| Original caption: “These Russian, Polish, and Dutch slave laborers interned at the Buchenwald concentration camp averaged 160 pounds each prior to entering camp eleven months ago. Their average weight is now seventy pounds. Many had died from starvation when United States troops of the Eightieth Division took over the camp.” 3 completely emaciated prisoners of the Buchenwald concentration camp after their liberation in Block 56 of the “Little Camp.” In the middle: Dutch prisoner listed as a Büroangestellte (“office worker”) Simon L. Toncman (September 4, 1915 – September 29, 1972) Buchenwald prisoner number 126692. The Auschwitz number 178843 is tattooed on his arm. The man on the left exposes his buttocks to show the sores from necrosis from starvation and overwork. The Schutzstaffel (SS) set up a provisional quarantine area on the northern edge of the camp, below the stone barracks, in 1943. From here, the numerous subcamps of Buchenwald were to be supplied with workers. Cordoned off from the main camp, this zone included 12 windowless horse stalls originally planned for the Wehrmacht, which lacked sanitary facilities. Instead of beds there were simply 4-level, shelf-like boxes constructed from raw wood. Each of these stalls was originally intended for about 50 horses. In the Little Camp, however, about 1,000, and sometimes even 2,000 people had to stay here. In 1944, the SS had 5 additional tents erected. The Little Camp originally served the purpose of setting inmates apart for forced labor in the subcamps of Buchenwald. In early 1945, it became an overcrowded place, where people wasted away and died. In less than 100 days, some 6,000 people died here before the camp was liberated. Most of them were Jewish inmates who had been brought to Buchenwald with transports from Auschwitz and Groß-Rosen. The remains of paths and foundations that have now again been made visible bear testimony to how improvised and primitive the living conditions were in the Little Camp. Toncman was born in Oss, Netherlands. He trained as an accountant. In 1942, he was deported to Auschwitz. He survived the selection, more than 2 years of camp life, and the death march that brought him in early 1945 to Buchenwald. The Little Camp was liberated on April 11, 1945, with the rest of Buchenwald. 5 days after the liberation of Buchenwald, Private Harry Miller (???? – ????) of the United States 3rd Army’s 166th Signal Photographic Company entered block 56. He decided to take a photo showing the many emaciated and naked inmates, including Elie Wiesel, crowded in their bunks, and this view. Toncman returned to Oss, Netherlands and married Auschwitz survivor Judith “Jet” Kalker (July 28, 1923 – March 29, 2001). They had 4 children after the war. Mina van Dijk (June 27, 1882 – March 10, 1949) mother of Simon Toncman, survived and lived in Oss after the war as an accountant. His father Joseph Toncman (October 19, 1873 – June 1, 1934) died before the war in Oss. Maria “Mietje” van Blijdenstijn (May 1, 1890 – May 14, 1943), Judith “Jet” Kalker’s mother; Izaäk Kalker (March 2, 1883 – May 14, 1943), her father; Mozes Levie Kalker (March 8, 1926 – July 23, 1943), Jet’s brother; Antje Jeannette Kalker (April 4, 1929 – May 14, 1943), her sister; and Henriette Alexandra Toncman (October 20, 1906 – June 11, 1943), Simon Toncman’s sister; died in Sobibór during Operation Reinhard. Simon Toncman’s brothers Abraham Toncman (June 16, 1905 – April 30, 1943), died in Auschwitz; and Alexander Toncman (June 09, 1908 – October 07, 1942), died in Mauthausen Konzentrationslager (KZ “concentration camp”). Rachel “Ro” Kalker (April 16, 1922 – January 9, 2018), Jet’s sister, survived and lived in Ophemert, Netherlands. Simon Toncman’s sisters, Emalia Toncman (February 1, 1910 – 1996), and Kaatje Toncman, (March 29, 1911 – after 1945), survived and also lived in Oss with Simon, Jet, and their mother. The other 2 men in this photo remain unidentified. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0546.jpg |
| Image Size | 543.91 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2370 x 2928 |
| Photographer | Harry Miller |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | April 16, 1945 |
| Location | Konzentrationslager Buchenwald |
| City | Weimar |
| State or Province | Thuringia |
| Country | Germany |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-111-SC-203648 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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