When British troops entered Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on 15 April 1945, the gates were opened. But relief did not immediately follow. Instead, soldiers encountered silence broken only by coughing, the shuffle of weakened feet, and the low murmur of tens of thousands who had survived—but were barely alive. Years of starvation and disease had hollowed the prisoners. Bodies were reduced to bone and skin. Many could not stand. Some could not speak. A few no longer remembered their own names.

Queen Elizabeth II Visits Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp

In April 1945, Bergen-Belsen lay in ruins—thousands dead, thousands more barely clinging to life. Amid the ruins, a young British officer spotted a young girl wandering barefoot through the camp grounds, her small feet slashed and bruised by the debris and bodies around her. Without hesitation, he knelt, untied his own boots, and set them down in front of her. They were far too big, heavy with mud and wear, but they served as a shield against the cold ground. She clumsily put them on, stumbling

A Holocaust survivor born in a concentration camp shares her story

Twins credit parents' courage for surviving Holocaust