as the Germans continued to evacuate camps that were soon to be liberated by the Allies. As late as the week of 13 April, some 28,000 additional prisoners were brought in. With the collapse of administration and many guards fleeing to escape retribution, roll calls were stopped, and the inmates were left to their own devices. Corpses rotted everywhere, and rats attacked the living too weak to fight them off. Kramer remained even when the British, led by Major Brian Urquhart, arrived to liberate the camp, and took them on a tour of the camp to inspect the "scenes". Piles of corpses lay all over the camp, mass graves were filled in, and the huts were filled with prisoners in every stage of emaciation and disease. Ranks and promotions Trial and execution Kramer was imprisoned at the prison in Hamelin. Along with 44 other camp staff, Kramer was tried in the Belsen Trial by a British military court at Lüneburg. The trial lasted several weeks from September to November 1945. During the trial Anita Lasker testified that Kramer had taken part in selections for the gas chamber at Auschwitz. Kramer was sentenced to death on 17 November 1945, for crimes both at Auschwitz and at Bergen-Belsen, and was hanged at Hamelin Prison by Albert Pierrepoint on 13 December 1945, aged 39. References Sources and external links Straubenzee V. A. (2005). The gate of Hell, The Daily Telegraph, retrieved on December 22, 2006. What Was Belsen? Josef Kramer, Durham County Record Office The Learning Zone, retrieved on December 23, 2006. 1906 births 1945 deaths Auschwitz concentration camp personnel Bergen-Belsen concentration camp personnel Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp personnel Belsen trial executions Executed people from Bavaria Holocaust perpetrators in Poland Military personnel from Munich People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Executed Nazi concentration camp commandants Schutzhaftlagerführer SS-Hauptsturmführer Waffen-SS personnel Executed mass murderers