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Buchenwald: Photographs

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  • Photos taken by Sgt. Earl F. Swenson, a soldier in Patton's army that liberated Buchenwald in April 1945. He had a Kodak Brownie camera with him and captured some of the images of the camp.
  • Photos taken by Sgt. Earl F. Swenson, from Patton's army that liberated Buchenwald in April 1945.
  • Photos taken by Sgt. Earl F. Swenson, from Patton's army that liberated Buchenwald in April 1945.
  • Photos taken by Sgt. Earl F. Swenson, from Patton's army that liberated Buchenwald in April 1945.
  • Aerial photograph of Buchenwald showing destruction by American bombers
  • American soldiers entering the Buchenwald concentration camp following liberation.
  • Mound of bodies found at Buchenwald. U.S. soldiers look on.
  • Mound of bodies found at Buchenwald.
  • Dr. Waldemar Hoven, former chief doctor at Buchenwald, testifies in his own defense at the Doctors Trial.
  • The prisoners' orchestra in Buchenwald concentration camp.
  • Members of a U.S. Congressional committee investigating Nazi atrocities walk through a prisoner barracks in Buchenwald.
  • A survivor holds up his shirt to display his emaciated condition in the newly liberated camp.
  • Photograph from Sgt John Poulos, MP in the 512th MP Battalion, Gen Patton 3rd Army. An early liberator of Buchenwald, he took pictures with his personal camera.
  • Prisoners of the "little camp" in Buchenwald stare out from the wooden bunks. Elie Wiesel is in the second row of bunks, seventh from the left.
  • Ilse Koch takes the stand for her final statement at the trial of 31 former camp personnel and prisoners from Buchenwald.
  • Ilse Koch, wife of the former commandant of Buchenwald concentration camp, on trial at Dachau. She was known as the “Bitch of Buchenwald.”
  • Entrance to Buchenwald. Photo taken by Francis D. Killin, 37th Cavalry Recon. V-Corps, Gen. Courtney Hodges.
  • Photo taken by Francis D. Killin, 37th Cavalry Recon. V-Corps, Gen. Courtney Hodges.
  • Showing GIs torture techniques.Photo taken by Francis D. Killin, 37th Cavalry Recon. V-Corps, Gen. Courtney Hodges.
  • Photo taken by Francis D. Killin, 37th Cavalry Recon. V-Corps, Gen. Courtney Hodges.
  • Photo taken by Francis D. Killin, 37th Cavalry Recon. V-Corps, Gen. Courtney Hodges.
  • Close up of oven with partially burned corpse. Photo taken by Francis D. Killin, 37th Cavalry Recon. V-Corps, Gen. Courtney Hodges.
  • Oven with partially burned corpse. Photo taken by Francis D. Killin, 37th Cavalry Recon. V-Corps, Gen. Courtney Hodges.
  • Photo taken by Francis D. Killin, 37th Cavalry Recon. V-Corps, Gen. Courtney Hodges.
  • Bodies the Germans couldn't dispose of. Photo taken by Francis D. Killin, 37th Cavalry Recon. V-Corps, Gen. Courtney Hodges.
  • Corpses left on the street. Photo taken by Francis D. Killin, 37th Cavalry Recon. V-Corps, Gen. Courtney Hodges.
  • Photo taken by Francis D. Killin, 37th Cavalry Recon. V-Corps, Gen. Courtney Hodges.
  • Photo taken by Francis D. Killin, 37th Cavalry Recon. V-Corps, Gen. Courtney Hodges.
  • Photo taken by Francis D. Killin, 37th Cavalry Recon. V-Corps, Gen. Courtney Hodges.
  • New prisoners at Buchenwald undress before being washed and shaved.
  • Newly-arrived prisoners line up for registration at Buchenwald
  • Photo taken by Sgt John Poulos, MP in the 512th MP Battalion, General Patton’s 3rd Army. He was an early liberator of Buchenwald.
  • Photo taken by Sgt John Poulos, MP in the 512th MP Battalion, General Patton’s 3rd Army. He was an early liberator of Buchenwald.
  • Photo taken by Sgt John Poulos, MP in the 512th MP Battalion, General Patton’s 3rd Army. He was an early liberator of Buchenwald.
  • Photo taken by Sgt John Poulos, MP in the 512th MP Battalion, General Patton’s 3rd Army. He was an early liberator of Buchenwald.
  • Photo taken by Sgt John Poulos, MP in the 512th MP Battalion, General Patton’s 3rd Army. He was an early liberator of Buchenwald.
  • Photo taken by Sgt John Poulos, MP in the 512th MP Battalion, General Patton’s 3rd Army. He was an early liberator of Buchenwald.
  • Photo taken by Sgt John Poulos, MP in the 512th MP Battalion, General Patton’s 3rd Army. He was an early liberator of Buchenwald.
  • Photo taken by Sgt John Poulos, MP in the 512th MP Battalion, General Patton’s 3rd Army. He was an early liberator of Buchenwald.
  • Postcard sent by from Buchenwald by inmate # 3120, Gustav Kalouch, to his parents in Prague
  • Registration for newly-arrived prisoners at Buchenwald.
  • A Russian survivor of Buchenwald, liberated by the 3rd Armored Division of the U.S. First Army, identifies a former camp guard who brutally beat prisoners.Z
  • Survivors lie on wooden bunks that are four tiers high in a barracks in Buchenwald.
  • Survivors lie on wooden bunks that are four tiers high in a barracks in Buchenwald.
  • Survivors lie on wooden bunks that are four tiers high in a barracks in Buchenwald.
  • Survivors in Barracks
  • Survivors in Barracks
  • Survivors in the latrine
  • Survivors in the hospital
  • Quadruple muffle Topf Crematorium at Buchenwald after liberation. This becomes one of the icon-like images of destruction.
  • Washing and shaving newly arrived prisoners at Buchenwald.
  • Buchenwald Memorial
  • Showing GIs torture techniques.Photo taken by Francis D. Killin, 37th Cavalry Recon. V-Corps, Gen. Courtney Hodges.

Sources:
US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies: Educational Resources, Sergeant John Poulos' grandson, Drew Poulos, The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies