Buchenwald concentration camp was one of the largest Nazi concentration camps located on the Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Germany. Established in 1937, the camp housed a vast number of political prisoners, Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses, Roma, homosexuals, and others persecuted by the Nazi regime. By 1945, as the Allies advanced into Germany, Buchenwald held approximately 21,000 prisoners, enduring appalling conditions that included forced labor, starvation, medical experiments, and violent repression.

On April 11, 1945, American forces from the 6th Armored Division, part of the Third Army under General George Patton, liberated Buchenwald. Upon entering the camp, the soldiers were confronted with a horrific scene; thousands of malnourished inmates stumbled out to greet them, many suffering from severe health issues due to the camp's brutal conditions. Soldiers documented the horrific sights, including the mass graves and remnants of the camp’s extensive extermination practices, which revealed the extent of Nazi crimes.

In the aftermath of the liberation, the American military took immediate action to provide food, medical care, and shelter to the surviving inmates. Many of the soldiers were deeply affected by what they witnessed, leading to important documentation of the Holocaust that played a role in subsequent Nuremberg Trials and the establishment of Holocaust remembrance. The liberation illustrated the catastrophic consequences of totalitarianism and racism, serving as a stark reminder of the need for vigilance against similar ideologies in the future.