Some of those prisoners at the Nazi concentration camp in Dachau, Germany, were nearly as shocked as the troops: The faces of their liberators were Japanese. It was fairly common for veterans in these and other subcamp-liberating divisions to claim they liberated Dachau. Davison was out raiding German shops for supplies when he arrived in a Jeep with a fellow soldier to the town of Dachau. In March 1945, the "Thunderbird" division crossed the Rhine River and headed southward. (Courtesy USHMM/Eric Saul). The scene near the entrance to the confinement area numbed my senses. The Last Days of the Dachau Concentration Camp . Some of the American troops who liberated Dachau were so appalled by conditions at the camp that they machine-gunned at least two groups of captured German guards. TTY: 202.488.0406. Due to the extensive records kept by the Nazis during the Holocaust, there is a great deal of public knowledge available on the Dachau Concentration Camp itself. Eventually, 36 guards and other officials at the camp were sentenced to death. Reel 12 continues from Reel 11 for July 1944 through April 2, 1945. Their bodies were left behind in various locations throughout Germany. Wikimedia CommonsAmerican soldiers execute SS camp guards who have been lined up against a wall during the liberation of Dachau concentration camp. Felix L. Sparks was a general who wrote a personal account of the events. 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW Liberators United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? In 1945, during World War II, American soldiers liberated the Dachau (DAH'-khow) concentration camp. UHaifa internationals Master degree programs in prehistoric, coastal and underwater archaeology are paving the way as global game changers in archaeological research. He described his maltreatment in some detail in his deposition: "I always remembered I was British but sometimes hunger got the better of me and I would be in the scramble for anything going. Search the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum site: 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW Dachau, Holocaust and U.S. Samurais is a non-fiction telling the story of the Holocaust (the Final Solution of the Jewish question) and especially the history of the first Nazi concentration camp (Dachau) from 1933 to 1945 222 pages in pictures. On September 30, [Itos daughter] Celia and James emailed me. US soldiers of the 42nd Rainbow Division entered the camp at around 9 am on April 30, 1945, one day after the main camp at Dachau was liberated and on the same day of Hitler's suicide. Moved by the suffering he witnessed, the Bronze Star recipient entered the Missionary Servants. U.S. Army Liberates Flossenburg Concentration Camp 01 May 2023 11:55:25 Different units have claimed credit for the liberation. If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. #history . They were on their way to Munich which was just over ten miles from Dachau. After learning of the Dachau massacre following its liberation, you may want to read about the database that puts human faces to the guards at Auschwitz. Incomplete records indicate that at least 32,000 of the inmates perished at Dachau and its subcamps, but countless more were shipped to extermination camps elsewhere. A car was waiting for him to take him to London when he arrived back from his wedding, with his summons. Dante's Inferno seemed pale compared to the real hell of Dachau. (Sus Ito Collection, Japanese American National Museum), A photo taken by Sus Ito, on the back of which is written, Dachau Prison Camp. (Sus Ito Collection, Japanese American National Museum), A group of concentration camp prisoners who were liberated on a death march from Dachau sit on a bench waiting to receive food from Japanese-American soldiers with the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion.