Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp

Here are two official war photographs I found in a box at a Militaria Fair some years ago. They are of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The first shows the horror in the woods with lines of prisoners who died in the camp. The second, I believe, shows two soldiers saluting in one of the graveyards created after Liberation.

Call for a Priest

During the Second World War, people were concerned about being killed or injured during German bombing of towns and cities. Until I found this at a local car boot sale, I was unaware that there had been Identity Card covers aimed at Catholics. I've not seen another . . .

Burials and Exhumation

Two more official war photographs from my collection. They show burial and exhumation.

The first is dated October 2, 1944 and was passed for publication by the US Army Press Censor on October 11. It is captioned:

War Ended for these Nazis
Dead Germans left behind by their retreating comrades are buried by Nazi prisoners of war in [a] cemetery at Eloyes, France.

I was struck by a number of things: the closeness of the wooden crosses, the visible lack of guards, the fact that the burials are outside of the cemetery and, most sadly, the pile of corpses in the foreground with a cross laid on each. The photograph was taken by a US Army photographer.

The second image is dated September 2, 1944 and was passed by the Censor four days later. The caption reads:

Bodies of Gestapo Victims exhumed in France
Under the Direction of a member of the French Red Croos, German prisoners exhume bodies of victims of the Gestapo in Grenoble for identification and appropriate burial in a common grave.

I found some footage of another exhumation in Grenoble on this link:

http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675049517_coffins_placing-flowers_victims-of-Gestapo_digging-graves

Waiting for the Embalming Process to Begin

It was a chance find. A piece of cloth and a small envelope of snapshots. Together, they revealed a little known episode of military history. This is what I know. The piece of white material is an arm band. It bears the letters C A M C and was worn by US servicemen and women working at the Cambridge American Military Cemetery.

The cemetery was first established in December 1943 on 30.5 acres of land donated by the University of Cambridge. It was selected as a permanent American Military Cemetery, not only because of its scenic grandeur, but also because a large proportion of American casualties occurred in this general area of East Anglia. The cemetery was not dedicated until July 1956.

It contains 3,809 headstones, with the remains of 3,812 servicemen, including airmen who died over Europe and sailors from North Atlantic convoys. What isn't well documented is that, with the Graves Registration unit based there, a team of uniformed embalmers worked tirelessly to 'prepare' the bodies for burial. This surprised me as I always imagined that the bodies - after all the accounting paperwork was processed and the personal effects collected - were simply placed into a coffin and buried with due military honours. How do I know this?

Well, the arm band came with a newspaper cutting and a number of photographs of the preparation room in the embalming huts. The cutting records that Technical Sgt Jimmy was based at the Cemetery and was a practising embalmer. Indeed, while there he was admitted to the British Institute of Embalmers.

Jimmy was born on 23 Feb 1914. He enlisted in Baltimore in April 1941 and his occupation was recorded as embalmer and undertaker. He died in Cumberland, MD aged 96 on 21 April 2010.

When you look at the photographs which are marked on the reverse with the words 'Prep. Room', you will notice all the paraphenalia hanging around including piping and hoses used in the process of embalming. If the white sheet draped over the embalming tables is raised, then a body is under the sheet awaiting preparation. When I look at them, it gives me the shivers.

Photograph: American Battle Monuments Commission
(courtesy of Creative Commons)

Download a copy of the 1945 Graves Registration Manual HERE. It is a fascinating document.

View or download the illustrated Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial Guide HERE

View a video of the Cemetery HERE