Ian Forsyth, One Of Last Living Liberators Of Bergen Belsen, Dies At 97

NEW YORK (VINnews) — One of the first Allied soldiers to liberate the Nazi concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen has passed away at the age of 97.

Ian Forsyth, a wireless operator with the 19th Hussars, was just 21 when he set foot in the camp but the experience seared his soul and for much of his life he spoke about the horrors he witnessed in Bergen Belsen.

In an interview with BBC Scotland last year he said that when he saw the camp, he “realised just how low mankind can sink.” He added that the scenes of mass murder at the camp stayed with him for the rest of his life.

To mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2021, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a Zoom meeting with Forsyth and with Bergen Belsen survivor Renee Salt. Johnson said that it was one of the most “powerful things I have ever heard.”

After Forsyth returned from from war, his mother told him he was not allowed to discuss the horrors he’d seen. Forsyth said that he used to take lonely walks in which he contemplated what he had experienced. Later he added that at the time, the only person who knew his struggles of witnessing the camp was his wife.

When asked by the BBC if he was proud to be part of liberating Nazi prisoners, Mr. Forsyth said: “I’m not proud, I’m just glad that we got there when we did.”

“We did save some people, there’s no question. But when you see the graves with about 1,500 folk in each one, it rankles.”

He certainly did. I hope it's okay @holocaust_Uk for me to post this short clip from ITV documentary 'Return to Belsen' where he recounts those horrors.

RIP Ian Forsyth. Lest we forget.pic.twitter.com/xatNtNX7ll

— Lee Burrows (@deminimismusic) December 20, 2021

Mr. Forsyth saw action across Europe during WW2, fighting his way from Normandy, all across Germany before being part of the Bergen-Belsen liberation.

The Holocaust Education Trust has paid tribute to Mr. Forsyth. CEO Karen Pollock CBE said: “Ian Forsyth was one of the first British soldiers to liberate the Nazi concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen. What he saw there stayed with him, and informed the rest of his life.”