Concentration Camp Bergen-Belsen: Its Origin, Development and Liberation (1965)

This broadcast from February 28, 1965 presents excerpts from a paper delivered at YIVO’s annual conference, which had taken place the month before. As Yedies reported at the time, Joseph Gar, a student of “the history of the recent catastrophe” (note that this was before the term “Holocaust” came into general use), presented a lecture on "Concentration Camp Bergen-Belsen: Its Origin, Development and Liberation." The original purpose of the camp was to house foreigners, including Jews, who could be exchanged for Germans interned in Allied countries. But soon a regime resembling that in other camps was introduced. Because of frightful overcrowding, epidemics broke out that took the lives of thousands, “including the now famous Anne Frank.” When the British liberated the camp on April 15, 1945 they encountered thousands of sick and dying prisoners.

From 1963-1976, YIVO had its own program on WEVD, the radio station established by the Socialist Party of America in 1927 (its call letters stand for the initials of American socialist leader Eugene V. Debs), which was purchased by the Jewish Daily Forward in 1932 and became a major venue from Yiddish programming.

YIVO used its spot on WEVD for Yiddish-language interviews and discussions with leading New York Yiddish cultural figures, as well as for reporting on its own scholarly and cultural work.

A new podcast of this program in the order in which it was originally broadcast will be posted here every two weeks.

Presentation of series curated by Matt Temkin, YIVO Sound Archives.

Listen to the program [in Yiddish].