After Daybreak

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After Daybreak
After Daybreak, The Liberation of Belsen, 1945 cover.jpeg
Author Ben Shephard
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Subject Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Publisher Jonathan Cape
Publication date
2005
ISBN 978-0-224-07355-4
940.531853595
LC Class D805.5.B47 S54

After Daybreak: The Liberation of Belsen, 1945, is a book authored by Ben Shephard, published in 2005 by Jonathan Cape and Random House, in which he details the liberation of Belsen by British troops in April 1945. [1] [2] [3] [4]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Goldacre</span> British physician, academic and science writer (born 1974)

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Ben Shephard (1948–2017) was an English historian, author, and television producer. He was educated at Diocesan College, Cape Town, and Westminster School. He graduated in history from Oxford University and made many historical documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4, including producer of The World at War and The Nuclear Age. He died on 25 October 2017 at the age of 69.

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London medical students at Belsen Volunteers treating Nazi concentration camp victims, 1945

In early April 1945, the British Red Cross and the War Office, at the request of the British Army, called for 100 volunteer medical students from nine London teaching hospitals to assist in feeding starving Dutch children who had been liberated from German occupation by advancing Allied forces. However, in the meantime, British troops had liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and the students were diverted there on the day they were due to travel to the Netherlands. The students had previously spent most of the Second World War at school and in medical training.

John Brian Walker was a British general practitioner with a prior career in eye surgery. After studying at New College, Oxford and while studying medicine at The London Hospital in 1945, he was one of the London medical students who were sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp shortly after its liberation by British troops, to assist in the feeding of the severely malnourished and dying inmates, under the supervision of nutritionist Arnold Peter Meiklejohn. After gaining his medical degree, he was drafted into the army and sent to east Africa, where he became an eye surgeon. Following demobilisation, he returned to London with his wife Mary and took on his father's general practice. Walker was also known for his skill in sailing with the Hornet dinghy fleet throughout the 1950s to 1970s.

Michael Hargrave British physician

Michael John Hargrave was a British general practitioner in Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, who in 1945 assisted at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp when he volunteered as a medical student from Westminster Hospital at the age of 21.

Kenneth Robertson Dempster British pathologist

Kenneth Robertson Dempster ,also known as Claude Dempster, was a British pathologist at the King Edward VII Hospital, Windsor, who in 1945, while studying at St Thomas' Hospital, assisted at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp when he volunteered as a medical student.

Dennis Henry Forsdick British physician

Dennis Henry Forsdick, was a British physician at the Friarsgate Medical Centre. In 1945, while studying medicine at Guy's Hospital, he assisted at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp as a voluntary medical student.

John Spencer Jones British physician

John Spencer Jones was a British chest physician. In 1945, while studying medicine at Guy's Hospital, he assisted at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp as a voluntary medical student. Here, he developed tuberculosis. He later authored a number of articles in medical journals including "Telling the right patient" in the British Medical Journal (1981), where he reported that 50% of people with terminal disease "want to know that this is so".

David Sells Hurwood

David Sells Hurwood was a British general practitioner in Syston and founder member of the Royal College of General Practitioners. In 1945, while studying medicine at Guy's Hospital, he assisted at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp as a voluntary medical student. Here, he developed tuberculosis.

Andrew Edward Bertie Matthews

Andrew Edward Bertie Matthews, was one of the St Mary's medical students who volunteered to assist at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945.

Peter William Gedge Tasker was a British general practitioner who performed some of the earliest studies of the causes of anaemia using radioactive tracer techniques. During his studies at The London Hospital in 1945, he was one of the London medical students who were sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp shortly after its liberation by British troops, to assist in the feeding of the severely malnourished and dying inmates, under the supervision of nutritionist Arnold Peter Meiklejohn. During the Malayan Emergency, he assisted by taking on the role as a pilot.

<i>Bergen-Belsen 1945: A Medical Students Journal</i> Memoirs

Bergen-Belsen 1945: A Medical Student's Journal is Michael Hargrave's diary of his experiences providing medical assistance to the former inmates of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp between 28 April and 28 May 1945. It was written for his mother after he volunteered for the work while he was a student at Westminster Hospital medical school in London. It is a typescript of the diary, which was originally hand-written, and begins with a foreword by the head of research at the Imperial War Museum and brief background notes by Hargrave's son David. Centre pages include photographs of the London medical students and the state of the camp, including the "human laundry".

References

  1. Paton, Alex (30 April 2005). "After Daybreak: The Liberation of Belsen, 1945". BMJ: British Medical Journal. 330 (7498): 1030. doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7498.1030. ISSN   0959-8138. PMC   557164 .
  2. "After Daybreak: The Liberation of Bergen-Belsen, 1945 | Jewish Book Council". www.jewishbookcouncil.org. 2005. Retrieved 16 February 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. Feinstein, Stephen C. (1 March 2006). "After Daybreak: The Liberation of Bergen-Belsen, 1945". History: Reviews of New Books. 34 (3): 91–92. doi:10.1080/03612759.2006.10526879. ISSN   0361-2759. S2CID   143827219.
  4. Cesarani, David (11 June 2005). "Review: After Daybreak by Ben Shephard". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 16 February 2020.