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12th Armored
Division Liberates Death Camps
In the latter
days of April 1945, Hellcats of the 12th Armored Division had
crossed the Danube River and were moving rapidly south when
they encountered subsidiary death camps of the notorious Dachau
concentration camp in the vicinity of Landsberg, Germany.
Little is written about the liberation of eleven of these camps
or the 12th Armored Division part in their liberation. The 12th
Armored Division liberated eleven prison camps containing Allied
POWs, political prisoners and Jews, anyone who disagreed with
Nazi philosophy.
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12th Armored Division Liberates
Death Camps
In the
latter days of April 1945, Hellcats of the 12th Armored Division had
crossed the Danube River and were moving rapidly south when they encountered
subsidiary death camps of the notorious Dachau concentration camp
in the vicinity of Landsberg, Germany.
Little is written about the liberation of eleven of these camps or
the 12th Armored Division part in their liberation. The 12th Armored
Division liberated eleven prison camps containing Allied POWs, political
prisoners and Jews, anyone who disagreed with Nazi philosophy. All
of the camps were close to Dachau, the first concentration camp opened
by the Nazis. All of these camps were called Kaufering due to the
camp headquarters being located in Kaufering, Germany and numbered
for identification.
The camp most remembered by liberating Hellcats was Hurlach Vernichtungslager
IV, Kaufering Annihilation Camp IV. It was known as a sick camp and
prisoners with typhus, dysentery and other diseases were sent there
to die. The Nazis gave little or no medical treatment.
Living quarters for the inmates were extremely poor at Hurlach. Huts
were mostly underground, a pit with steps at one end. The slanting
roofs were above ground. Inside were shelves five feet wide about
two foot above the floor on each side of the central aisle. These
were sleeping areas for the inmates with one blanket for three persons
who were crowded into a two and a half foot area. The camp had 6-7,000
inmates when operating at its peak.
Severe malnutrition and poor living conditions caused most deaths.
Typical food consisted of potato soup (one pound potatoes to one gallon
water) and one pound of bread (sawdust added) to each eight inmates.
Liberators threw them food until warned that they were so malnourished
that solid food might kill them.
The war moved on to its inevitable end and the 12th Armored moved
with it but the Nazi death camps and their horrors will forever remain
in the memories of its Hellcats.
Written
by Ken Bradstreet - 494th
Armored Field Artillery - Company A
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