The Buchenwald report

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In the final weeks of World War II, Allied forces uncovered the horrors of Nazi concentration camps, with Buchenwald being the first liberated in western Germany on April 11, 1945. A team of German-speaking U.S. Army intelligence officers was quickly sent to interview prisoners, aiming to compile a report for future war crimes trials. This effort led to the creation of The Buchenwald Report, a unique document that systematically recorded firsthand accounts of camp life, organization, and operations. Unfortunately, after the war, the report was nearly lost, with only portions used as evidence at the Nuremberg trials. Professor Eugen Kogon, a former prisoner who aided in the report's preparation, later referenced it in his own work, but the complete report remained unpublished and largely vanished over time. Recently, a single carbon copy was found, now translated and presented in book form for the first time. The book is divided into two parts: the Main Report, detailing the camp's history and structure based on official records and prisoner testimonies, and the Individual Reports, which capture the emotional and powerful eyewitness accounts of inmates. These narratives are organized by themes such as forced labor and daily life, offering a comprehensive view of Buchenwald from the prisoners' perspectives. The Buchenwald Report stands as a crucial testament to the atrocities of the Nazis, preserving the voices of those who endu