January 27, 1945 - Liberation of Auschwitz

Isn't this a beautiful building? Perfectly symmetrical, with a welcoming doorway in the middle Almost like two great arms, wide with welcome, as the gaping mouth in the center promises to swallow whole all trains and their inhabitants.

This is Auschwitz, the notorious Nazi concentration camp. To get an invitation here, you had to be a political prisoner, Jew, Gypsy, homosexual, negro, Jehovah's Witness, Polish...really the best way to be a guest at this German Kill Center was to get on the bad side of a Nazi soldier, spy, sympathizer, family member, or friend.It was quite easy.

Auschwitz was only one concentration camp and kill center. There were many more. Soviet forces liberated the first camp in July 1944. Even though retreating Nazi soldiers tried to destroy most of the evidence of their atrocities, the allies were bearing on them faster than they could hide their sins. Only a few thousand people were found alive when Auschwitz was liberated, but there was evidence of many more: hundreds of thousands of men's suits, more than 800,000 women's outfits, and more than 14,000 pounds of human hair.

The liberation was staggering, shocking and overwhelming for the soldiers. The initial entrants were usually armored division soldiers whose task it was to make sure the Germans were gone, captured or killed. Their task was not to assist the prisoners. A few comments:

• A few officers conducted brief inspections before continuing toward their military targets. Dr. Sol Nichtern stated, "I did some kind of inspection which consisted of a walk-through, a shattering experience for me, and reported to Headquarters that a unit our size could not handle the camp." Dr. Nichtern along with his unit were instructed to proceed into Bavaria.
• Colonel James Moncrief conducted only the briefest of inspections at Buchenwald. "It was far more important for me to seek relief than to tarry making further inspections....I emphasized the urgency of the situation to the Division Chief of Staff....I reported that the limited assistance from within our division would be far short of that which was required. I urged that Third Army, to which the Armored Division was attached, be requested to send logistical support immediately."
• American soldiers who first arrived at the camps radioed immediately for assistance with manpower, medical supplies, food, and for advice on how to proceed. Most did not undertake formal inspections, but simply reported the conditions prevailing in the outer barbed wire enclosures to their superiors.

Surrounding village residents had the audacity to state their ignorance to the happenings. Because of this, many soldiers rounded up residents and forced them to walk, or tour, the camps. They would no longer be able to deny what their fuhrer has done to innocents.

As we mark this day with reverence, sadness, shock and regret, let us hold a solid mind to never let this happen again.