On April 15, 1945, the first German concentration camp was discovered, revealing the barbaric truth about what was happening inside.
A British SAS (Special Air Service) squadron had been sent on a reconnaissance mission in the region, led by Lieutenant John Randall. During the mission, the lieutenant came across an area with impressive iron gates, believing it to be the entrance to some mansion. At first glance, everything seemed abandoned. But as soon as he approached the Bergen-Belsen camp, he would be horrified to discover what lay there.
Lieutenant John Randall
John was already an experienced soldier. Up to that year, he had already completed many important missions on the Western Front . However, even with his specialized training and all his years of experience, nothing could have prepared him for what he would see when he entered Bergen-Belsen. At that point, most of the world knew that concentration camps existed, but they thought it was a hard labor camp for Jews. They never imagined that, for almost two years, one of the greatest genocides in the history of the planet took place there.
Near the concentration camp, Lieutenant John warned two SS soldiers who did not seem frightened by the arrival of the Allied troops. They weren't even armed. The squad approached some wooden huts that appeared abandoned, but upon opening them, they discovered they were packed with Jews, crammed together like sardines in a can. Most were malnourished and sick, without the energy to even support themselves on their hands.
Throughout the camp, the SAS squad observed people who looked more like skeletons dressed in old, dirty rags. Often, they weren't even wearing that, being naked from head to toe.
By this time, Lieutenant John had realized he was in a Nazi concentration camp and that there were Jewish prisoners in front of him. Struggling to resist the terrible, strong odor, John spoke briefly with some prisoners, telling them that Allied soldiers were nearby and that more people were arriving to help them.
During the liberation of Bergen-Belsen in April 1945, SS guards were forced to carry the bodies of their victims onto transport trucks on their way to cremation.
One of the first people the lieutenant spoke to was Mady Goldgruber, a Hungarian girl of Jewish origin who was only 15 years old. She spotted the British through the window and, despite barely having the strength, left the hut where she was and ran towards the soldiers. Later, she would describe the arrival of the British as the greatest miracle of her life.
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