when the british and canadians advanced on bergen-belsen in 1945, the german army negotiated a truce and exclusion zone around the camp to prevent the spread of typhus. on april 11, 1945 heinrich himmler (the "reichsführer ss") agreed to have the camp handed over without a fight. ss guards ordered prisoners to bury some of the dead. the next day, "wehrmacht" representatives approached the british and were brought to viii corps. at around 1 a.m. on april 13, an agreement was signed, designating an area of around the camp as a neutral zone. most of the ss were allowed to leave. only a small number of ss men and women, including the camp commandant kramer, remained to "uphold order inside the camp". the outside was guarded by hungarian and regular german troops. due to heavy fighting near winsen and walle, the british were unable to reach bergen-belsen on april 14, as originally planned. the camp was liberated on the afternoon of april 15, 1945. the first two to reach the camp were a british special air service officer, lieutenant john randall, and his jeep driver, who were on a reconnaissance mission and discovered the camp by chance.