On 29 April 1945, U.S.-American troops liberated the Dachau concentration camp near Munich, Germany. To mark the 70th anniversary of the event, former prisoners and U.S. soldiers speak about their experiences in the German HISTORY production "Die Befreier" (The Liberators – Why We Fought). The original order issued to the units on the ground was to destroy an assumed ammunition and fuel storage site and then move on from there. But what the U.S. soldiers discovered was beyond any imagination – a train full of corpses, and a camp with 32,000 prisoners inside, all of them on the verge of death. In the HISTORY documentary entitled "Die Befreier" (The Liberators – Why we fought), U.S. veterans and former inmates speak about the war-time experiences that changed, and continue to shape, their lives.

Am 29. April 1945 befreiten alliierte Truppen das nahe München gelegene Konzentrationslager Dachau. Ein ergreifendes Ereignis – sowohl für die Häftlinge, als auch für die oftmals noch sehr jungen Soldaten der amerikanischen Armee. Der Befehl lautete zunächst, ein vermeintliches Waffen- und Benzinlager in Dachau zu „zerstören und dann weiterzuziehen“. Doch was die US-Soldaten vorfanden, überstieg jede Vorstellungskraft: Zugwaggons voller Leichen und ein Lager mit 32.000 inhaftierten Menschen, viele dem Tode nahe. Die Soldaten konnten kaum begreifen, was sie sahen.

A 29 de Abril de 1945, as tropas aliadas libertaram o campo de concentração de Dachau, perto de Munique. Foi um acontecimento que comoveu os sobreviventes, bem como os soldados americanos - muitos dos quais ainda extremamente jovens. O Canal História alemão produziu este filme de uma hora, documentando o ponto de vista dos libertadores americanos, com testemunhas da época a contarem a sua experiência pessoal para a câmara, muitas delas pela primeira vez.