With tears in his eyes as he holds
roses in his left hand, Petro Mischtschuk poignantly stands on the
grounds of a Second World War concentration camp where more than 50,000
people lost their lives.
The 87-year-old Ukrainian survivor of the appalling Buchenwald yesterday laid flowers at a ceremony marking the 68th anniversary of the liberation of the camp outside Weimar, eastern Germany.
Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes, religious and political prisoners, Roma and Sinti, Jehovah's Witnesses, criminals, homosexuals, and prisoners of war died in the camp between 1937 and 1945.
Around 250,000 people from across Europe were kept in Buchenwald from when it opened in July 1937 until the liberation on April 11 in 1945, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
It was one of the largest concentration camps in Germany, although women were not taken there until late 1943. It was surrounded by an electrified barbed-wire fence, watchtowers and sentries.
Most of the early inmates were political prisoners, but following the Kristallnacht attacks in 1938 almost 10,000 Jews were sent to Buchenwald and subjected to astonishingly cruel treatment.
Medical experiments were carried
out on inmates from 1941 - some of which involved testing the
effectiveness of vaccines and attempting to ‘cure’ homosexuality through
hormonal transplants.
There were 112,000 prisoners there by February 1945 and it became an important source of forced labour for the Nazis, who opened a rail siding connected to enable the movement of war supplies.
The SS shot prisoners in the stables and hanged others in the crematorium. Shocking scenes were witnessed by U.S. forces when they entered the camp in April, finding starving survivors and corpses.
It is thought the SS killed at least 56,000 male prisoners at Buchenwald, 11,000 of whom were Jews.
The 87-year-old Ukrainian survivor of the appalling Buchenwald yesterday laid flowers at a ceremony marking the 68th anniversary of the liberation of the camp outside Weimar, eastern Germany.
Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes, religious and political prisoners, Roma and Sinti, Jehovah's Witnesses, criminals, homosexuals, and prisoners of war died in the camp between 1937 and 1945.
Emotional: Former Nazi concentration camp
survivor Petro Mischtschuk, 87, cries while holding roses in his hand
during a commemoration for the 68th anniversary of the liberation of
Buchenwald in Germany
Survivor: Former detainee Wiktor Karpus, from
Kiev, lays down a white rose at the memorial site for the Buchenwald
concentration camp near Weimar in central Germany yesterday
Roses laid: More than 50.000 prisoners - Jews,
non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes, religious and political prisoners, Roma
and Sinti, Jehovah's Witnesses, criminals, homosexuals, and prisoners of
war - died there
Commemorative: A white rose lies on a memorial stone at the site of Buchenwald concentration camp
Remembrance: A red carnation on the gate of the memorial site for Buchenwald concentration camp
Some 21,000 prisoners were freed by
U.S. forces in April 1945 - but 28,000 were evacuated by the Germans in
the days prior to the liberation, a third of whom died from exhaustion
or being shot.Around 250,000 people from across Europe were kept in Buchenwald from when it opened in July 1937 until the liberation on April 11 in 1945, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
It was one of the largest concentration camps in Germany, although women were not taken there until late 1943. It was surrounded by an electrified barbed-wire fence, watchtowers and sentries.
Most of the early inmates were political prisoners, but following the Kristallnacht attacks in 1938 almost 10,000 Jews were sent to Buchenwald and subjected to astonishingly cruel treatment.
In respect: Mr Mischtschuk lays flowers during a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the camp's liberation
Walking away: Mr Mischtschuk cries after laying down a rose during commemoration ceremonies yesterday
Never forgotten: Mr Mischtschuk (left) lays flowers during a ceremony marking the anniversary of liberation
Memories: Mr Karpus stands in observance during a ceremony marking the 68th anniversary of the liberation
Free: Inmates of the concentration camp
Buchenwald near Weimar, Germany, march to receive treatment at an
American hospital after the camp is liberated by General Patton's 3rd
U.S. Army troops, in April 1945
There were 112,000 prisoners there by February 1945 and it became an important source of forced labour for the Nazis, who opened a rail siding connected to enable the movement of war supplies.
The SS shot prisoners in the stables and hanged others in the crematorium. Shocking scenes were witnessed by U.S. forces when they entered the camp in April, finding starving survivors and corpses.
It is thought the SS killed at least 56,000 male prisoners at Buchenwald, 11,000 of whom were Jews.