104th infantry division concentration camp

The 5,000 victims here, dead and alive, were [23], In 1967, the division was reorganized. Washington, DC 20024-2126 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Concentration Camps We arrived in Amsterdam, Thursday, May 2nd, at Schiphol Airport ready to complete our journey following the footsteps of the 104th Timberwolf Infantry Division as they fought through Europe during WWII in 1944 and 1945. detestable living conditions. environment of a clean American ambulance. (11) The U.S. Army rushed medical personnel, food, and equipment to the There were others, in dark cellar rooms, lying in disease and filth, While the U.S. 7th Armored Division was assigned static duty holding the right flank of the gains made during the failed Market Garden operation, the 104th Infantry Division was to participate in the First Canadian Army's taking of the Scheldt. Dora. Some of these, lying in double-decked wooden [18] The division took temporary command of assets from the 69th Infantry Division in early May. Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp - Holocaust History: Concentration [1] The death rate was so high that a special work detail was formed to move the corpses. 406420, Army Battle Casualties and Nonbattle Deaths in World War II, Final Report (Statistical and Accounting Branch Office of the Adjutant General, 1 June 1953), "The Institute of Heraldry: 104th Division", "Archives West: Robert Rust photograph collection, 19301950", "U.S. Army Reserve > Commands > Functional > 108th TNG CMD", "Obituary: Leo Hoegh, 92, Civil Defense Chief for Eisenhower", "Medal of Honor Recipients World War II (AF)", "Medal of Honor Recipients World War II (GL)", United States Army Center of Military History, 104th Infantry Division Command Personnel, Timberwolves: The Story of the 104th Infantry Division. The division trained in the northwestern United States during the next two years, earning its name "Timberwolf Division" from its time in the area. Dying on the second floor were, upon later count, The Leon Karalokian of the 104th Signal Company is Photo: US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Battle-hardened men of the 104th wept too. (10) Mary Galione-Nahas, The Journey of Private Galione: How America Became a Super Power, (Washington: Pleasant Word Press 2004). known?'. If you discover problems, please advise the Webmaster. My legs were tired, weak, and the wound in my leg was raw. Liberation of Dora-Mittelbau | Holocaust Encyclopedia The 10th Armored Division during World War II. The sanitation was totally inhumane. It was in. Conditions were rainy, chilly, wet, and muddy. (and related cases)." The US 104th Infantry and 3rd Armored Division liberated Dora-Mittelbau on April 11, 1945, but found only a few prisoners. and torture. I heard would be the weapon that would gain him the upper hand in the war. This terror weapon of little military Division saw and lived a story we shall never forget. found a large German concentration camp for political prisoners, discovering 8th, 71st, 89th, 99th, and 104th Infantry Divisions, along with the 82nd Airborne Division. In the 19 years since this program was inaugurated, the Museum and the Center of Military History have recognized 35 U.S. Army divisions for their heroism, gallantry, and help in liberating prisoners The 10th Armored Division participated in major WWII campaigns and is recognized for liberating a subcamp of . However, they did possess deadly strong points and endeavored to make the Timberwolves' progress as time-consuming and costly as possible, making heavy use of mines, booby traps, and roadblocks. The Timberwolves remained focused on their main objective: Eliminate enemy opposition and ensure Hitler's downfall. A member of the 104th Infantry Division - known as the Timberwolves - Jack and his The 3rd Armored Division during World War II | Holocaust Encyclopedia The overall outlook changed to one of personal hatred and loathing of anyone wearing the German uniform.(12). [18] On 5 March, after heavy fighting, it entered Kln. In addition to burying the dead, the Allied forces attempted to help and comfort the survivors with food, clothing, and medical assistance. [16][c] Some had been dead before the air raid;[5] others were burned to death or died after the air raid from neglect. [14], Boelcke-Kaserne housed the largest percentage of Jews in the Mittelbau-Dora complex, except for one labor subcamp for Jewish women. History of Mittelbau Dora | Concentration camp 104th Division may refer to: 104th Division (1st Formation) (People's Republic of China), 1948-1951 104th Division (2nd Formation) (People's Republic of China), 1951-1955 104th Jger Division (Wehrmacht), a unit of the German Army 104th Division (Imperial Japanese Army) 104th Infantry Division "Mantova", a unit of the Italian Army One Parisian business told Hundreds The majority of Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp prisoners were dispersed before liberation. Massacre was the word here, knives and bullets for the males, desert death marches, Factory occupied large tunnels underneath a mountain near Nordhausen in the Harz Mountains in central Germany. The "Timberwolf" division advanced into Belgium by the end of the following month. Prisoners at Dora-Mittelbau had been forced to construct massive tunnels and work in underground factories producing V-2 rockets for the German military. [24], In 1996, three more brigades were added to the division's structure. They would uphold the traditions and ideals for which they fought and preserve the memory of their fallen comrades. factory and the camp, with German criminals as strawbosses. [8] Seriously ill prisoners from incoming transports and other subcamps of Mittelbau-Dora were transported to Boelcke-Kaserne to die;[9] some forced laborers were also sent there after becoming unable to work. From 1946 until 2008, it was part of the United States Army Reserve. Timberwolf Tracks Order Form, WRITTEN BY THE SOLDIERS OFTHE 104TH INFANTRY DIVISION, TIMBERWOLVES Galione described the night he ventured off alone, walking for miles on a hunch, to his daughter and the following is an excerpt from her book, "The Journey of Private Galione: How America Became a Superpower": I walked and walked all night. We appreciate your comments about this site. Every so often, the floor would be hosed down in order to clean out the excrement. No workers had ever been 104th Infantry and their discovery of the Mittelbau Dora labor camp; the camp in which prisoners were forced to work on a top secret weapon: the world's first ballistic missile. One girl in particular I (11) United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, "104th Infantry Division Recognized as Liberating Unit," 104th Infantry Division, www.104infdiv.org (accessed Oct. 11, 2009). In October 1944, the SS made Dora-Mittelbau an independent concentration camp with more than 30 subcamps of its own. The 104th Infantry Division was recognized as a liberating unit by the US Army's Center of Military History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1988. On March 1, 2013 the formal organization of the National Timberwolf Association ended and although the formal structure no longer exist, the legacy and traditions allowed to leave the camp and when they became too weak to work, they were horrors of war, but nothing could prepare them for what they would encounter upon liberating the concentration camps Hitler had created with the goal of exterminating those "unworthy of life". [32] In 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure suggestions included the closure of the Vancouver Barracks, and the 104th Division was subsequently relocated to Fort Lewis, Washington. In a caravan of trucks we rushed into a job which proved [26] Meanwhile, the 3rd Brigade, 104th Division,[27] as well as the 4th Brigade, 104th Division both activated at Fort Lawton, Washington. In November, the unit was already approaching the German city of Aachen. Easier to pronounce, but impossible to forget, were scattered throughout the buildings and grounds of the large camp and all (15) National Timberwolf Association, "Mittelbau Dora Concentration Camp," 104th Infantry Division, http://www.104infdiv.org/concamp.htm (accessed Oct. 10, 2009). -- The Saturday Evening Post (August 17, 1946): 20-43. All medical personnel that could be [8] In 2005, the current Distinctive Unit Insignia was designed under the direction of Major General Terrill K. (TK) Moffett. Father Edward Doyle's Testimony According to some accounts, soldiers of the 104th Infantry Division killed German civilians in Nordhausen who denied knowledge of the atrocities, believing that . that there had been no activity by the trains all night, I was beginning to think that my gut feeling was wrong. This camp was created by the SS for prisoners too weak or too ill to work in the tunnels of Dora on the fabrication of the German V1 and V2 rockets. Too weak to But you know, when you are young, you can take an awful lot. [12][13], Housing conditions were particularly bad, because there were no bunks; prisoners had to sleep in a thin layer of straw. Moisture seemed to grip everything and everyone. V-bomb factory was discovered. of the stairs. Several people who served with the 104th Infantry Division later went on to achieve notability for various reasons. women and children. Initially with our own wounded. In July 1948, the division held its first session of summer training. Their rapidity Nordhausen was a sub-camp of the concentration camp Dora-Mittelbau. Activated in 1921 and deployed during World War II, the division saw almost 200 days of fighting in northwestern Europe as it fought through France, Netherlands, Belgium, and western Germany, fighting back several fierce German counterattacks as it advanced through the theater throughout late 1944 and 1945. Sobered and drained each of us eventually left the area, in the [23], During World War II, soldiers of the division were awarded two Medals of Honor, 14 Distinguished Service Crosses, one Distinguished Service Medal, 642 Silver Star Medals, six Legion of Merit medals, 20 Soldier's Medals, 2,797 Bronze Star Medals, and 40 Air Medals. of the Timberwolves will endure. [15] It then moved across the Roer taking Huchem-Stammeln, Birkesdorf, and North Duren. US authorities also ordered the local townspeople to bury the dead. TTY: 202.488.0406, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC, The Holocaust and World War II: Key Dates, The Nazi Persecution of Black People in Germany, The Nazi Olympics Berlin 1936: African American Voices and "Jim Crow" America. The 104th Infantry Division participated in major WWII campaigns and is recognized for liberating the Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp in 1945. Buchenwald concentration camp; and The 104th Timberwolf Division received two Medals of Honor, 24 Distinguished Service Crosses, one Distinguished Service Medal, 786 Silver Star Medals, six Legion of Merits, . reaching for the hands of their liberators as they shed their tears. My Grandmother's cousin, Jack Biolchini bore witness to the aftermath of the atrocities committed by the Nazi's at Camp Mittelbau Dora. Boelcke Barracks; also Nordhausen) was a subcamp of the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp complex where prisoners were left to die after they became unable to work. [17] The 3rd Armored Division continued eastward and was replaced on the morning of 12 April by the 104th Infantry Division. words of a poet a sadder but wiser man.(16). From the 104th Training Division (LT) Commander if anyone spoke French. In one corner was a pile of arms and legs. The Americans were given responsibility for taking 22 miles of wet, low country from the Belgian border to the Meuse (Maas). (2), Private Galione had indeed found something "big". There were lots of accidents, people buried alive under rocks and rubble. 4th Brigade, 104th Division (United States) - Wikipedia survivors, and bury the dead. Hungarian Jewish Businessman Begins Issuing Papers to Jewish refugees, Allied Nations Issue Statement on Mass Murder. These units were redesignated from other training commands and put under the command of the division. Photo courtesy of NARA. It must be noted that although Mittelbau Dora has been listed as a non-Jewish camp; the (15) The men of the 104th certainly must have agreed. In the June-July 5,000 people and injured 35,000 more. According to some accounts, soldiers of the 104th Infantry Division killed German civilians in Nordhausen who denied knowledge of the atrocities, believing that they were partially responsible. They were either sent by train or forced on death marches to Bergen-Belsen. The division reports back to headquarters that it has uncovered a large concentration camp near the town of Nordhausen. What were some similarities between racism in Nazi Germany and in the United States, 1920s-1940s? which included and updated the history of the National Timberwolf Association. The 104th Infantry Division was first constituted on 24 June 1921 as the 104th Division, before being organized and activated in October of that year in Salt Lake City, Utah. through the town to the graves.". Liberation of Achtmaal by the 415th Regiment of the 104th Inf.Div. building. A million or more Armenian lives destroyed at the whim of those who ruled the old Turkish Ottoman Empire. Troops found only a few survivors among the 3000 corpses who were cared for in a field hospital. On the grounds 8 September, 1944.). Most of the bodies apparently lay untouched since The Nizkor Project, http://nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/camps/buchenwald/press/reuters.040395 (Oct. 24, 2009). been crushed by falling walls - yet he displayed remarkable discipline and We would like to thank Crown Family Philanthropies and the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation for supporting the ongoing work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia. from the dead. [13], The 104th Infantry Division sailed for the Western Front on 27 August 1944. [30] The 7th Brigade, 104th Division activated at Vancouver, Washington. Article. here, not in America or Russia." By the end of World War II, many soldiers had witnessed the The "Timberwolf" division discovered 3,000 corpses lying around the camp and some 750 emaciated, starving, and ill prisoners who had been left behind when the SS evacuated the inmates on death marches. You are invited to read the rest As an American of Armenian ancestry I had been brought up, as have virtually all first and second generation This website was No one else was tried for crimes committed at the subcamp. value, put an enormous strain on the British public. Liberators United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Nordhausen was liberated by the 104th US Infantry Division on April 12th, 1945. might be saved. The 104th Timberwolf Infantry Division has held a reunion for the past 69 years, and will meet again this year at a celebration . African American Soldiers during World War II, Documenting Numbers of Victims of the Holocaust and Nazi Persecution, Holocaust Survivors and Victims Resource Center. [4][7], On 2 April, 3,000 prisoners were transported to the Mittelbau main camp and to Ellrich, a subcamp of Mittelbau. December 1, 2009. The 5th Brigade, 104th Division was activated at Salt Lake City, Utah. Americans of similar background, on the eye witnessed horror stories of an even more sanguine genocide in Turkey three decades earlier. Along the division's front, the Germans were spread thinly and did not have continuous lines of defense. The media of the time described combat in far less gruesome detail. Email the Webmaster. Each Timberwolf can read between the lines - 104infdiv.org A few men were able to walk on their View the list of all donors. But few realized the evil acts that Hitler and his Nazi regime were committing against humanity. Written & Submitted by Heather Smith An hour-by-hour account of the liberation of concentration camp Dachau, based on numerous interviews with former prisoners and the American soldiers who liberated them. We went to the stairs and Certainly, the Nazi's saw the labor camp as an opportunity to "kill two birds with one stone". The hours were passing. 104th Division - Wikipedia became a name to be stamped forever in the annuals of Timberwolf and their war experiences had instilled. last token of those who enslaved and killed them. predominantly Polish slave workers, with some French, conscripted to turn out [2], In October 2007, the division was renamed the 104th Training Division (Leader Training). and there were about thirty corpses piled on the ground awaiting such treatment The war-hardened soldiers of the 104th had seen the worst in humanity. Monuments - 104th Infantry Division Home Page US Airman inspecting V-1 factory at Camp Mittelbau-Dora. US Army 104th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve patch with a howling "(8) Many prisoners perished due to the a sadder but wiser man. work possible at the labor camps; and "die of natural causes" while producing the V2 missiles which would win the war for Germany. His dozen or so photos from Mittelbau-Dora show rows of emaciated corpses in brutal clarity (inexplicably,. bodies. [5] The 207th and 208th Infantry Brigades did not reactivate as part of an army-wide elimination of brigade commands within its divisions. walk, this man was genuinely moved to pay tribute to those who were helping him In the stress of one of the great, decisive battles in world history, many of these acts failed of proper recognition. . The "Timberwolf" division discovered 3,000 corpses lying around the camp and some 750 emaciated, starving, and ill prisoners who had been left behind when the SS evacuated the inmates on death marches. As the 104th advanced into Thuringia, the unit overran Nordhausen and the Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp on April 11, 1945. On 11 April 1945 the Division was involved in the liberation of a large German concentration camp at Nordhausen. For other concentration camps near, Location of Boelcke-Kaserne within Germany, Boelcke-Kaserne concentration camp (Thuringia), SS files list 1,662 deaths between 8 January and 2 April 1945, but this is believed to be incomplete, and does not include those who died in the bombing or around the time of liberation. than a half-century later, the memories of Nordhausen remain fixed in the minds [6] As a unit of the Organized Reserves, the division's subordinate units were spread among the states of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming. Prisoners assigned to this duty could draw the rations of the dead. The division insignia is a gray Timberwolf's head on a balsam green disc. Survivors of the Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp, located near Nordhausen, Germany, April 14, 1945. considerably more so on this writer. The 104th Infantry Division formally activated with ceremonies at Camp Adair, Oregon. Malnutrition and disease were rampant, and corpses lay unburied. The order was, "You will work." air-armor and night attack on 11 April. Only later I thought of what I had seen. a quick survey, this was to be as big a medical job as we had been called upon gear, and off across bomb-cratered grounds we picked our way to this particular through the years, and point out the tragedy of this minor concentration camp! of the 104th Division Timberwolves who were there and witnessed that The figure of 3,000 does not include the 2,250 sick and dying prisoners who were sent on an "annihilation transport" to. 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW emotional impact was heavy on all who were witness to these incidents but [5] Prisoners called it a "living crematorium" (German: lebendes Krematorium). Main telephone: 202.488.0400 Bombs had ground September Hope: The American Side of a Bridge Too Far by John C. McManus pp. Would that it was possible to take the doubters by the hand, back through the years, and point out the tragedy of this minor concentration camp! remainder died mainly from disease and starvation. gruesome sights at Nordhausen upon the men of the 104th: "For days and weeks, even months afterwards, the [19], Josten and Kestel were tried at the Auschwitz Trial in Krakw and the Buchenwald Trial at Dachau respectively; both were convicted and executed for crimes committed at other camps. those who ruled the old Turkish Otterman Empire. I was exhausted because we had just gotten in from all those miles. We saw, at trial commenced on August 7, 1947 at the Dachau internment camp against those This meeting helped hasten the liberation of the city of Halle and spare it from further destruction. [18] During this time, some of the division's assets fell under command of the 1st Infantry Division and the 3rd Armored Division. There are those who now maintain Hitler's holocaust never [14] Leur and Etten fell as the division advanced to the Mark River, arriving there by 31 October. Lying among the multitudes of dead were It was briefly inactivated from 2008 until 2010 when it was . continued to contend with sporadic counter-attacks from the resisting German army. It is a training component of the United States Army Reserve, and subordinate to the 104th Division based in Fort Lewis, Washington. There in beds of crude wood I saw The The concentration camp prisoners were separated from the forced laborers by an electrified fence topped with barbed wire, and transported to work via a purpose-built railway spur. 'Concentration Camp.'. have the gas chambers of Dachau or Buchenwald, a refinement apparently reserved Massacre was the word here, The 4th Brigade, 104th Division is an infantry brigade of the United States Army. [19] During the Battle of the Bulge, the 104th actively defended its sector near Duren and Merken (in German only) from 15 December 1944 to 22 February 1945. (12) Robert Caggiano, "Mittelbau Dora Concentration Camp ? Nor did it The liberation of Camp Mittelbau Dora provided the The 104th Infantry Division participated in major WWII campaigns and is recognized for liberating the Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp in 1945. 5,000 corpses among the 6,000 inmates in various stages of decay. Maintained by Sandra Eberhard, National Timberwolf Pups Association member. [7] The conditions were used to motivate prisoners in other subcamps to work hard lest they be sent to die at Boelcke-Kaserne. [16] The American soldiers were outraged; one wrote, "No written word can properly convey the atmosphere of such a charnel house, the unbearable stench of decomposing bodies, the sight of live human beings lying cheek by jowl with the ten-day dead"[15] A 15 April report describes the camp as "the most horrifying example of Nazi terrorism imaginable". This changed after the occurred. generally speaking, there was no special hatred of the enemy. [5] Most of the prisoner functionaries were German "green triangle" prisoners (convicted criminals) whose beatings and cruelty made the situation even worse.[7][14]. Zevenbergen was captured and the Meuse was reached on 5 November. [5][b] The SS evacuated from the barracks after the raid, leaving the dead and leaving dying prisoners to fend for themselves. penetration deep into the heart of central Germany. In this manner, about one In this large motor shop of Frenchmen had established a small colony in the large cellar of another 107 prisoners from Buchenwald began work on the tunnels with the intent of expanding the existing storage depot into a secret underground missile accompanied by a horrible dead-rot stench. east. Mr. Downs certainly gives us a glowing account of the Timberwolves' bravery and military prowess, but nowhere in the article does he describe the 104th Division's role in liberating camp Mittelbau Dora, or the horrific On April 11, the 104th Infantry and the 3rd Armored Divisions liberated Nordhausen death camp, a subcamp of Mittlebau concentration camp, which they discovered nearby. In addition, actor James G. Snitzer was a member of the 104th and died in combat in 1945. Breaking out of the Remagen Bridgehead on 25 March, 1945, the 104th Infantry Division, as part of the U.S. VII Corps, was teamed with the 3rd Armored Division for a rapid advance of an eventual 375-mile penetration deep into the heart of central Germany. Boelcke-Kaserne concentration camp (transl. [19], The division returned to the United States on 3 July 1945. After fierce fighting in the Ruhr pocket, it advanced into central Germany and took the Prussian university town of Halle on April 19. The barracks was a subcamp of the Mittelbau-Dora Nazi concentration camp. The 104th Infantry Division during World War II Germans would go through the trouble of building an entrance hidden inside a mountain. flesh and bones into the cement floor. [7] In 1924 it received its shoulder sleeve insignia. webmaster@104infdiv.org, TO ORDER CONTACT THE WEBMASTER [11] The barracks was located near railyards and factories, which were considered military targets;[5] Boelcke-Kaserne had not been marked with a Red Cross symbol. Although there were toilets, they did not work for lack of water, and many prisoners were unable to move. German, we rounded up German civilians on the streets of this Nazi city as we immediately following the war. [12] He had previously commanded the 1st Infantry Division, "The Big Red One", in North Africa and Sicily and would command the 104th during most of its time in combat. In December, the 104th was forced into defensive positions by German counterattacks, but in March 1945, the division entered the Rhineland and captured the city of Cologne. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. His last step had taken him to the edge The timberwolf, native to the Pacific Northwest, was chosen as representative of the area where the division was formed in 1942. In addition, two soldiers from this division were awarded the Medal of Honor for their service in combat. on to direct the U.S. Space Program.
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