| German civilians of Nordhousen carry the bodies of dead political prisoners to a makeshift cemetery, after being forced by the liberating American forces to bury the dead from the Nazi German slave labor camp in the town. The Burgermeister (“Mayor”) was ordered by the American military government officer to round up 600 men to inter the 2,500 bodies found unburied in the camp. After Nordhausen was liberated, Major Malcolm L. Downs (July 14, 1911 – September 7, 1976) took charge of the health situation, arranging for the bodies to be removed from the barracks and for the survivors to be housed. He recalled, “After arriving in Nordhausen on Thursday, April 12, 1945, at about 1300 Hours, I immediately went to the concentration camp south of the city. Lieutenant Colonel Paulette informed me that I was charged with removing the dead bodies.” “A medical unit of the 104th Infantry Division had already begun to transfer the sick. Major Kelly (???? – ????) of the 104th Division placed sixteen law enforcement officers at my disposal. They collected about four hundred German civilians. Of these, about hundred and fifty men were employed in cleaning the area, while the remaining two hundred and fifty had to remove the bodies from the buildings and transfer them to an open space. At about 1500 Hours, the work was interrupted for about thirty minutes; during this interval the Catholic chaplain celebrated a Mass in memory of the dead. By 1900 Hours about fifteen hundred bodies had been transferred and work ceased for the day.” “On April 13 at 1600 Hours, I was ordered to organize the transfer of the deportees and to set up a camp. This camp was set up in Kasselstrasse, for about a hundred people. There were also two small camps: one at about seven kilometers (four miles) north of the city, where there were eight hundred Russians and another on three kilometers east of Guidenslamer with five hundred Russians. Then we got to know the labor camp of Dora, five kilometers north of the city. Excellent sanitary facilities were found that could suffice for eighteen thousand five hundred people. Electricity and running water were in order and there was still a supply of three hundred to five hundred tons of coal. The camp itself was empty, except for the hospital where nine hundred patients were. The army was then asked for twenty-eight thousand rations to feed the deportees. It is estimated that there were thirty-five thousand deportees in the Landkreis.” “On Saturday, April 14, 1945, a first detachment of five Military Police Officers and ten Non-Commissioned Officers, led by Captain Fleischman (???? – ????), arrived and the camp was handed over to them. The transfer of the deportees from the camp on Kasselstrasse to Dora began at 1300 Hours.” “On Sunday, April 15, at 1700 Hours, Lieutenant Colonel Robert D. Cameron (December 22, 1895 – October 31, 1965) of the Seventh Detachment assumed charge of the deportee camps. I accompanied him in the inspection of these camps, explaining to him what had been done. The United States First Army then received five trucks of food and sent them immediately to the Dora camp. By 1200 Hours everything had been transferred and the detachment was able to rejoin.” United States Army Lieutenant Colonel David W. Paulette of the 104th Infantry Division, in his capacity as camp supervisor, arranged for the survivors of Nordhausen to be transferred to hospital services and for a cemetery to be prepared for the burial of the 2,017 bodies. In his unit’s report, Paulette recalled his actions at Boelcke-Kaserne: “In accordance with instructions from the G-5 Jayhawk [Seventh Corps Government Operations Officer], it was decided to give preference to the work in the concentration camp, south of the city. Captain Lambert was sent ahead of the detachment as an outpost to contact the city authorities, to see if a solution could be found for the necessary work, and to discuss other necessary details with the camp occupants. Lieutenant Colonel Paulette and Major Downs then went directly to the camp for an initial inspection. On our arrival we found Cranbery’s (???? – ????) medical unit busy evacuating surviving camp inmates. A temporary hospital was set up in a row of apartment houses, on Steinstrasse, to which seven hundred prisoners were transferred. Due to lack of supplies and comfort, and because of the terrible physical condition of the evacuees, a very critical situation had developed. The Fifty-First Field Hospital was then called in and the four hundred worst cases were taken there. By 1530 hours all the living had been removed from the camp and taken under cover, where they were given a medical check-up. Major Downs then gathered together about four hundred German civilians from the vicinity and the gathering of the dead could begin. By nightfall twelve hundred bodies had been removed from the buildings. In the meantime we sought an acceptable solution for the burial. It was decided to do this towards the end of the afternoon. The mayor on duty was informed by Captain Lambert that six hundred German civilians were to report to the cemetery the following morning at 0700 Hours. These workers were immediately divided into two groups: four hundred were employed to clear the cemetery and prepare the graves, the remaining two hundred were sent to the part of the camp under the command of Sergeant Harold (???? – ????) and his five Military Police Officers (MPs). The gathering of the bodies continued in the meantime, while the other civilians were required to dig the graves. In the late afternoon four hundred bodies were brought out on improvised stretchers, from the camp to the cemetery. The burial had begun. By Saturday night all the bodies had been removed from the camp and 1,958 victims had been buried.” “During Saturday and Saturday night, there were another sixty-nine deaths among those who had been taken to the hospital. They were collected by the German stretcher-bearers and taken to the cemetery. Today, April 15, 1945 at 1400 Hours, 2,027 bodies were buried. The cemetery was cleaned and white markings were placed at the head of the graves. Attached is a plan of the cemetery, with the arrangement of the graves. It is recommended that the detachment of the military administration assigned to Nordhausen should exercise constant control over the cemetery and see that grass is sown. And that every possible effort should be made to beautify that place. The city should also be urged to erect a kind of monument at the place in question.” Acme Photographer Harold “Hal” Siegman (January 22, 1916 – June 11, 1990) took this photo, and it was nationally syndicated on April 24, 1945. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0607.jpg |
| Image Size | 728.48 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2384 x 1744 |
| Photographer | Harold Siegman |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | April 14, 1945 |
| Location | Konzentrationslager-Außenlager Boelcke-Kaserne |
| City | Nordhausen |
| State or Province | Thuringia |
| Country | Germany |
| Archive | United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |
| Record Number | 13381 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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