Never-before-seen footage reveals the moment U.S. troops rescue thousands of Jews from the Nazi death train en route to Theresienstadt concentration camp in a dramatic eleventh-hour rescue
Stunning never-before-seen footage of American soldiers freeing a train of 2,500 Jewish prisoners en route to a Nazi death camp in the twilight of World War II has been unearthed by an American high school history teacher.
The rescue operation, dubbed the ‘Miracle at Farsleben’, took place on April 13, 1945, when a train carrying Jewish prisoners from Bergen-Belsen to Theresienstadt concentration camps was forced to stop near the village of Farsleben to avoid being caught in the crossfire from an artillery battle between American and German troops.
The SS officers in charge, with the prospect of failing to complete their grim task, had been ordered to execute as many of their prisoners as possible.
But the Nazi officers abandoned their posts and fled when an American jeep and tank arrived on the scene, no doubt saving all 2,500 prisoners from the bleak fate that befell some 6 million of their relatives.
The newly discovered three-minute clip portrays the aftermath of the liberation, showing the thin and battered survivors, many of whom were dressed in torn clothes and suffering from a lice infestation. being saved.
The footage was filmed by one of the US Ninth Army soldiers, who happened to have a camera handy.
The newly discovered three-minute clip portrays the aftermath of the liberation
Jewish prisoners scream as American soldiers board the train to assist in evacuations
An exhausted Jewish woman lies down after being evacuated from a train carrying 2,500 prisoners to a Nazi concentration camp
The phrases “three cheers for America” and “long leve the USA and the English” are etched on the side of the train amid the rescue efforts
A young boy gazes warily at the camera after being freed from the Nazi train
Prisoners celebrate and thank American soldiers who stopped the train
The newly revealed footage has brought to life the harrowing stories of the soldiers who rescued the captives
The important find is credited to Matthew Rozell, a dedicated New York history teacher who has been researching the Holocaust for more than three decades
The newly revealed footage has brought to life the harrowing stories of the soldiers who rescued the captives, and four survivors of the train have since identified themselves.
Holocaust survivor Jacob Barzilai, 90, told Israeli media he saw his 12-year-old self and his mother and sister in the footage.
He told Channel 12 that he has seen “countless” pictures of the train’s liberation in the past, but has never been able to find himself or any of his family members in the footage.
“It was unthinkable, incomprehensible and I couldn’t breathe that I found what I had been looking for for years,” he said.
George Gross, a tank commander who was present at the liberation, recalled: ‘Everyone looked like a skeleton, so starving, their faces sick. And there was something else. When they saw us, they began to laugh for joy, if you can call that laughter. It was more like a burst of pure, almost hysterical relief.”
The important find is credited to Matthew Rozell, a dedicated New York history teacher who has been researching the Holocaust for more than three decades.
His mission to engage his students led him to interview local World War II veterans, one of whom shared the incredible story of finding the death train in Farsleben.
The story piqued his interest and sent him on a path of years of research, during which Rozell painstakingly gathered more and more information about the Miracle at Farsleben.
His efforts culminated in a book, ‘A Train Near Magdeburg: A Teacher’s Journey into the Holocaust’, published in 2016, and a documentary series with ITV.
Extraordinarily powerful images of the aftermath of the rescue of 2,500 Jews transported by the SS from Belsen to Theresienstadt in April 1945 have surfaced after nearly 80 years
A rescued prisoner in aviator glasses grins after being rescued
The newly discovered three-minute clip portrays the aftermath of the liberation, showing the thin and battered survivors, many of whom were dressed in torn clothes and suffering from lice infestations, who were relieved in varying degrees, euphoric and completely exhausted.
An exhausted woman holds her young child after she is freed from the clutches of the Nazis
A man ponders his changing fortunes after being freed from the Nazi train
Prisoners are seen recovering along the side of the tracks
The authenticity of the images has been verified by renowned historians of the Second World War
Rozell expressed the importance of this discovery, describing the footage as another piece of evidence to undermine the narrative of Holocaust deniers.
The latest footage was found by a team at the US National Archives after Rozell received a tip from a museum employee who had seen a short clip from a German documentary.
Rozell expressed the importance of this discovery, describing the footage as another piece of evidence to undermine the narrative of Holocaust deniers.
“I don’t want to say I’m happy or justified because even without these images, this is an incredible story. But to actually see it is another nail in the coffin of Holocaust denial, we hope,” said the teacher.
The authenticity of the footage has been verified by renowned historians of World War II, who emphasized the emotional impact of the scenes captured on film.
Guy Walters, one of those historians, described it as “amazing,” highlighting how the survivors’ expressions tell a profound story of both pain and relief.
The survivors themselves, not dressed in prison uniforms, came from a part of Belsen reserved for persons whom the Nazis believed could be used as leverage in negotiations with foreign governments.
But while they were treated relatively better than those driven directly to extermination camps, these prisoners still endured great suffering, experiencing malnutrition and diseases such as typhus while starved and crammed into cramped, squalid living quarters.