ABSTRACT
After liberation, Bergen-Belsen, a symbol of the Nazi regime's satanic evil, was quickly transformed into the central Jewish Displaced Person's (DP) camp in the British Occupation Zone. Its name has become synonymous with the struggle for survival, rehabilitation and national Jewish pride. In the years following the war Bergen-Belsen played a special role for Jews in the British Zone. Life in the camp became a model of sorts for the whole region. Its organisational system formed the nucleus of all political, social and cultural activity and its leaders strove to create a united body to represent all Jews in the British Zone, including the DPs in the camps and assembly centres and the Jewish communities which sprang up after the war. The Bergen-Belsen leadership also shaped the Zionist outlook of this body and lent it a decisive, even militant character.
