THE LIBERATION of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on 15 April 1945 was hailed as a triumph of British victory over Nazi Germany. But for the 55,000 survivors of the ‘Horror Camp’, freedom brought new tragedy. A quarter died in the following five weeks, and for many of those who lived, liberation meant bureaucratic blindness, military rule and a different kind of confinement.

 One survivor described the first year of freedom as being ‘more oppressive to our souls than the years in the hell of Auschwitz and Belsen’. He explained that ‘We saw before us a new kind of world, cold and strange.’

Strange New World is the story of Belsen’s first year of freedom. Refusing to remain victims, survivors struggled to reclaim agency, build community and make new families and new lives. Their history resonates today as millions of displaced people worldwide navigate the gap between rescue and true liberation.

 ‘A powerfully moving book, Strange New World recounts the history of Belsen’s first post-liberation year in great detail, yet remains highly readable.’ Dan Stone, author of The Liberation of the Camps: The End and Aftermath of the Holocaust

‘A harrowing, forensic and compassionate investigation of the afterlife of Bergen-Belsen as the Belsen Camp for Displaced Persons – the good done, the mistakes made, the moral conundrums and persistent prejudices that left Jews who had barely survived the concentration camps feeling “saved but not liberated” . Linda Jaivin, author and translator

‘ [Strange New World] is rich in detail and suffused with humanity, laying bare this passage of history in a way that is by turns intensely shocking, devastatingly moving and unexpectedly inspiring. Wheatley navigates the complexity with an impressive fluency, creating a comprehensive and profoundly thought-provoking work that is compellingly readable.’ Dr James Bulgin, Head of Public History, Imperial War Museum

‘One tragedy of war is that its destructive effects continue long after the fighting stops. Nadia Wheatley’s powerful study of Belsen’s liberation and post-war existence offers evidence of this sad truth, but also of the human capacity to endure and to find hope in the darkest circumstances.’ Seumas Spark, adjunct fellow in history at Monash University

‘An astonishing book ... What happened in those first days, weeks and months when the British threw open the gates of Bergen-Belsen and stumbled upon the horrific reality of the Nazi’s Final Solution? This book tells a startling new history of the aftermath of the Bergen-Belsen liberation and the encounters between the mostly Jewish survivors and the well-meaning but often ill equipped British medical personnel who arrived to aid in their recovery. Who better to tell this story than Nadia Wheatley, an accomplished writer, an astute historian and, remarkably, the daughter of one of the British medics who was there? At its heart is also a story of a daughter wrestling with the legacy of a difficult father.’ Professor Ruth Balint, UNSW