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WITNESSING THE HOLOCAUST | Personal accounts of a crime against humanity

About this collection

These programmes and documents chart the reactions and personal testimonies of some of those who witnessed the Nazis' "Final Solution".

Interviews, journals and documentaries starkly convey the realities of the camps. Survivors recount their experiences of the genocide and its continuing legacy.

This collection also illustrates the shock felt by the liberators and how the atrocities were revealed by UK broadcasters.

Witnessing The Holocaust Collection

 

Edward Ward.

Buchenwald Concentration Camp

BROADCAST 1945
12 MINUTES

Seven days after its liberation, the horrors of Buchenwald are made known.

go to Buchenwald Concentration Camp
Matthew Halton - Source: Library and Archives Canada/Department of National Defence fonds/PA-204812.

Gestapo in Holland

RECORDED 1945
4 MINUTES

A Canadian reporter provides a first hand account of a concentration camp near Zutphen.

go to Gestapo in Holland
Richard Dimbleby.

Richard Dimbleby Describes Belsen

BROADCAST 1945
12 MINUTES

The broadcaster recounts the horrors of Belsen.

go to Richard Dimbleby Describes Belsen
Patrick Gordon Walker.

Patrick Gordon Walker

Belsen Facts and Thoughts

BROADCAST 1945
14 MINUTES

The survivors and the soldiers who relieved Belsen bear witness to the horrors of the camp.

go to Patrick Gordon Walker - Belsen Facts and Thoughts
Harold Osmond le Druillenec © Corbis.

Harold Osmond le Druillenec

RECORDED 1945
2 MINUTES

The only Briton found alive in Belsen describes his experiences there.

go to Harold Osmond le Druillenec
Boy rescued from belsen concentration camp © Getty.

Captive Children

BROADCAST 1945
5 MINUTES

A Red Cross appeal seeking relatives of children liberated from concentration and labour camps.

go to Captive Children
Mauthausen concentration camp.

Forgotten Allies

Popek

BROADCAST 1955
4 MINUTES

A Polish commercial artist describes his experiences in a German concentration camp.

go to Forgotten Allies - Popek
Pieter Menten.

Tonight

Pieter Menten's War

BROADCAST 1977
37 MINUTES

'Tonight' on the trail of Dutch war criminal Pieter Menten.

go to Tonight - Pieter Menten's War
Otto Frank and Lesley Judd.

Blue Peter

BROADCAST 1979
13 MINUTES

'Blue Peter' explores the Anne Frank story.


go to Blue Peter
Auschwitz concentration camp.

The Gathering

BROADCAST 1982
61 MINUTES

Harrowing memories of the concentration camps recounted by survivors.

go to The Gathering
XXX.

The Mysterious Messenger

BROADCAST 1985
44 MINUTES

The story of the man who warned the Allies about the Final Solution.

go to The Mysterious Messenger
Primo Levi © AFP/Getty Images.

Woman's Hour

Primo Levi

BROADCAST 1986
8 MINUTES

One of Auschwitz's most famous survivors talks to Sue MacGregor.

go to Woman's Hour - Primo Levi
Simon Wiesenthal.

Portrait

Simon Wiesenthal

BROADCAST 1989
29 MINUTES

Broadcaster Ludovic Kennedy meets Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal.

go to Portrait - Simon Wiesenthal
Enigma machine.

Today

Holocaust Documents released

BROADCAST 1997
6 MINUTES

Documents reveal that Britain knew something of the Nazi slaughter of the Jews as early as 1941.

go to Today - Holocaust Documents released
Helen Bamber - Courtesy of Helen Bamber.

Personal Touch

Helen Bamber

BROADCAST 2002
27 MINUTES

Helen Bamber shares her memories of the liberation of Belsen.

go to Personal Touch - Helen Bamber
Fence at Auschwitz.

Personal Touch

Marianne Grant

BROADCAST 2003
54 MINUTES

Artist Marianne Grant tells of how she was forced to paint for Dr Josef Mengele in Auschwitz.

go to Personal Touch - Marianne Grant
Adrian Salt.

Grandchild of the Holocaust

BROADCAST 2005
58 MINUTES

A Holocaust survivor and her grandson return to the scene to unlock her story.

go to Grandchild of the Holocaust

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