for Educators

  • Teaching about the Holocaust
  • Programs for Teachers
  • Teaching Materials
  • Holocaust Encyclopedia

Resources for Professionals and Student Leaders

  • Law Enforcement
  • Military
  • Judiciary
  • Faith and Interfaith Communities
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW
Washington, DC 20024-2126
Main telephone: 202.488.0400
TTY: 202.488.0406

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google Plus
  • Youtube
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • About the Museum
  • Contact the Museum
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility
  • Legal
×

#USHMM #AskWhy

FirstPerson

Conversations with Survivors
of the Holocaust

Watch Now

Join us right now to watch a live interview with a survivor, followed by a question-and-answer session.