In the final weeks of World War II, Allied forces uncovered the horrors of Nazi concentration camps, with Buchenwald being the first liberated in western Germany on April 11, 1945. A team of German-speaking U.S. Army intelligence officers was quickly sent to interview prisoners, aiming to compile a report for future war crimes trials. This effort led to the creation of The Buchenwald Report, a unique document that systematically recorded firsthand accounts of camp life, organization, and operations. Unfortunately, after the war, the report was nearly lost, with only portions used as evidence at the Nuremberg trials. Professor Eugen Kogon, a former prisoner who aided in the report's preparation, later referenced it in his own work, but the complete report remained unpublished and largely vanished over time. Recently, a single carbon copy was found, now translated and presented in book form for the first time. The book is divided into two parts: the Main Report, detailing the camp's history and structure based on official records and prisoner testimonies, and the Individual Reports, which capture the emotional and powerful eyewitness accounts of inmates. These narratives are organized by themes such as forced labor and daily life, offering a comprehensive view of Buchenwald from the prisoners' perspectives. The Buchenwald Report stands as a crucial testament to the atrocities of the Nazis, preserving the voices of those who endu
David A. Hackett Libri
David A. Hackett è un professore di storia specializzato nella storia tedesca e nel XX secolo. Il suo lavoro approfondisce temi di guerra, giustizia e memoria, come dimostra la sua traduzione e curatela del Rapporto di Buchenwald. Attraverso la sua ricerca e l'insegnamento, Hackett cerca di illuminare le complesse questioni dei crimini di guerra e delle loro conseguenze. Il suo prossimo libro si concentrerà sui processi contro ufficiali e guardie di Buchenwald, approfondendo così la nostra comprensione delle ingiustizie storiche e della ricerca di responsabilità.


Der Buchenwald-Report
Bericht über das Konzentrationslager Buchenwald bei Weimar
Nach fünf Jahrzehnten wurde in diesem Buch zum ersten Mal der verloren geglaubte Buchenwald-Report veröffentlicht. Geschrieben von Häftlingen unmittelbar nach der Befreiung, schildert er ebenso umfassend wie beklemmend präzise die Welt eines deutschen Konzentrationslagers. Der Bericht und die 168 Aufzeichnungen der befragten Häftlinge geben eine einzigartige Innenansicht des Lagerlebens, die das Werk zu einem «Schlüsseldokument» (David S. Wyman) für die Geschichte des Holocaust werden läßt.