Concentration Camp Liberators Gather in Washington

Washington Post ^ | Thursday, April 15, 2010 | Annie Gowen

[nickcarraway]

The 120 veterans wore red, white and blue tags emblazoned with the word "Liberator" and crept along on walkers. Others could hardly hear as they toured the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday. But the memories of the atrocities they witnessed in the waning months of World War II -- when soldiers from several armored and infantry divisions liberated concentration camps throughout Germany and Austria -- remained achingly clear.

Some attending what museum officials said is one of the largest gatherings of liberators ever held remembered cremation ovens were still warm, ashes fuzzing the foul air. Stacks of bodies on railroad cars. How their hearts ached when commanding officers forbade them from passing along rations to the starving people, for fear the rich food would sicken them further.

Fletcher Thorne-Thomsen said he would never forget one emaciated man who was so happy to see the American he tried to hug him with fragile arms.

"I can still see a pair of eyes," he said. The man's look was penetrating. It's haunted him for 65 years.

Thorne-Thomsen, 87, is among the dwindling number of soldiers who helped liberate death camps in World War II and who traveled to Washington for this week's National Days of Remembrance, which will culminate in a ceremony in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Thursday. Museum officials said that given the advancing age of many of the men -- most are in their late 80s or older -- it could be one of the last gatherings of its kind.

"They have a story of enormous importance to share with new generations . . . and so we wanted for one last time to bring them all together," said Sara J. Bloomfield, the director of the museum, where historians spent time this week capturing some of their stories

[a fool in paradise]

Did Barack tell them how his Communist uncle did that for Stalin’s Red Army?

[maine-iac7]

The documentation/photos should be in every school history book and there should be text for required reading and study.

For we who do not know history - are bound to rpeat it and/or stand by and let it happen again.

[Psycho_Bunny]

A few days ago I watched the film that was shown into evidence at Nuremburg.

Or, I should say I watched about half of it. I simply couldn’t take it.

The men who liberated these camps showed restraint beyond words. Perhaps they were just tired of death, but I would have been tempted to go to the nearest German town and level it

[Lurker]

but I would have been tempted to go to the nearest German town and level it

Look into how we dealt with the Werewolves.

[nolongerademocrat]

Heroes all of them. How dare Obama try to break a great friendship that was forged under such circumstances?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vv-Th1blvQ4

[Carley]

Thank you one and all who bore witness to the unthinkable.

[mrmeyer]

My Grandfather was an engineer in the 101st Combat Engineers, part of the 26th Infantry Division. (Yankee Division) He told me as a small boy of liberating the Gusen concentration camp in Austria in 1945. The emotion in his eyes when he told me his experience at Gusen was mixed with deep sadness that man could inflict such suffering on his fellow man, and also anger at holocaust deniers.

He was detached from his unit and part of the first amphibious assault wave on Omaha Beach on D-Day in '44 at age 19. He passed away last month and was buried with full military honors. RIP Pop - Thanks for everything.

[Cathy]

What was the name of the film? I’m not sure I could watch it either, but it is history that must not be forgotten.

[Cathy]

RIP Pop is right, what a wonderful tribute to your grandfather.

[xJones]

Holocaust deniers be damned.

[Guenevere]

I’m trying to figure out how your post fits with this story?

[SES1066]

As the very proud son of a 45th ID (Thunderbirds) vet that was peripherally involved in the liberation of Dachau, I wish that he could have joined these other great men there in Washington, DC.

Unfortunately, I have just had him committed to a end-stage care facility as his mind has lost it's moorings over just 3 weeks. My sadness is only tempered by my pride in his accomplishments, National Guard enlistee to Bird Colonel, CIB for WW2 and Korea, Purple Heart 4 times, Bronze Star with "V", Silver Star and Legion of Merit. He led his men from the front and has been honored by them ever since. It is not RIP but when dementia strikes, the ruin makes one weep!

As for the liberation it is well that Supreme Allied Commander Eisenhower ordered maximum documentation of the horrors of this "Hell on Earth". As he so presciently saw, without such documentation, these nightmares would be doubted and then forgotten in mere generations. Kudos to such foresightedness!

[Charlespg]

The men who liberated these camps showed restraint beyond words. Perhaps they were just tired of death, but I would have been tempted to go to the nearest German town and level it

It has aways surprised me that we (British and Americans troops)did not

[concentric circles]

Nazi Concentration Camps - Nuremberg Trial Film

"The file entitled "Nazi Concentration Camps" was entered as evidence at the 1945 Nuremberg Trials of Hermann Goring, Rudolf Hess, and 22 other Nazi officials at the end of World War II. It presented a stark picture of the atrocities of the Holocaust and ensured than no one would ever doubt the meaning of the charge "crimes against humanity."

[Psycho_Bunny]

Nazi Concentration Camps - Nuremberg Original Footage

[Psycho_Bunny]

I should say: THESE LINKS ARE 100% GRAPHIC AND HORRIFYING IN THE EXTREME - THIS IS RAW, UNCENSORED FOOTAGE, TAKEN BY THE ALLIED FORCES, OF NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMPS AS THEY EXISTED WHEN THEY WERE LIBERATED.

[DFG]

Eisenhower also ordered that the German citizens be put on clean up detail in the concentration camps so that it would be harder for them to deny the Holocaust. Yet, despite the overwhelming evidence that Germany wiped out most of the European Jews, some people today still allege that the Holocaust never happened.

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

[Shaun_MD]

Have you ever heard of the Dachau Death Train and the 45th Thunderbird Division?

[John-Irish]

God Bless him. Go in peace Old Soldier and thank you for my freedom.

[Guenevere]

never forget

[Psycho_Bunny]

Interestingly enough, my brother and I were staying in Munich and decided to head up to Dachau. After going through the camp, we drove to the town and were walking around the Dachau altstadt having the "how on earth did these people descend into the madness of the Holocaust?" conversation.

About then we passed a taxidermist store that was full of the most bizarre nonsense I've ever seen: the owner was doing things like putting a bats head on a ducks body with squirrel arms and rabbits feet.

We stood there a second and my brother said "Oh." To which I replied, "Ok. There's a problem here."

[Shaun_MD]

When I was a young man, my father told me the stories of Dachau and the trains. He later told me a story of how the US Army took revenge on some of the SS Guards at one of the camps, although he was never sure exactly where. A few years ago I found the following web page.

http://www.scrapbookpages.com/DachauScrapbook/DachauLiberation/DeathTrain.html

If you go there, be warned. the pics are extremely graphic.

[John-Irish]

“Never forget’’. And never forgive.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Ya....I saw all I needed to see when I was there. The exhibition is very graphic.

Although, the image most seared into my mind was the cell block in of the main building. The public's not allowed in, and there's no lighting. You're just looking down a long hall with sunlight creeping in through the cell doors.

It made the hairs stand on the back of my neck. You could almost hear the screaming and misery.

[Shaun_MD]

Knowing what took place there, I don’t know if I could go.

[OregonPatriot2010]

Never forget...never forgive.....never again

[freekitty]

I don’t even remember reading this article or posting anything?

[Shaun_MD]

Never become complacent, never turn a blind eye.

[ncfool]

Were they based in Ft. Campbell KY. My dad a Jewish War veteran was there outside the camps in 1945.

There is a great museum in DC. Jewish war veterans. Worth seeing as is the Holocaust Museum.

Never again!

[Hush44]

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10006161

List/info of the several units who are recognized by the Holocaust Memorial Museum...their unit flags fly there.

My Dad’s 14th Armored liberated several Dachau subcamps. Sadly, I didn’t discover that until after he had died, and went through his things, and did some research.

Never forget.

~Kate

[hstacey]

May God bless those heroic men...A special place in heaven for all of them..

[ncfool]

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10006151

The 20th Armored Division disembarked at the French port of Le Havre in February 1945. In April, the division moved through Belgium and into Germany. Later that month, the 20th advanced deep into Bavaria, crossing the Danube River and capturing the city of Munich on April 30, 1945. The end of hostilities found this tank division in Austria.

On April 29, 1945, the 20th Armored Division was one of three U.S. Army divisions to take part in the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp.

The 20th Armored Division was recognized as a liberating unit by the U.S. Army's Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1985.

Casualty figures for the 20th Armored Division, European theater of operations Total battle casualties: 186 Total deaths in battle: 59

Division nickname Although no nickname is commonly associated with the 20th, "Armoraiders" may have been occasionally in use during World War II.

[ncfool]

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10006151