SS Guards, Belsen Concentration Camp

Australian official war artist Alan Moore was amongst the allied soldiers who liberated the Belsen concentration camp. This work depicts seated German SS camp guards. The standing figure, a member of the Welsh Guard, watches over the newly captured prisoners. The work was drawn in the Belsen camp within days of the camps discovery. The absence of epaulette on the central SS guard figure indicates the removal of any identifying rank. Numerous SS officers stripped themselves of their rank in an attempt to hide the level of their authority. However their identities were soon relieved by surviving camp prisoners.