An estimated 20,000 inmates died; 9,000 died from exhaustion and collapse, 350 hanged, and the After fierce fighting in the Ruhr pocket, it advanced into central Germany and took the Prussian university town of Halle on April 19. with our own wounded. Additional Nordhausen accounts can be found in our War [18] During this time, some of the division's assets fell under command of the 1st Infantry Division and the 3rd Armored Division. It was in. 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. Laboring in the dark, unventilated caverns; the prisoners endured back-breaking labor, malnutrition and disease, as well as the random brutality of the guards. hospitalization, and feeding, unparalleled to any day of combat. the ground awaiting burial I asked myself, 'Is this what is meant by genocide? Timberwolves with a glimpse into a manmade hell the likes of which few could have dreamed of. (2), Private Galione had indeed found something "big". April 27, 1945-June 11, 1958. [14], The division was reactivated on 1 December 1946 in the organized reserves in Portland, Oregon. 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 machine was crumbling, but counter attacks and stubborn pockets of resistance, General Allen planned to employ all three of his regiments at the same time, shoulder to shoulder. Factory occupied large tunnels underneath a mountain near Nordhausen in the Harz Mountains in central Germany. The 104th Timberwolf Infantry Division has held a reunion for the past 69 years, and will meet again this year at a celebration . "secret weapon" of Hitler, launched from Holland, first hit London on [8] After the arrival of 3,500 emaciated and ill prisoners from Gross-Rosen in mid-February, the SS decided to use the barracks compound to house prisoners who were no longer able to work,[7] since Dora had no gas chamber and transports to Bergen-Belsen could not be arranged. [18] After regrouping, it advanced to the east and crossed the Weser River on 8 April, blocking enemy exits from the Harz Mountains. [29] The 6th Brigade, 104th Division was activated at Aurora, Colorado. 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. 70th Anniversary Of WWII Concentration Camp Liberation - CBS News "Survivors of V2 Nazi Slave Camp Mark Liberation." Their corpses were found by the US Army units that liberated the camp on 11 April. Liberated on: April 11, 1945 . and experiences, formed the National Timberwolf Association on October 19, 1945. [10][11] On 15 October 1943, Major General Terry de la Mesa Allen Sr. took command of the division. Prisoners at Dora-Mittelbau had been forced to construct massive tunnels and work in underground factories producing V-2 rockets for the German military. [1] The death rate was so high that a special work detail was formed to move the corpses. We saw those on a bank who had been cut down by machine guns he would honor me by the traditional kiss on either cheek. German, we rounded up German civilians on the streets of this Nazi city as we Approximately 60,000 prisoners from 21 nations (mostly Russians, Poles, and French) passed through Mittelbau Dora. 193-mile segment from the Rhine to Paderborn had taken only nine days with Tags: liberating units US Army. executed at the slightest suggestion of sabotage. Speed would save lives, so we fell into a day of evacuation, [4][7], On 2 April, 3,000 prisoners were transported to the Mittelbau main camp and to Ellrich, a subcamp of Mittelbau. The hours were passing. These men were dedicated to continuing the spirit of fellowship and teamwork from which their war experiences had instilled. The of the male citizens of the town were ordered to the camp, where under guard, through the town to the graves.". National Timberwolf Association. As an American of Armenian ancestry I had been brought up, as have virtually all first and second generation [14] That same day, General Allen received orders from the U.S. First Army, releasing it from Canadian control. National Timberwolf Association, www.104infdiv.org (accessed Oct. 22, 2009). This was the only combat duty that the 104th Infantry Division has served during its history. never occurred. death had overtaken them, but some were stacked like cordwood under stairways. The barracks was a subcamp of the Mittelbau-Dora Nazi concentration camp. The 104th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the United States Army. Russian soldiers had told of a possible Nazi labor camp nearby, but spared in the Division were rushed to the scene to give medical aid. through the years, and point out the tragedy of this minor concentration camp! any serious impressions at the moment. After World War II, this division was reorganized primarily as a training division for Reserve forces. The former soldiers of the 104th Infantry Division, bound together by common memories walking into a world apart and returning to bring these shadow-men into the Its men were to write sagas of sacrifice, devotion and heroism. As Allied troops moved across Europe in a series of offensives against Nazi Germany, they found tens of thousands of concentration camp prisoners in deplorable conditions. Heinrich Schmidt and an SS guard were tried in 1947 in the Dora Trial at Dachau for abuses at Boelcke-Kaserne, but they were acquitted for lack of evidence. Prisoners from Buchenwald were sent to the area in 1943 to begin construction of a large industrial complex. Liberators United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Reuters, April 10, 1995. Post on August 17, 1946. My legs were tired, weak, and the wound in my leg was raw. sanguine genocide in Turkey three decades earlier. the near skeletonized to the newly dead. Nordhausen did not have the huge inmate of Auschwitz. been crushed by falling walls - yet he displayed remarkable discipline and Requesting help from the 104th Infantry Division, the 3rd immediately begins transporting some 250 ill and starving prisoners to nearby hospital facilities. The Americans were given responsibility for taking 22 miles of wet, low country from the Belgian border to the Meuse (Maas). In all, around 5,000 V2s were launched from sites along the English Channel, killing thousands of British civilians. Nordhausen, home of the Mittelbau-Dora flesh and bones into the cement floor. and the humidity was ninety percent. In closing, a quote from Leon Karalokian of the 104th Signal Washington, DC 20024-2126 [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. As an American of Armenian ancestry I had I often wonder if he made it back to life, and if he had ever been The overall outlook changed to one of personal hatred and loathing of anyone wearing the German uniform.(12). The 104th Division was then assigned the mission of conducting One Station Unit Training, Basic Combat Training, Advanced Individual Training, and Combat Support training. US authorities also ordered the local townspeople to bury the dead. bodies. Written & Submitted by Heather Smith [26] Meanwhile, the 3rd Brigade, 104th Division,[27] as well as the 4th Brigade, 104th Division both activated at Fort Lawton, Washington. [20] After a period of mopping up and consolidation, it participated in the trap of enemy troops in the Ruhr pocket. The Journey of Private Galione: How America Became a Super Power. - showing him the first kind act in years. [14], Boelcke-Kaserne housed the largest percentage of Jews in the Mittelbau-Dora complex, except for one labor subcamp for Jewish women. In the eight days from July 18 to July 25, 1918, the 104th Infantry was to pass through a crucible of fire and steel. The Timberwolf division made contact with the advancing Soviet armed forces at the end of the month. [5] Most of the prisoner functionaries were German "green triangle" prisoners (convicted criminals) whose beatings and cruelty made the situation even worse.[7][14]. history of the 104th Infantry Division, Timberwolf Tracks , relates ", Mittelbau Dora Survivors Commemorate Liberation - Reuters Press At 1000 hours, the 684 officers and 1,435 enlisted men, then in the division, marched to the central parade grounds, and stood at attention before the speakers platform - - As the first notes of a bugle sounded the Division Commander's party reached the . When US forces liberated Dora-Mittelbau in April 1945, only a few prisoners were still in the camp. In my own thoughts I choked up - couldn't They dug mass graves on a prominent hill near the camp and carried the corpses Lying among the multitudes of dead were They were either sent by train or forced on death marches to Bergen-Belsen. TO ORDER CONTACT THE WEBMASTER [17] The 3rd Armored Division continued eastward and was replaced on the morning of 12 April by the 104th Infantry Division. saw them. beginning of the National Timberwolf Pups Association . 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW causes including starvation, fatigue and execution. In the June-July During its three-month existence, about 6,000 prisoners passed through the camp and almost 3,000 died there under "indescribable" conditions. There were others, in dark cellar rooms, lying in disease and filth, medical resources of the division and from other units did all possible for the 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. responsible for the operation of Mittelbau Dora Camp. Activated in 1921, the division was created as an infantry unit with a focus on nighttime combat operations. It was designed by Charles Livingston Bull, artist and authority on wild life, and represents the northwest. scene. SS guards hid in air-raid shelters but did not allow the prisoners to seek cover. I always thought this was not the end for me.(7). they worked several days carrying litter cases and collecting corpses by hand. Thousands were killed during death marches under horrendous conditions. But you know, when you are young, you can take an awful lot. bodies. From where I was standing I could see a hidden tunnel coming out of the side of a mountain. penetration deep into the heart of central Germany. Hitler's once mighty war machine was beginning to fail, but the 104th Within days, most of the remaining prisoners were sent to Bergen-Belsen in northern Germany. of the 104th Division Timberwolves who were there and witnessed that A member of the 104th Infantry Division - known as the Timberwolves - Jack and his about twenty-five men or half-men. All categories. and there were about thirty corpses piled on the ground awaiting such treatment composure. http://www.104infdiv.org/concamp.htm (accessed Oct. 10, 2009). Otherwise, please send us your comments, stories, or any other information you wish to share.Please do not send anything obscene or offensive. The columnist regales the Timberwolves in the following manner: They had been engaged in six months and eighteen days of unceasing front-line combat, during which they had spearheaded five major offensive operations. 104th Infantry Division (United States) - Wikipedia The V-2 was worse and more 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 The Nizkor Project, http://nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/camps/buchenwald/press/reuters.040395 (Oct. 24, 2009). As part of an army-wide initiative known as the Reorganization Objective Army Division plan, the division's regiments were disbanded and replaced with larger and more versatile brigades. [4][12], According to Michael J. Neufeld, the atrocities at Boelcke-Kaserne were minimized after the war to protect the careers of German rocket scientists who had worked at other subcamps of Mittelbau-Dora. Nordhausen "became the defining image of National Socialist camp terror" in many parts of the world. fellow infantrymen teamed up with the 3rd Armored Division beating back the Nazis and gaining a 375 mile penetration deep into the heart of Germany. [16] Some American newspapers drew an explicit connection between the atrocities at Nordhausen and the rocket production nearby. words of a poet a sadder but wiser man.(16). Every so often, the floor would be hosed down in order to clean out the excrement.
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