(NewsNation) — Researchers have unearthed never-before-seen footage of American soldiers liberating Jewish prisoners from a Nazi death train in the final weeks of World War II.
The footage — which was found in the U.S. National Archives — shows the incredible moment U.S. Army troops saved thousands of Jews during the so-called “Miracle at Farsleben” on April 13, 1945.
Although it’s silent, the film speaks volumes.
Men and women in tattered clothes with gaunt faces can be seen frantically lining up next to the train hoping to get food from the U.S. forces who had just secured their freedom.
Some are waving to the cameraman.
On one of the train cars, someone had written “long live the U.S. and England. Three cheers for the U.S.”
The famous train rescue had previously been captured in still photos but this is the first time video of the event has been made public, almost 80 years later.
Matthew Rozell, a history teacher and Holocaust researcher, first published photos of the train near Magdeburg 22 years ago. After two decades and an email from a museum worker in Germany, Rozell inquired with the National Archives about potential video.
He received it four weeks later.
“These G.I.’s were totally stunned,” Rozell said of the troops who rescued the Jews. “They saw this sea of humanity that was crying for help. … They stopped, and they took care of these people. They got them to safety.”
Mike Edwards is the director of “A Train Near Magdeburg,” an upcoming film about the miraculous rescue.
“The U.S. Army Signal Corps happened to have a photographer in the area and happened to film this. We had no idea it existed,” Edwards said. “When I got it last week, I just sat in stunned silence — it’s utterly amazing.”
The train had left the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp with 2,500 passengers onboard when the Americans liberated it in a single moment, Edwards explained.
Since the video has resurfaced, some have even identified their own loved ones.
Elizabeth Seaman spotted her mother in the film.
“It was just so surprising and so amazing to me that I actually recognized my mother there,” she said. “I had not expected that. It was just wonderful.”
Seaman hopes the video will serve as an important reminder about what happened during the Holocaust.
“People do need to remember the atrocities that occurred there,” she said. “Not with any sense of vengeance or revenge or hatefulness or anything like that, but to do the best they can to relate well to other people who are different from themselves.”
Edwards is also optimistic the footage will have a lasting impact.
“One act of kindness can have a ripple effect way, way into the future,” he said. “If you look at photographs of trains in the Holocaust, most of them, if not all of them, lead to death — this one leads to life. It’s a great story to tell.”
