The Liberation of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp

How the U.S. Army used questionnaires for concentration camp inmates

One of the largest concentration camps operating during the National Socialist era was located on the Ettersberg Mountain near Weimar. Between July 1937 and April 1945, the National Socialists brought 277,800 people from more than fifty countries to Buchenwald or one of its subcamps. In the camps the inmates had to carry out extremely heavy labor, starting in 1942 above all in the armaments industry. Some 56,000 inmates were murdered, died of undernourishment, disease, and the inhumane living and working conditions in the camps, or lost their lives during the death marches.

“Comrades, we are free!”

When the U.S. Army reached the Buchenwald concentration camp on the early afternoon of April 11, 1945, many of the SS personnel had already fled the camp. With joint forces and a small number of weapons, inmate resistance groups had overpowered the remaining SS guard units and occupied the camp gate. At 3:15 p.m., Camp Senior Hans Eiden announced on the camp PA system:

Not long afterward, the first American soldiers entered the camp. The U.S. Army immediately began providing food and medical aid to the inmates, some of whom had been reduced to skin and bones. Despite the assistance measures carried out in what was now known as the Displaced Persons Camp Buchenwald, hundreds of former inmates succumbed to the consequences of the concentration camp conditions even after the liberation.

Return Home, Emigration, or Further Imprisonment?

In most cases, the arrival of the Allied troops did not mean that the former inmates could leave the camp immediately. Many of the liberated persons were severely ill and undernourished and required medical care. What is more, procedures had to be created for releasing them and enabling them to return to their home countries or emigrate elsewhere. The Military Government of Germany—the American-occupied zone’s highest-ranking military authority—introduced a detailed questionnaire which all inmates liberated from the concentration camp by American troops were required to complete.

In addition to asking for personal information, the questionnaire provided the inmates with the first opportunity to describe the details of their detention, for example especially cruel treatment, as well as the reasons for their imprisonment and the names of the perpetrators. Despite these efforts, only 79 of Buchenwald’s approximately 9,000 SS and wardens were sentenced after 1945.

The questionnaires specifically requested information about memberships in Nazi organizations such as the NSDAP (Nazi party). By these means, the U.S. authorities hoped to be able to identify inmates with Nazi pasts, war criminals, and collaborators. On the basis of the questionnaires, a military board decided whether a person should be released, transferred to a different place of detention, or taken into custody as a prisoner of war. To date, not a single questionnaire indicating that the board voted against a release has been found in the online archive.

False and Incomplete Answers

Many of liberated inmates reacted negatively to the questionnaires. They considered the question regarding Nazi membership an insult. Afraid of trouble after their release, many of them deliberately provided false or incomplete information. Still others left spaces blank or expressed themselves in a way they thought might help speed up their release.

Example: Documents of Josef Jenei

When we compare Josef Jenei’s questionnaire with the prisoner registration form filled out at the time of his arrival in the Buchenwald concentration camp, we find two conspicuous differences: Jenei changed the information regarding his origins and his profession. Rather than Hungarian as before, he stated Romanian as his nationality, and he no longer described himself as a painter and draftsman but as a journalist. The reason for the latter change was that, whereas in a concentration camp there was a greater need for draftsmen than for journalists, after the war journalists were in higher demand.

Displeasure about Delays

Another cause of discontent among the liberated inmates was the fact that the questionnaires slowed down their release. The inmates were required to answer the questions in English, which was difficult for many of them. They accordingly had to rely on help from fellow inmates who served as interpreters. Officially, the questionnaire was supposed to be completed on a typewriter—another cause for delays. What is more, the authorities often had difficulty obtaining empty questionnaire forms. The completed questionnaires were collected and then processed in batches. It took an average of eleven days for the board to reach its decision.

More Than 15,000 Questionnaires from Buchenwald

One of the earliest questionnaires from Buchenwald was filled out on April 16, 1945, five days after the U.S. troops’ arrival in the camp. The final meeting of the military board took place on June 25, 1945, by which time it had decided on the release of 3,781 persons. By August 1945, all survivors left the camp.

The total number of questionnaires completed is not known. A list drawn up in 1954 contains approximately 15,000 entries from the Buchenwald concentration camp alone, where the inmate population numbered some 21,000 on the day of the liberation.

The Documents in the Arolsen Archives

Today the Arolsen Archives have some 11,000 questionnaires from the Buchenwald concentration camp in their holdings. Among them is the questionnaire of Hermann Kerkeling, the grandfather of the well-known comedian, author, and actor Hape Kerkeling. Hermann Kerkeling was questioned in Buchenwald on April 27, 1945 and officially released from detention ten days later.

Despite the circumstances surrounding their history, the questionnaires represent a special source. They were the first opportunity given to liberated inmates to describe what they had experienced in their own words. The April 2026 #everynamecounts project taking place on the days surrounding the anniversary of Buchenwald’s liberation is dedicated to these documents.