Associated Press Photograph of American Soldiers Inspecting the Crematorium Ovens at Dachau Concentration Camp, 1945 – Issued for the Fortieth Anniversary of VE Day – 1985

Description

An original Associated Press archival press photograph, issued on 30 April 1985 to mark the approaching fortieth anniversary of VE Day, reproducing a photograph taken following the liberation of Dachau concentration camp in 1945. The image shows two American servicemen inspecting the brick-built crematorium ovens in which the bodies of prisoners were burned.

The distinction between the date of the image and the date of this physical press print is important. The photograph records a scene at Dachau in 1945, but this particular Associated Press print was distributed in 1985 as part of the agency’s retrospective coverage entitled “40 Years On”. It is therefore an authentic twentieth-century press photograph and newspaper working print, rather than a first-generation print issued at the time of liberation.

Dachau, situated near Munich, was established in March 1933 as the first permanent concentration camp created by the Nazi regime. It became a model for the wider concentration-camp system and operated for more than twelve years. American troops liberated the camp on 29 April 1945, encountering approximately 32,000 prisoners as well as extensive physical evidence of Nazi persecution and mass death.

The photograph centres upon the camp crematorium, where bodies of prisoners who had died through execution, disease, starvation, forced labour and systematic mistreatment were incinerated. Photographs of the ovens, mortuary and other areas of the newly liberated camp became important visual evidence of Nazi crimes. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum describes liberation photographs of this kind as powerful documentary records that helped establish public understanding of the atrocities uncovered by Allied forces.

The original Associated Press caption affixed to the reverse reads in part:

“40 YEARS ON: May 8th 1945 (VE-DAY) marked the end of World War II against Germany. In this picture of that year, G.I.’s inspect the ovens of the Dachau concentration camp crematorium in which the bodies of thousands of its victims were burned.”

The restrained documentary character of the image is particularly effective. Rather than depicting the moment of liberation or its surviving prisoners, it records American soldiers examining the physical machinery used to dispose of the dead. It consequently belongs to the wider visual record through which evidence from the concentration camps was communicated to later generations.

The photograph comes from the photographic archive of the Shields Gazette and retains the newspaper’s archive stamp to the reverse, together with its original Associated Press caption. These markings document its use and preservation within a working British newspaper archive.

An important original press photograph relating to the Holocaust, the liberation of Dachau, Allied documentation of Nazi crimes and the commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of VE Day.

Condition

Very good condition. Minor edge wear, light creasing and handling marks consistent with newspaper archive use. The original Associated Press caption and Shields Gazette archive stamp remain present on the reverse.

Photographer: Not named
Agency: Associated Press
Image date: 1945
Press-print issue date: 30 April 1985
Subject: American servicemen inspecting the crematorium ovens at Dachau concentration camp
Location: Dachau, Bavaria, Germany
Photo size: 15.1 × 20.3 cm
Provenance: From the photographic archive of the Shields Gazette, with archive stamp verso
Format: Original Associated Press archival press photograph

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