The video, filmed 78 years ago by American soldiers, documents the remarkable event known as the "Miracle at Farsleben," when US troops intervened and freed thousands of imprisoned Jews by opening the train doors. The historical clip was brought to public attention thanks to an American history teacher's dedicated documentary research, who found it in the archives.
From The Jewish Chronicle:
Varda Weissbopf said it felt like “another miracle connected to the train had occurred” when Matthew Rozell – the history teacher responsible for the research – sent him the clip. Weissbopf’s father was a 15-year-old boy on the train.
Holocaust survivor Jacob Barzilai, 90, was also on the train. He recognised himself in the footage. “It was very emotional to see the footage,” he said. “I was at a loss for words”.
He had previously seen “countless photos” of the train, but had never seen videos of his liberation. His mother and sister were also on the train, but his father and grandfather had died while in Bergen Belsen.
The train, which held 2,500 Jews previously imprisoned in Bergen Belsen, was one of three directed to the Theresienstadt camp. It left on 7th April 1945, and stopped after six days of travel, when American soldiers circled SS troops.
On 13th April, soldiers from the 30th division of the US Army found the train abandoned. George Gross, a commander, said: “Everyone looked like a skeleton, so starved, their faces sick”. He continued: “When they saw us, they began to laugh with joy…it was more like an outburst of pure, almost hysterical relief”.
The people in the footage reflect this. Their eyes are sunken, and many of them lie exhausted on the banks by the River Elbe.
Nazi soldiers had been instructed to drown the 2500 Jews in the river if the train could not make it to Theresienstadt. One-third of the prisoners were children.
In the footage, liberated Jews are seen lighting fires to warm themselves, and making tea. On the side of the train, someone had written: “Three cheers for America. Vive les USA et les Anglais”. (Long live the USA and the English)
One of the US soldiers involved in the liberation was Jewish himself. Abraham Cohen showed the prisoners his Magen David, and said to them in Yiddish: “I am also a Jew”.
What an emotional and incredible piece of history to experience seeing.
It's just mind-boggling to imagine that if that teacher hadn't been so persistent in digging up this footage, we might never have had the chance to witness it.
