29–30 April 1945
Soviet Forces Liberate Ravensbrück
Historical context
Soviet forces liberated Ravensbrück on 29–30 April 1945. Remaining SS guards fled on the 29th; the Red Army vanguard arrived on the 30th.
Archive record
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- Date
- 29–30 April 1945
- Verified sources
- 1
- Archive threads
- 5
Ravensbrück, opened in 1939, was the largest concentration camp in Germany created primarily for women. A men’s subcamp was added in 1941. In late April 1945 the SS forced about 20,000 women and most remaining men on a death march toward Mecklenburg. Remaining guards fled on 29 April.
USHMM dates the liberation as 29–30 April 1945: the Soviet vanguard arrived on 30 April, and regular units on 1 May found more than 2,000 sick prisoners. Between 1939 and 1945 more than 130,000 women and 20,000 men passed through the camp system; about 20,000 to 30,000 died there.
Research trail
Sources and further reading
- Liberation of Ravensbrück · United States Holocaust Memorial Museum · Holocaust Encyclopedia View source
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