In pictures: Horrors of Buchenwald

1 of 10 11 April marks 60 years since US troops liberated the Nazi Buchenwald concentration camp in eastern Germany, where about 56,000 people died. CAUTION: This gallery contains some graphic images of dead bodies.

2 of 10 The camp was set up by the SS in 1937 as a camp for political prisoners, criminals and homosexuals. During the war, Poles and Jews were among the 250,000 incarcerated. (Picture: Gedenkstaette Buchenwald)

3 of 10 Prisoners were forced to build railways and roads, lay power lines and clear forests for the Nazi war machine. (Picture: Gedenkstaette Buchenwald)

4 of 10 Inmates endured starvation, neglect and terror. Punishments included execution and others were tortured and killed on behalf of the Gestapo.

5 of 10 Before the bodies were burned in the ovens of the camp crematorium, they were often plundered by the pathology department. (Picture: Gedenkstaette Buchenwald)

6 of 10 As well as gold fillings, the medical teams removed skin, organs and skeletons for research and as trophies. (Picture: Gedenkstaette Buchenwald)

7 of 10 US troops reached the camp on 11 April 1945. Guards tried to evacuate inmates before the liberation, but thousands died along the way. (Picture: Gedenkstaette Buchenwald)

8 of 10 The US troops did find survivors - 21,000 were liberated, but hundreds died as a result of what they had endured. (Picture: Gedenkstaette Buchenwald)

9 of 10 The US commander was so appalled by the atrocities that he forced 1,000 residents from nearby Weimar to visit the camp. (Picture: Gedenkstaette Buchenwald)

10 of 10 Buchenwald survivors took a vow, later known as the "Oath of Buchenwald", to oppose fascism and war.