"... We visited the death chambers and saw the quadruple electric lifts on which the bodies were raised to the ovens of the crematorium above. In the ovens, blackened forms of bodies still lay. We saw also the noise-making machine which owned out the screams of the unfortunate victims. We were told the quota for the camp was 80 a day..."
--Georges Vanier, April 27, 1945It is in such horrific terms, written in a state of shock, that Canada's Ambassador to France, General Georges Vanier (1888-1967), reported on his visit to the Buchenwald concentration camp. The Department of Foreign Affairs Fonds consists of over one kilometre of documents pertaining to administration, postings, conferences, negotiations and international commissions which form part of our governments' memory. RG 25, vol. 417 |