Celle massacre

On 8 April 1945 over 3,000 internees being transported to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp were killed in an Allied air raid and subsequent attacks on survivors by SS guards, Gestapo, and Nazi party officials, as well as members of the public.

[4] The surviving prisoners fled either into the town or westward towards the Neustadt wood while SS troops opened fire on them.

[2] Only 14 military and police personnel and political leaders were tried in the Celle Massacre Trial, which began in December 1947.

One of the death sentences was overturned on appeal and the other two were reduced to 15–20 years' imprisonment as part of a clemency issued by the British military governor.

[2][3] A memorial was inaugurated in Triftanlagen Park in Celle on 8 April 1992 and a copper beech tree was planted.

A British Army bulldozer pushes dead bodies into a mass grave at Belsen , 19 April 1945
Memorial and copper beech tree in Triftanlagen Park in Celle (2022)
Information board in Triftanlagen Park in Celle (2022)
Memorial in Celle
Memorial inscription at the foot of the tree in Celle