81st Anniversary of Buchenwald Liberation — April 11, 1945

Germany and international observers commemorated the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp by US Army forces on April 11, 1945. Buchenwald, located near Weimar, Germany, was the first major Nazi concentration camp liberated by American troops. The 2026 ceremony at the Buchenwald Memorial featured actor and author Hape Kerkeling, who spoke about his grandfather Hermann Kerkeling — a communist prisoner who survived the camp. Memorial officials noted increased threats from right-wing extremists against Holocaust remembrance culture. The camp held approximately 280,000 prisoners of 50+ nationalities between 1937 and 1945; approximately 56,000 died from disease, starvation, forced labor, and executions. General Eisenhower visited the camp shortly after liberation and ordered nearby German civilians to tour the site — the beginning of mandatory German confrontation with Nazi crimes.