The White Buses – One of the most dangerous rescue operation of the Second World War| DW Documentary
It was one of the most dangerous rescue operations of the Second World War. In 1945, 75 white buses set off from Malmö, Sweden, on a journey through destroyed Germany. They liberated between 15,000 and 20,000 concentration camp prisoners. Marianne Prager’s mother was among them.
80 years after the end of the Second World War, Marianne Prager sets off to retrace her mother’s journey. A young Danish woman, her mother Ruth Toronczyk spent 18 months in the Theresienstadt concentration camp in Germany. Her mother was never able to forget the war years. The journey in the goods wagon through half of Europe, the shaved head, the hunger and finally the rescue. Marianne Prager wants to know: How did her mother survive?
In Theresienstadt alone, 450 Danish Jews were rescued in April 1945. White buses were sent by the Red Cross in Sweden. Count Folke Bernadotte, a nephew of the Swedish king and high official of the Red Cross, arranged the operation. His negotiating partner on the German side was Heinrich Himmler, head of the Gestapo and the SS. It is a rescue operation that has almost been forgotten today.
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Video “The White Buses – One of the most dangerous rescue operation of the Second World War| DW Documentary” was uploaded on 09/14/2025 by DW Documentary Youtube channel.