Colin Burgess on the astonishing survival story in a Nazi death camp in 'Destination Buchenwald'

Good Reading Podcast

As liberating Allied forces surged towards Paris following the D-Day landings of 1944 a group of downed airmen were being held in the infamous Fresnes Prison. Amid great secrecy, 168 airmen – including several from Australia and New Zealand – were evacuated to the notorious Buchenwald concentration camp, accompanied by orders for their execution. At Buchenwald they witnessed such extreme depravity that it would haunt them all their days. Colin Burgess has personally interviewed and corresponded with dozens of the surviving airmen in the process of research Destination Buchenwald, including New Zealand Squadron Leader Phil Lamason who led the group through their darkest hours. Destination Buchenwald is a compelling story of extraordinary bravery, comradeship and endurance, In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Colin Burgess about the state of the war in August 1944, the corrupt administration of Buchenwald and the appalling treatment and conditions these prisoners suffered, and why the Australian government continued to deny that Australian and New Zealand servicemen had ever been interned at Buchenwald.