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The Resource Hell before their very eyes : American soldiers liberate concentration camps in Germany, April 1945, John C. McManus

Hell before their very eyes : American soldiers liberate concentration camps in Germany, April 1945, John C. McManus

Creator
Summary
On April 4, 1945, United States Army units from the 89th Infantry Division and the 4th Armored Division seized Ohrdruf, the first of many Nazi concentration camps to be liberated in Germany. In the weeks that followed, as more camps were discovered, thousands of soldiers came face to face with the monstrous reality of Hitler's Germany. These men discovered the very depths of human-imposed cruelty and depravity: railroad cars stacked with emaciated, lifeless bodies; ovens full of incinerated human remains; warehouses filled with stolen shoes, clothes, luggage, and even eyeglasses; prison yards littered with implements of torture and dead bodies; and perhaps most disturbing of all the half-dead survivors of the camps. For the American soldiers of all ranks who witnessed such powerful evidence of Nazi crimes, the experience was life altering. Almost all were haunted for the rest of their lives by what they had seen, horrified that humans from ostensibly civilized societies were capable of such crimes. Military historian John C. McManus sheds new light on this often-overlooked aspect of the Holocaust. Drawing on a rich blend of archival sources and thousands of firsthand accounts including unit journals, interviews, oral histories, memoirs, diaries, letters, and published recollections Hell Before Their Very Eyes focuses on the experiences of the soldiers who liberated Ohrdruf, Buchenwald, and Dachau and their determination to bear witness to this horrific history.--
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
xv, 189 pages
Contents
  • Encountering Ohrdruf
  • "The smell of death was thick in the air": witnessing Buchenwald
  • Treating Buchenwald: medicine and Murrow
  • Dachau: the approach
  • "My heart was going a mile a minute": liberating Dachau
  • Dachau: the impact
Isbn
9781421417653
Instance
Label
Hell before their very eyes : American soldiers liberate concentration camps in Germany, April 1945
Title
Hell before their very eyes
Title remainder
American soldiers liberate concentration camps in Germany, April 1945
Statement of responsibility
John C. McManus
Creator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
On April 4, 1945, United States Army units from the 89th Infantry Division and the 4th Armored Division seized Ohrdruf, the first of many Nazi concentration camps to be liberated in Germany. In the weeks that followed, as more camps were discovered, thousands of soldiers came face to face with the monstrous reality of Hitler's Germany. These men discovered the very depths of human-imposed cruelty and depravity: railroad cars stacked with emaciated, lifeless bodies; ovens full of incinerated human remains; warehouses filled with stolen shoes, clothes, luggage, and even eyeglasses; prison yards littered with implements of torture and dead bodies; and perhaps most disturbing of all the half-dead survivors of the camps. For the American soldiers of all ranks who witnessed such powerful evidence of Nazi crimes, the experience was life altering. Almost all were haunted for the rest of their lives by what they had seen, horrified that humans from ostensibly civilized societies were capable of such crimes. Military historian John C. McManus sheds new light on this often-overlooked aspect of the Holocaust. Drawing on a rich blend of archival sources and thousands of firsthand accounts including unit journals, interviews, oral histories, memoirs, diaries, letters, and published recollections Hell Before Their Very Eyes focuses on the experiences of the soldiers who liberated Ohrdruf, Buchenwald, and Dachau and their determination to bear witness to this horrific history.--
Member of
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1965-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
McManus, John C.
Illustrations
illustrations
Index
index present
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
Series statement
Witness to history
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Ohrdruf (Concentration camp)
  • Buchenwald (Concentration camp)
  • Dachau (Concentration camp)
  • World War, 1939-1945
  • World War, 1939-1945
Label
Hell before their very eyes : American soldiers liberate concentration camps in Germany, April 1945, John C. McManus
Instantiates
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Content category
text
Content type code
txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent.
Contents
Encountering Ohrdruf -- "The smell of death was thick in the air": witnessing Buchenwald -- Treating Buchenwald: medicine and Murrow -- Dachau: the approach -- "My heart was going a mile a minute": liberating Dachau -- Dachau: the impact
Control code
FIEb17795588
Dimensions
23 cm.
Extent
xv, 189 pages
Isbn
9781421417653
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
Media type code
n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
(OCoLC)907585014
Label
Hell before their very eyes : American soldiers liberate concentration camps in Germany, April 1945, John C. McManus
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier.
Content category
text
Content type code
txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent.
Contents
Encountering Ohrdruf -- "The smell of death was thick in the air": witnessing Buchenwald -- Treating Buchenwald: medicine and Murrow -- Dachau: the approach -- "My heart was going a mile a minute": liberating Dachau -- Dachau: the impact
Control code
FIEb17795588
Dimensions
23 cm.
Extent
xv, 189 pages
Isbn
9781421417653
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia.
Media type code
n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
(OCoLC)907585014

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