It operated from 21 May 1941 to September 1944, and was the only concentration camp established by the Germans in the territory of pre-war France. After the war he wrote the novel Necropolis about his experiences in the camp. Walshs men took Colonel Sparks to see the SS dog kennels where the Germans kept Alsatian guard dogs. to liberating the Dachau Concentration Camp Holocaust did not happen - Page 3 The camp was about 300 meters by 600 meters (about 1,000 feet by 2,000 feet) in size. Among notable prisoners, the writer Boris Pahor was interned in Natzweiler-Struthof and wrote his novel Necropolis based on his experience. [12] [13], Charles Delestraint, leader of the Arme Secrte, was detained at Natzweiler-Struthof, then was executed by the Gestapo in Dachau days before that camp was liberated and the war ended. One unit machine gun to death 16 SS where their hands raised in a coal yard. (95, April 25). Lang, Hans-Joachim, The names of the numbers. The Division Commander, General Keating, ordered the towns people to construct a cemetery and memorial as an attempt to honor the victims. The Last Days of the Dachau Concentration Camp Did you enjoy this article or find this article helpful? The disused autobahn Engelberg Tunnel in Leonberg, near Stuttgart, was used by the Messerschmitt Aircraft Company which eventually employed 3,000 prisoners in forced labor. While Sparks and his men from the 45th Infantry Division move deeper into the camp. All of the accused were found guilty, with 36 sentenced to death, including SS-Obersturmbannfhrer Martin Gottfried Weiss, SS-Obersturmfhrer Friedrich Wilhelm Ruppert, Dr. Karl Schilling, and Dr. Fritz Hintermeyer; those named were all executed by hanging in May 1946. French Resistance fighters after their liberation at Dachau, Belgian Resistance fighters were liberated at Dachau. The training facilities included buildings for leadership schools, buildings for a medical school, canteen, library, infirmary, barracks, and factories; some of these buildings were partially staffed by prisoners of the camp, working as servants at the canteen and medical orderlies at the infirmary, for example. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ. The SS were also busily burning files and documents at the camp in the hope of covering their tracks. They just wouldnt have surrendered to a private without the presence of an American officer. Since the Commandant Weiter, the officers and most of the guards had absconded on the 26th of April, escorting a large party of prisoners south. [30] Lang recounts in detail the story of how he determined the identities of the 86 victims gassed for Hirt's project of the Jewish skull collection. Though only a very junior officer Wicker had come up through the ranks, he was an experienced and decorated combat veteran. Lieutenant Colonel Donald Downard commanding the 2nd Battalion, 222nd Infantry reported a skirmish at a roadblock near the camp and captured several Germans. The Natzweiler-Struthof main camp was established nearby on 1 May 1941, in Natzweiler, in the Bruche valley; its site was chosen due to its proximity to a quarry. [20], The camp had five commandants and numerous doctors in its history. He was a First Lieutenant (Captain on his return to the states), Operational Map Project & Archival Research, Unit Histories, Feldpost Numbers & Orders of Battle, Commanders, Personalities & Award Holders, Foreign Volunteers, Collaboration and Axis Allies, General WWII German Military Discussion. If he is still alive, he could still be put on trial by the Germans; he would be convicted because all the SS men were tried under the common plan concept which meant that anyone who had any association with a concentration camp was automatically guilt, regardless of what they had personally done in the camp. One World Live 91-year-old WWII veteran breaks his silence about the During one of these lulls in battle we had an opportunity to go to Buchenwald which was a major Death Camp. The more people who finally get it through their heads that everything terrible told about these people is true, the better, Corbett wrote at the time. Riflemen, accustomed to witnessing death, had no stomach for rooms stacked almost ceiling high with tangled human bodies adjoining the cremation furnaces, looking like some maniacs woodpile, wrote Tech. The remainder were evacuate by vehicles or trains. "Struthof" redirects here. WebMeanwhile, Linden encountered, close to the main entrance, the 23-year old SS officer, Heinrich Wicker, entrusted with Dachaus surrender after Weiss abandoned the camp. My buddy, Bob Zech, who spoke fluent German, perpetrated a ruse on the SS officer in charge by threatening a tank attack if he and the other SS troopers who had fallen into the trap did not surrender within the next twenty minutes or so. In 1940, Germany invaded and occupied France, including Alsace. It is extremely important for Liberators and any other witnesses to the atrocities of the Holocaust to document their testimonies. Heinrich Himmler [48], Another documentary was made about the skull project in 2013, titled Au nom de la race et de la science, Strasbourg 19411944 (English: In the name of Race and Science, Strasbourg 19411945). The deaths of 86 inmates were, in the words of Hirt, "induced" at a jury rigged gassing facility at Natzweiler-Struthof on several days in August and their corpses, 57 men and 29 women, were sent to Strasbourg for study. A Swiss representative of the International Red Cross was called in to negotiate the camps surrender. At the end of 1944, the overcrowding of camps began to take its toll on the prisoners. Pictured from left to right: SS aide, camp leader Untersturmfhrer Heinrich Wicker those from Austria and Czechoslovakia. The Americans gave guns to the prisoners and allowed them to shoot the German guards. Genealogy for Rosannah Wicker (deceased) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. These units include 4th Infantry Division, 36th Infantry Division, 42nd Infantry Division, 45th Infantry Division, 63rd Infantry Division, 99th Infantry Division, 103rd Infantry Division, 10th Armored Division, 12th Armored Division, 14th Armored Division, 20th Armored Division, and 101st Airborne Division. heinrich wicker death [41], The commandant of Natzweiler at the time that four female resistance agents were executed, Fritz Hartjenstein and five others were tried by a British war crimes court at Wuppertal, from 9 April to 5 May 1946. The 70th anniversary of this execution of those who resisted Nazi occupation was commemorated at the museum in 2014. ww2dbaseIn Mar 1933, Heinrich Himmler began to arrange the conversion of an unused gunpowder and munitions factory about 16 kilometers (about 10 miles) northwest of Mnchen (English: Munich) in southern Germany for use as a prison for political prisoners. Polish Resistance fighters celebrate their liberation at Dachau, Two Polish prisoners prepare to beat a guard to death with a shovel. The I&R (intelligence and reconnaissance) platoon was in front, Hawkins said in a 1994 oral history recording. But the atmosphere on that day of liberation was very ugly as U.S. troops confronted what men from Wickers arm of service had done to the prisoners at Dachau. The region, adjacent to the German border, was chosen for full Germanization and was annexed to Gau Baden-Alsace. Riekers journalistische Laufbahn begann bei den Nrnberger Nachrichten. In 1951, the remains of the 86 victims were reinterred in one location in the Cronenbourg-Strasbourg Jewish Cemetery. took place at Bullenhuser Damm. Today, some of the structure formerly of Dachau Concentration Camp are being used by the Bereitschaftspolizei anti-riot police force. File:Kz dachau liberation person.jpg - Wikimedia Commons All the stories of Nazi horrors are underestimated rather than exaggerated.. Wickers orders were unclear, he knew that Himmler did not want the camp surrendered, but he lacked the manpower to kill all the prisoners. But leaders of the 42nd Division, known as the Rainbow Division for its service in World War I as a multistate National Guard division, understood what Dachau had in store. Subsequent investigations suggest that inmates used the rifle of a young American GI to execute Wicker and his aide. Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany was temporarily closed until 18 Feb 1940 for use of training SS units; prisoners of Dachau were sent to Mauthausen Concentration Camp. The main duty of the female supervisors in Natzweiler was to guard the few women who came to the camp for medical experiments or to be executed. Shortly before Wagner's death, Szmajzner approached his former SS-commandant "How are you, Gustl?" Retrieved February 28, 2022, from remember.org, Remember.org - The Holocaust History - A People's and Survivors' History. Most of the prison complexs SS garrison and leadership had already fled. [40], Josef Kramer, the former commandant of the camp during the time of the Jewish skull collection project, was arrested at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on 17 April 1945 and tried at Lneburg in the British-occupied sector for other crimes committed in Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Original records of the experiments were destroyed in the final days of the camp, but communications records between Rascher's staff and Himmler's staff confirms that the human experimentations had taken place. In 1945 the division was made of up draftee Soldiers from across the country. On the railway line Company I discovered an abandoned engineless train. by TH Albright Thu Jul 17, 2003 9:04 am, Post It was the birthplace of Nazism and these Soldiers, part of the U.S. 7th Army, wanted the prize. Doctors Otto Bickenbach and Helmut Rhl were accused of crimes committed at this camp. by Rob - WSSOB Fri Jul 18, 2003 10:01 pm, Post Rechts davon General Henning Linden (mit Netzhelm) und andere Soldaten der US-Armee. Another annex camp at Schrzingen was established in February 1944 for extracting crude oil from oil shale. Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp New York Times I saw Buchenwald first hand shortly after it was liberated. Once inside, the U.S. troops were horrified and enraged by the scene. There were over 1,000 dead bodies in the barracks within the enclosure.. The final transport arrived at Dachau Concentration Camp in southern Germany. The Americans did however have some inkling of the possible horrors that they would find the Dachau from an escaped inmate. Its goal was to explain what happened at Reich University of Strasbourg, at Natzweiler-Struthof, in the strange use of science in this Nazi project to eliminate the Jews, but keeping some remains for history and science, the project never fully completed. Heinrich, Wicker, Padilla Introduce Bipa | Senator Martin Heinrich Ironically he was probably murdered at Itter by a fellow SS officer on the 2nd of May 1945. | Operational Contract Support Joint Exercise 2014. On April 29th, SS Lieutenant Heinrich Wicker surrendered to Gen. Linden and the Americans began to secure the main camp. Heinrich Wicker "But this " he said, trailing off. Why didnt we want to stop and fight?. All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB. In 1941, Soviet prisoners of war began to arrive. General George S. Patton, as military governor of Bavaria, received the report and the charges of Sparks being complicit in the reprisal but tore up the charges. We saw the mountains of dead bodies, etc., although it was not necessarily new to us as we were directly involved in uncovering this sort of activity, but on a somewhat smaller scale. Search our archives for information on a specific history subject. Dachau and Its Liberation Thousands were killed with freedom a few miles away. There were still tens of thousands of starving prisoners inside the camp and the supply situation had by now completely broken down. Death Train." Wicker claimed to have no knowledge of the train, according to Brig Gen. Linden's account of the surrender. There were actually three Dachaus ahead of the advancing Americans. Himmler had angrily written back forbidding any such action. According to Harold Marcuse, American professor of German history, camp commander SS-Hauptsturmfhrer Martin Weiss, together with the camp guards and the SS garrisons, had fled the camp before the arrival of U.S. troops. The boxcars filled with the emaciated dead, Segrave recalled in a news interview in 2008. As the Allies began to advance on Nazi Germany, the SS began to evacuate the first concentration camps in summer 1944. Dachau History & Overview of Dachau German newspapers reported "the removal of the enemies of the Reich to concentration camps.". WebReturn to Liberators. WebSS men conference with Gen. Henning Linden during liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. Heinrich, Wicker, Padilla Introduce Bipa | Senator Martin Heinrich SS official Theodor Eicke expanded the punishment directives at Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany; these directives were later applied to all camps until the end of the European War. ABC Liberation of Concentration Camps Testimonies Would they think it was worth it? However, the death rate of colorectal cancer has been dropping for It operated from 21 May 1941 to September 1944, and was the only concentration camp established by the Germans in the territory of Arguments between the officers of the two competing divisions broke out against the backdrop of the cheering prisoners. Dachau was never a death camp for Jews; after 1942 all Jews were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and other extermination camps in the east. Message forum of the Feldgrau.com research community, Post Another division would pass through us to give us a breather. SS-Oberfhrer Alexander Reiner was named the commandant of Dachau Concentration Camp in southern Germany, replacing Theodor Eicke. [14] Henri Gayot, a member of the French Resistance who was interned at Struthof between April and September 1944, documented his ordeal in drawings which are now in the Struthof Concentration Camp Museum. The Colonel Sparks and men from the 157th Infantry Regiment arrived. 2. The division captured Munich on April 30, the day Hitler took his life in his bunker in Berlin. I salute the thousands and thousands of GIs and soldiers of other nations who gave their lives to put an end to this madness. Martin Gottfried Weiss stepped down as the commandant of Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany. Hartjenstein was sentenced to death by firing squad on 5 June 1946. Michael Wicker (1794-1861 Most of the animals were already lying in pools of blood after enraged GIs shot dead 25 to 30 of them. Dont let them out! ordered Sparks, Weve got all kinds of food, medicine, and what have you coming in behind us and were going to take good care of them. Americans worry me somewhat,and i would never visit that country. It first held 5,000 political prisoners. Commandant Weiter made efforts to follow Himmlers evacuation order. The installation spawned over 100 subcamps to house prisoners being used for forced labor. The camp held a crematorium and a jury rigged gas chamber outside the main camp, which was not used for mass extermination but for selective extermination, as part of the human experimentation programs, in particular on the problems of fighting a war, like typhus among the troops. Gen. Linden, nor Victor Maurer, the Red Cross Representative, mentioned anything in their reports about what happened to 2nd Lt. Wicker or his aide after they surrendered the camp. Its always interesting to follow up on history, however it makes it very difficult to do so when a blogger doesnt use any of the sources for their facts. Er war zudem als Reporter im Ausland sowie als Mitarbeiter bei verschiedenen Zeitschriften, Illustrierten und Hrfunksendern ttig. [6], The construction of Natzweiler-Struthof was overseen by Hans Httig in the spring of 1941, in a heavily-forested and isolated area at an elevation of 800 metres (2,600ft). The collection was sanctioned by Reichsfhrer of the SS Heinrich Himmler, and under the direction of August Hirt with Rudolf Brandt and Wolfram Sievers who was responsible for procuring and preparing the corpses as part of his management of the Ahnenerbe (the National Socialist scientific institute that researched the archaeological and cultural history of the hypothesized Aryan race). Neither Brig. This was done mainly at the numerous annex camps, some of which were located in mines or tunnels in order to avoid damage from Allied air raids. A 2.4-meter-wide (about 8-foot-wide) creek, over a meter (about 4 feet) deep at the deepest, guarded the west side of the camp ground. The SS bodies are on the left, and a pile of naked bodies of the prisoners is on the right. Brigadier General Henning Linden of 222nd Infantry Regiment, US 42nd Infantry Division accepted the formal surrender from Wicker. by Debica Fusilier Sat Jul 19, 2003 10:10 am, Powered by phpBB Forum Software phpBB Limited, "On 7 May, after a warming trend made the immediate burial of the dead imperative, all farm wagons in the vicinity of Dachau were requisitioned. The first column under his personal command, the second and a Major George Kessler. In 1940, Polish prisoners began to arrive; from this point on, Polish nationals would constitute the majority of the camp population until the camp's closure in 1945. Heinrich Ganninger, adjutant and deputy of commander Fritz Hartjenstein, committed suicide in Wuppertal prison in April 1946 before his trial. Born: Sep 25, 1927. Usually a writer, a photographer and a G-2 (intelligence section) jeep driver would be assigned to a team to accompany a battalion on a particular mission, or occasionally, we would go out on our own without orders, if requested by a well-known correspondent, Hazard described in the Dann memoirs. Daimler-Benz moved its aircraft engine factory from Berlin to a gypsum mine near the Neckarelz annex camp. The Jewish skull collection was an attempt by the Nazis to create an anthropological display to showcase the alleged racial inferiority of the "Jewish race" and to emphasize the status of Jews as Untermenschen ("sub-humans"), in contrast to the Germanic bermenschen ("super-humans") Aryan race which the Nazis considered to be the "Herrenvolk" (master race). Dachau Concentration Camp | World War II Database An hour later, Colonel Sparks men also had a brief firefight with retreating German forces. The 3rd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, commanded, This sailor used a bulldozer to earn the Silver Star medal, This is the most battle-hardened bomber of World War II, Watch this WWII Marine training video before your next club or knife fight. WebWicker Statement on Death of ISIS-K Militant . Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. What you wont hear or read about is the typhus epidemics at Dachau and all the other camps in Germany during the last 5 months, nor about the Dachau massacre when German soldiers, who had nothing whatsoever to do with the conditions in the camp, were murdered in cold blood with their hands in the air. What you wont hear about is how the US military covered up the story of the Dachau massacre and kept this war crime a secret for around 45 years. If you do read anything about the soldiers who surrendered the camp being killed, it will be include something about how these soldiers deserved to die.. ww2dbaseAfter 1948, it housed German nationals and ethnic Germans who had been expelled from Czechoslovakia. As the war continued, it became a death camp as well. 2nd Lt. Heinrich Wicker is the tall German soldier on the left. But I guess time has a way of altering history. All rights reserved. There were still over 30,000 prisoners inside the camp, and the food and water had run out some days previously. After accepting the surrender of the Dachau concentration camp, Brig. This site is by an apologist, apparently. The entrance gate was adorned with the motto "Arbeit macht frei" ("work makes you free"), which indicated the camp's stated purpose as a forced labor camp. Liberation of Buchenwald by Harry J. Herder, Jr. They moved toward Dachau in haste, bypassing German resistance. Our officers winked us out on special mission so we could see what was going on. In the photo above, Brig. Diese Seite wurde zuletzt am 21. Deaths are estimated at 22,000 at the main camp and the subcamps. The reconstructed camp museum was officially opened on 29 June 1980. According to Lt. Col. Felix Sparks of the 45th Division, as told to Flint Whitlock, the historian of the 45th Division, there were SS soldiers also waiting to surrender inside the main gate. CNET Dachau liberation reprisals - Wikipedia Anschlieend nahm er in Berlin und Erlangen ein Studium der Rechtswissenschaften und Philosophie auf. Publisher: Dunn Simply, Dunn, M. D. Send Flowers to the Family Offer Condolences or Memory. 15 minutes later, Sparks briefly conferred with Lieutenant William Walsh commanding Company I, 157th Infantry ordering him to secure the camp and to keep the prisoners inside. Dachau Concentration Camp in southern Germany began operations. Gen. Henning Linden, Assistant Division Commander, 42nd Infantry Division Sign up for our newsletter and receive the mighty updates! Wicker Addresses Rising Nuclear Threats From China, Russia in Floor Speech. 32,000 of them have been freed by the 42nd Rainbow Division, Creasman wrote for the division on May 1, 1945.