Marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen

17/04/2015: General House - Rome

Each year the Jewish community worldwide observes Yom Hashoah on the 27th day of the month of Nisan. Many Jewish communities hold commemorative ceremonies or events to remember Holocaust victims who died during World War II.  This year Yom HaShoah falls on April 15th. 

MARKING THE 70th ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION OF BERGEN-BELSEN

On the afternoon of April 15th​

1945, British troops liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in northern Germany. They were met with scenes of unimaginable horror. Some 13,000 dead bodies were slowly decomposing in the spring sun while another 60,000 gaunt figures were alive but emaciated, sick and starving, teetering on the precipice of death. In the days after the British arrival, the prisoners continued to perish at a rate of 500 a day, most due to the typhus that riddled the overcrowded camp. The liberators burned the camp to the ground to contain the epidemic.

The Sisters of Sion, together with their Friends and Associates, stand in sorrow with the Jewish community very specially this week and assure them of our prayers.