ON THIS DAY IN UNITED STATES HISTORY
April 4, 1945
The Ohrdruf Concentration Camp is Liberated by
4th Armored Division and the 89th Infantry Division of the U.S. Army
On this day in 1945, the U.S. Army 4th Armored Division and 89th Infantry Division arrived at the Ohrdruf
concentration camp to an appalling sight. There were piles of bodies, some partially incinerated. In one room,
twenty or thirty naked men who had died of starvation were stacked, waiting to be moved to pit a mile from the camp
to be buried. Just the month before, the camp had been the nightmare of about 11,700 prisoners, however when it
became clear that the Americans were quickly approaching, almost all of the live prisoners were evacuated. Most of
the remaining prisoners who were too weak to walk were killed. The Ohrdruf concentration camp was the first to be
liberated by American forces.
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