The Liberation of the Camps: The End of the Holocaust and Its Aftermath

299 Pages·2015·4.23 MB·English

by  Dan Stone

THE LIBERATION OF THE CAMPS
i
ii
THE
LIBERATION
OF THE CAMPS
THE END OF THE HOLOCAUST AND ITS AFTERMATH
DAN STONE
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW HAVEN AND LONDON
iii
Copyright © 2015 Dan Stone
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Typeset in Minion Pro by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd
Printed in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stone, Dan, 1971-
The liberation of the camps: the end of the Holocaust and its aftermath / Dan Stone.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-300-20457-5
1. World War, 1939–1945—Concentration camps—Liberation. 2. Concentration
camps—Europe—History—20th century. 3. Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945) 4. World
War, 1939–1945—Refugees. 5. World War, 1939–1945—Jews. I. Title.
D805.A2S74 2015
940.53΄185—dc23
2015000674
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
iv
Contents
Abbreviations vi
Maps vii–viii
Introduction: Explaining Liberation 1
1 Liberated by the Soviets 29
2 The Western Allies 65
3 Out of the Chaos 105
4 Displaced Persons or Betrayed Persons? 139
Life in the DP Camps
5 Transitions: DPs in a Changing World 178
Conclusion: The Sorrows of Liberation 216
Notes 220
Bibliography 242
Illustrations 264
Acknowledgements 266
Index 268
v
Abbreviations
AACI – Anglo- American Committee of Inquiry on Palestine
DP – Displaced Person
HIAS – Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
IRO – International Refugee Organization
JAP – Jewish Agency for Palestine
JCRA – Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad
JDC – American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (the ‘Joint’)
JRC – Jewish Relief Committee
JRU – Jewish Relief Unit
NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization
ORT – Organization for Rehabilitation and Training
POW – prisoner of war
RAMC – Royal Army Medical Corps
RASC – Royal Army Service Corps
SHAEF – Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force
UNHCR – United Nations High Commission for Refugees
UNRRA – United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
USFET – United States Forces, European Theater
WJC – World Jewish Congress
vi
Moscow USSR Axis–Soviet f1r9o4nt2 line, nec Kiev MISSARIAT UKRAINE PechoraVapniarkaBogdanovkaTRANSNISTRIA BlackNIASea * dismantled before liberation
Trosti COM MA
Maly CH RO
I
E
k R
ns
Mi
Dachau,Major camps with dateRigaApr. 1945of liberationSWEDENKaiserwald(neutral)Other campsREICHCOMMISSARIATNorth SeaOSTLAND KaunasDENMARKBaltic Sea EASTPRUSSIANeuengamme,DanzigMay 1945Stutthof,May 1945Ravensbrück,BIAŁYSTOKWesterbork,Apr. 1945Sachsenhausen, Apr. 1945Apr. 1945Treblinka*Bergen-Belsen,BerlinApr. 1945NETHERLANDSWarsawChełmno*Dora (Mittelbau), Apr. 1945VughtSobibór*Majdanek,GERMANYBreendonkJul. 1944BELGIUMBuchenwald,GENERALGross-Rosen,.Apr. 1945Bełzec*GOVERNMENTMay 1945CracowTheresienstadt,PragueMay 1945Auschwitz I, II (Birkenau), III,Flossenbürg,Jan. 1945PROTECTORATE OFApr.1945BOHEMIA AND MORAVIASLOVAKIAMauthausen,May 1945Natzweiler,FRANCENov. 1944Dachau,ViennaBratislavaMunichApr. 1945BudapestAUSTRIAHUNGARYSWITZERLAND(neutral) ITALYVICHY FRANCE Major Nazi camps and dates of their liberation
vii
(French
zone)
Rothschild Hospital
(US zone) Wittenau (French zone)
(Soviet
zones) D E N M A R K
(Soviet
(British zone)
zone)
Vienna (zBorniteissh) D(UuSe pzpoenle C)enter
Berlin
N o r t h S e a
Neustadt Baltic
Sea
Belsen
Hohne
NETHERLANDS
(British zone) Berlin
P O L A N D
G E R M A N Y
(Soviet zone)
Lichtenau
Eschwege Air Base
Bad Salzschlirf
Zeilsheim Ziegenhain
(French zone) Babenhausen Bamberg
Lampertheim Bensheim
Fuerth
Schwäbisch Hall C Z E C H O S L O V A K I A
F R A N C E
Stuttgart
Heidenheim
Deggendorf
Ulm (US zone)
(French zone)
Biberach Leipheim St Ottilien
Munich Pocking Pine City
Landsberg Gabersee
Linz
Feldafing Wels Vienna
Föhrenwald Ainring
Bad Reichenhall Salzburg (Soviet zone)
Ebensee
Hallein
(French zone) Saalfelden Admont
A U S T R I A
S W I T Z E R L A N D
Judenburg
Badgaslein (British zone)
HUNGARY
Major camps for displaced
Jewish persons, 1945–46
I T A L Y
Named Allied zones of
occupation Y U G O S L A V I A
Main DP camps
viii
1 German civilians forced to wait in line to view the Buchenwald concentration camp, 1945.