Buchenwald Resistance
After liberation, the prisoners documented their experiences on paper and formed an international committee to look after the welfare of survivors.
The SS knew that Communists were able to organize people and that they had an international network, which, from the point of view of the concentration camp direction, was useful because after the start of the war, Buchenwald had a multilingual prisoner population.
When Germany later invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, the Communist prisoners at first lost these positions, but later managed to win them back.
They also worked with Social Democrats and middle class politicians to set up the People's Front policy of the Comintern.
They could, for example, place specific Resistance fighters on work details to infiltrate the notorious Dora-Mittelbau camp.
Nonetheless, prisoners like Albert Kuntz managed to build a resistance organization that committed sabotage of the V-2 rockets.
[2][7] Two American intelligence officers, Egon W. Fleck and First Lieutenant Edward A. Tenenbaum reported coming across a unit of thousands of armed prisoners, marching in formation outside the camp on April 11, 1945.
The film The Boys of Buchenwald examines their efforts to re-join society after their experience as Nazi prisoners.
The French film La Maison de Nina [fr] also examines the topic of children survivors.
The main members were Hermann Brill of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) as chairman, Dr. Werner Hilpert from the Zentrumspartei, later the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Ernst Thape [de] from the SPD and Walter Wolf of the Communist Party (KPD).
After the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp on April 11, 1945, there were several prisoners' groups that made resolutions and declarations.
[14] The role of Communist functionary prisoners is the subject of controversial debate, also because they were exploited by the German Democratic Republic (GDR).
In recent years, the question of how much the functionary prisoners cooperated with the SS and how much they themselves were part of the tyranny in the camp has also been much discussed.
[14] The Buchenwald Manifesto, written by doctor of law Hermann Brill[15] and others, calls for the eradication of fascism through specific measures, for the establishment of a People's Republic, labor reform (e.g. the eight-hour day and the right to form trade unions), for socialization of economy, peace and rights through reparations, humanism, freedom of education, the arts and "socialist unity".
The party began to function legally again and on April 22, 1945, held a delegates' meeting at Buchenwald, where the recent experiences were evaluated and a plan of action for the future was proclaimed.
(115)[12] This moment illustrates the extent of hope and boldness that was latent in the imprisoned people seemingly condemned to death; the knowledge that the Front was approaching, and along with it the Allied troops, provided much-needed confidence and a renewed sense of optimism to the people of the Resistance and others in the Buchenwald camp, as explained by the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum:On April 11, 1945, in expectation of liberation, starved and emaciated prisoners stormed the watchtowers, seizing control of the camp.
