us-005578-irn1000217
type: RecordSet
date: 1945, April 23-24
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had identifier: 2
has or had some members with language: deu
has or had some members with language: pol
has or had some members with language: rus
has or had some members with language: eng
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn1000217
note: The survivor Helen (nee Hela) Goldstein visited the Museum in May 2003.
scope and content: Testimony about camp given by former inmates, SS men and women, in German, Polish, and English. MCU, Dr. Fritz Klein speaks in German about his experience in Bergen Belsen. In BG, SS continue to bury corpses in pit. Same introduction in CU. MCU, Hela Goldstein speaks in German. Commanding Officer speaks in English, stands in front of chalkboard graph,"Most unpleasant task has been making SS, of which there are about 50, bury the dead...buried about 17,000...expect to bury about half as much again. When we came here, the conditions were indescribable. The people had had no food for six days, and were eating turnips" Young British officer Gunner James Illingworth,"Today is 14th April 1945. My name is Gunner Illingworth and I live in Cheshire. I'm at present in Belsen camp doing guard duty on the SS men. The things at this camp are beyond describing. When you actually see them for yourselves, you know what you're fighting for here. Pictures in the paper can't describe it at all. The things they've committed, well, nobody would think they were human at all" MLS pan across path to Major P.J. Fox, RAMC (medical officer), standing in front of Red Cross jeep, describes his responsibility in camp and the enormity of the medical task. MCU woman in light coat (Dr. Hadassah Bimko, later Rosensaft) speaks in German, describing conditions in women's camp, medical experiments carried out on inmates. Behind her stands a docile, attentive group of women, all survivors. CU of her speaking. MS, man in beret and overcoat speaks in Polish about experiences as inmate. Same in MCU. Under rifle guard, SS throw, push, and kick bodies from the truck. Corpses, skeletal bodies. Reverend T.J. Stritch, Army chaplain, gives ID. Behind him is a pit with some bodies,"Never in my life have I seen such damnable ghastliness. This morning we buried over 5,000, we don't know who they are. Behind me you can see a pit which will contain another 5,000...All these deaths have been caused by systematic starv…
title: Belsen: German camp personnel identify themselves; British officers describe conditions; Hadassah Rosensaft speaks