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Witness History: Richard Dimbleby describes Belsen

Documentaries

Richard Dimbleby describes Belsen

14/04/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, Richard Dimbleby describes Belsen

Richard Dimbleby was the first broadcaster to report from Belsen concentration camp

In April 1945, the BBC’s Richard Dimbleby was the first reporter to enter the liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany.

The BBC’s Richard Dimbleby was the first reporter to enter the liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. 

His report describing the unimaginable horror he found was for many listeners around the world the first time they had heard the truth of what it was like to have endured life and death under the Nazis. 

An estimated 70,000 people died in the camp. The broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby reflects on the impact of the report on his father and why the BBC was reluctant to broadcast it at first. 

Produced by Josephine McDermott.

This programme contains distressing details.

(Photo: Prisoners at Belsen. Credit: Getty Images)

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