This Day in History: 82nd Airborne rescues Nazi prisoners

It was horrendous in Germany up to the very last days. Looks like the 82nd made a series of good choice after finding the horrendous camp. Perhaps the townsfolk were all those who had not been conscripted - which would have been elderly, children (except boys 12/13 and older who were conscripted at least near the end of the war, and women. Did they not know?
Could be they could have heard talk, however perhaps they were in the habit of not asking question about anything to try to protect themselves because by the end of the war anyone for any reason could have been whisked away to a camp. Asking question might have resulted in that.