Learn a little about the history of this dramatic photograph
If you’re a history buff with a particular interest in World War II, then chances are you’ve seen this image before. It obviously depicts a concentration camp inmate pointing an accusing finger at an apparently defeated Nazi officer, but of course there is more information behind the dramatic portrait. By the way, see the original (not colorized) version of the photo:
The scene was captured on April 14, 1945, at the Buchenwald concentration camp, located in Germany, and shows a Russian prisoner of war showing off a Nazi guard known for his particular brutality towards prisoners.
Interestingly, this photo was taken shortly after the camp was liberated by the Allies, which means that a few days before that, the same person would have avoided crossing paths with an officer if he could – and hours or even minutes before the click, the same attitude would have cost a Russian life.
The medal that can be seen on the chest of the German indicates that he participated in the First World War and was awarded for being wounded in battle once or twice, either as a result of hostile actions or as a result of exposure to the elements. Thus, the officer belonged to the Imperial German Army before he became a Nazi.
As for the soldier, it is not known who he was, but the Buchenwald concentration camp was used at the beginning of World War II to house political prisoners, and later Russians and Poles.
Unlike the infamous death camps, Buchenwald was technically a forced labor camp, and its inmates were used as slaves and forced to work 12 hours a day to keep active, 24 hours a day. There were no gas chambers in that place, but that doesn’t make the death toll any less frightening.
It was common for prisoners to literally work to death, not to mention hundreds of deaths every month from malnutrition, disease, beatings, and executions.
It is known that there were about 18,000 prisoners in Buchenwald after the event that became known as “Kristallnacht” – which took place in the early hours of November 9-10, 1938 and consisted of a series of terrorist attacks. organized by Nazi paramilitaries against the Jewish population, which resulted in the death of hundreds of people and the arrest of about 30,000 people.
On the eve of the war, Buchenwald had a population of about 11,000 prisoners, and at the end of 1944 the number exceeded 60,000. Then, in February 1945, the camp’s population jumped to 86,000 when the camp began accepting evacuees from Auschwitz.
According to the records kept by the camp, about 240,000 people from 30 different countries passed through Buchenwald during its existence. Of these, at least 10,000 were sent to death camps, and about 43,000 died there.