RAF

RAF at Belsen – Football!

A couple of weeks or so after the liberation of the Belsen concentration camp, we had occasion to go into the camp — I don’t remember why.
Kommandant Kramer and his assistant Irma Grese were still on site and some of the inmates were wandering around, still in their blue-and-white striped ‘uniforms.’ There were still bodies lying around the camp.

Later, when we had returned to camp, the Red Cross brought some of the young inmates into the camp, presumably so they could be looked after away from the dreadful conditions in Belsen. Some of our lads started up a game of football and the young boys from Belsen were eager to join in, but the Red Cross people raced out to stop them, saying they were much too weak and should conserve their energy.

Alec Wilson, WW2 Peoples War, 2004

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This archive has been established after my own relative, Reg Price, took part in the liberation and subsequent humanitarian effort of Bergen Belsen in April 1945. Reg produced this famous sign at Belsen. As part of the 113th DLI, Reg and his comrades were at Belsen for 5 weeks and left when the last hut was empty and ceremonially burnt down. This archive compiles all available resources to build a lasting tribute to all the men and women who helped - any unit, any nationality. If you have a relative, or any info, on the relief effort at Belsen, we’d love you to please get in touch. Email us: liberator@belsen.co.uk – Thank you Nick Price Creatives • Facebook • Twitter •