More than 100 survivors of the Nazi camp Bergen-Belsen, children born at the post-war displaced persons (DP) camp Bergen Belsen, as well as British liberators will travel to Lower Saxony, Germany on 26 April to mark the anniversary of the camp’s liberation 70 years ago. A delegation of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) will also take part in this event.
German President Joachim Gauck, Lower Saxony Governor Stephan Weil and World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder will be among the keynote speakers at the official ceremony on Sunday. On Saturday, the WJC delegation will be in Hanover.
The concentration camp Bergen-Belsen became one of the most notorious Nazi camps where more than 50,000 people were murdered. The British 11th Armored Division liberated the camp in April 1945. A Displaced Persons Camp – the largest in post-war Germany – was later established nearby. It was closed in September 1950. An estimated 2,000 children were born to Holocaust survivors at the Bergen-Belsen DP camp.
