Allies In Buchenwald

Allied Soldiers Sent To Buchenwald

Between August 20^th and October 19^th 1944, 168 Allied Airmen were held Prisoner at Buchenwald Concentration Camp.

82 were Americans, 48 were British, 26 were Canadians, 9 were Australians, 2 were New Zealanders and 1 was Jamaican.

 Of them, 166 Airmen survived Buchenwald, while two died of sickness at the Camp.

These captured Airmen were given the name "Terrorflieger" (Terror Fkyers), and were not given trials.

The German Foreign Office however, expressed concern about shooting Prisoners of War (POWs) and suggested that enemy Airmen not be given the legal status of POWs.

Following this advice, the Gestapo and Security Police informed these captured Allied Airmen that they were Criminals and Spies.

Using this justification, 168 Allied Airmen from Great Britain, United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Jamaica were taken by train – in overcrowded cattle boxcars – from Fresnes Prison outside Paris, to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Germany.

After five days in the boxcars, they arrived at Buchenwald on August 20, 1944.

Buchenwald was a Concentration Camp of 60,000 Inmates of mainly Russian POWs, but also common Criminals; Religious Prisoners, including Jews; and various Political Prisoners.

For the first three weeks at Buchenwald, the Allied Prisoners were totally shaven, denied shoes, and forced to sleep outside without shelter in one of Buchenwald's Sub-Camps, known as "Little Camp".

 Most Airmen doubted they would ever get out of Buchenwald because their documents were stamped with the acronym "DIKAL" (Darf in kein anderes Lager), or "Allowed In No Other Camp".

To address the constant stress, long appells (Roll Calls), boredom, insecurity and apprehension, it was decided amongst the 168 Airmen to hold formal meetings to give them a sense of purpose and order.

Thus, the exclusive KLB Club (for Konzentrationslager Buchenwald Club or Buchenwald Concentration Camp Club) came into existence with several chapters; Canada, United States, Great Britain, and Australia-New Zealand.

Elected Representatives of each Nationality held separate meetings to collate the previously scattered efforts of those who had proposed address lists, meetings after the War and other pursuits. The meetings at Buchenwald displayed the 168 airmen's militariness and solidarity, forming a bond that brings them together more than 60 years after the liberation of Buchenwald.4

On the night of October 19, 1944; 156 of the 168 Airmen were transferred from Buchenwald to Stalag Luft III by the Luftwaffe. Two Airmen died from sickness at Buchenwald, while the remaining 10 were transported in small groups, over a period of several weeks.

In 1999 the German Government paid 34.5 Million Deutschmarks (18 Million Euros or $19 Million US Dollars) in Reparations to various Survivors of the Holocaust who were U.S. Citizens -- both Civilian and Military -- interned in German Concentration Camps during World War II. American POWs who had been sent to Buchenwald were among those receiving Reparations.