Rare footage of the moment when US soldiers liberated 2,500 of Jews from a Nazi death train has been uncovered by a researcher, with some of those who were on board since spotting themselves or family members in the silent, black-and-white clip. Though many photographs exist of the so-called Farsleben Train, liberated on April 13, 1945, it is the first time that moving images of the dazed, relieved prisoners greeting their GI rescuers have emerged. The film was recently found in the US National Archives by author Matthew Rozell, a Holocaust researcher who in 2016 published a book about the train liberation titled “A Train Near Magdeburg.” One of the American soldiers, Abraham Cohen, shouted to the bewildered prisoners, "Ich bin euech a Yidd" (Yiddish: "I am also a Jew") and showed them the Star of David hanging around his neck.
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Never-before-seen footage of Nazi death train liberation unearthed 78 years later
Exclusive: Nearly eight decades after U.S. Army soldiers freed 2,500 Jews from Nazi clutches, newly-discovered footage in the U.S. National Archives reveals poignant scenes of liberation
Seventy-eight years after the 30th Division of the U.S. Army saved 2,500 Jews from the so-called Nazi death train which was transporting them from Bergen-Belsen concentration camp to Theresienstadt, moving never-before-seen footage taken by U.S. Army soldiers on the day of the train's liberation on April 13, 1945, was discovered.
The Germans on the train were ordered to blow up the train over the Elbe River if they could not deliver it to Theresienstadt concentration camp, killing all 2,500 Jewish passengers from Bergen-Belsen. After six days of travel starting on April 7, 1945, the train was halted on April 13, 1945, near the town of Farsleben, Germany, close to Magdeburg and was unable to move due to the bombing by the Allies in the area.
Around 4 pm, an American reconnaissance jeep accompanied by a U.S. Army tank arrived from the hill. They were American soldiers from the 30th Division of the U.S. Army. The American soldiers found the train guarded by Nazi sentinels. The train's engine was running and ready to move. Suddenly, the Nazi soldiers noticed the American tanks and fled, leaving behind 2,500 Jews, a third of whom were children who thought they were being taken to their deaths.
As the Nazis fled, several of the civilians, mostly women, girls and children, rose and rushed toward the American soldiers with cries of joy. Only then did the soldiers notice the passengers' horrific state.
George Gross, the commander of the American tank, recounted the encounter. "Everyone looked like a skeleton, so starved, their faces sick. And there was something else. When they saw us, they began to laugh with joy, if you can call it laughter. It was more like an outburst of pure, almost hysterical relief."
The survivors said that when they saw the Americans, they hugged them and cried happily. One of the American soldiers, Abraham Cohen, shouted to the bewildered prisoners, "Ich bin euech a Yidd" (Yiddish: "I am also a Jew") and showed them the Star of David hanging around his
The liberation of the train was documented in many still photos, but never in video. The clip was found in the U.S. National Archives during work on a documentary about the train rescue mission initiated by Matthew Rozell, a New York-based history teacher who has been researching the event and interviewing American veterans who were among the train rescuers since 2001. He enlisted director Mike Edwards to create the film, and during the work, the poignant footage was discovered.
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