Dachau massacre

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The Dachau massacre is a little-known war crime committed by US soldiers against members of the SS guards at the end of the Second World War when the Dachau concentration camp was liberated on April 29, 1945 . The background to this is that shortly before the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp , the conquering Allied US Army encountered the death train from Buchenwald with thousands of corpses found in it, which spontaneously aroused great anger and thirst for revenge among American soldiers and officers.

In German right-wing extremist circles , the impression is often given that all German prisoners of war were being systematically executed . This view is based on a book by the former American military doctor Col. Howard A. Buechner, in which the systematic execution of 560 persons of the SS guards is alleged. However, no evidence is given. Independent sources conclude that these were rather isolated and spontaneous acts of revenge. At least 39 members of the SS guards were shot in violation of international law . Up to 50 shootings are believed to be possible.

Aerial view of the Dachau concentration camp (click on the image for the legend)

Condition of the Dachau concentration camp

An open wagon of the death train from Buchenwald

In the last months of the war, conditions in the camp were worse than ever. The camp was constantly overcrowded due to new prisoner transports from the front. The hygienic deficits led to a typhus epidemic, which killed several thousand prisoners. Around 15,000 prisoners died between the end of 1944 and the day of liberation on April 29, 1945. That was about half of the total deaths in the Dachau concentration camp. On April 27, Victor Maurer, a delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross , was allowed to enter the camp. He was carrying five trucks with food rations. On the evening of the same day a prisoner transport from Buchenwald arrived. Of the original 4480 to 4800 people on the train, probably only 800 were brought to the camp alive. Allegedly the travel time of the train was set at 24 hours, but it took 21 days to get to Dachau. The responsible SS-Obersturmführer Hans Merbach had organized catering again only twice .

Over 2,300 bodies were left on and around the train. The last regular commandant of the concentration camp, Obersturmbannführer Eduard Weiter , had already left on April 26th. His office was presumably taken over by Obersturmbannführer Martin Weiß , who had already headed the camp from September 1942 to November 1943. On April 28 or 29, he too fled. The command was then taken over by the 23-year-old Untersturmführer Heinrich Wicker (see Hessental Death March ). On April 28, SS Standartenführer Kurt Becher presumably discussed the handover of the camp to the Americans with Weiss. On the morning of April 28, 1945, units of the Waffen SS suppressed the Dachau uprising , in which former prisoners of the Dachau concentration camp were also involved.

On April 29th, the last part of the SS garrison around Heinrich Wicker wanted to leave, but Victor Maurer persuaded them to stay. Maurer feared the outbreak of the prisoners and the spread of the typhus epidemic that was rampant among them . The camp's watchtowers remained occupied and a white flag was hoisted.

In addition to the actual concentration camp (KZ), the site in Dachau also included other SS facilities - a leadership school for business and administrative services, the SS medical school and others. The actual concentration camp, then called the “ protective custody camp”, took up the smaller part of the entire complex.

Takeover by the US Army

Execution of SS guards by US soldiers in the coal yard

On the morning of April 29th, the 3rd Battalion of the 157th Infantry Regiment in the 45th Infantry Division of the Seventh United States Army received orders to take Dachau camp. The battalion commander Lt. Col. Felix L. Sparks commissioned the I-Company and took over the operations management himself. Around noon the Americans reached the entrance of the SS garrison from the west. On the access road they met the train from Buchenwald: about 39 wagons full of dead people. According to an investigation report, the slogan “We're not taking prisoners here!” Was circulating among the soldiers. At the end of the train, four SS men met the Americans, who surrendered. They were led to the train and shot down by the company commander. Since they were not immediately dead, another rifleman fired at the wounded.

Shortly afterwards, the soldiers reached the hospital buildings near the entrance . At least 100 Germans were taken from the hospital, including women. The company commander ordered the identification of the SS men, with a Polish prisoner helping with identification. The 50 to 75 separate SS guards were taken into a coal yard that was not visible and placed against a wall. A machine gun was set up and the company commander ordered preparations for the execution. After a few testimonies, the SS men then moved towards the Americans. Other witnesses said they stood quietly. The information on who opened fire or gave the order to do so is also different. What is certain, however, is that the machine gunner fired several volleys at the prisoners. Three or four other US soldiers joined in with their carbines . Those who were hit fell to the ground, and many of the unwounded fell too. Only a few SS men stood with their hands raised. Due to a jam on the machine gun, the shooting lasted only a few seconds, shortly afterwards Lt. Col. appeared. Sparks and ordered the action to cease. The survivors were imprisoned in the old town of Dachau. 15 to 16 men were left dead.

Dead SS guards at watchtower B

While the I-Company was advancing towards the protective custody camp, another group of the 42nd Infantry Division (Rainbow Division) arrived at the garrison. It was a team led by General Henning Linden, who was originally supposed to lead a battalion to Munich. In the city of Dachau he met the Belgian war correspondent Paul Levy, who drew Linden's attention to the concentration camp . The group was accompanied by the photographer Raphael Algoet and the war correspondent Marguerite Higgins . She also entered the camp at the funeral procession, but turned directly towards the protective custody camp. On their way, the group met Heinrich Wicker and Victor Maurer, who wanted to conduct the handover negotiations. At the entrance to the protective custody camp, the group around Linden encountered the soldiers of the I-Company and Lt.Col. Sparks. There was a verbal clash between Linden and Sparks, as the former demanded access to the camp for journalist Higgins. However, Sparks had orders not to allow anyone into the protective custody camp until special care teams arrived. Still, Higgins and a companion climbed over the gate.

During the further advance of the I Company towards the camp, there were isolated exchanges of fire with resisting or fleeing SS men. There were also exchanges of fire when the watchtowers were captured. The last tower to be occupied was watchtower B north of the Jourhaus. The Americans approached - without being shot at - in two groups. A soldier fired a volley into the tower, whereupon the guards surrendered. The prisoners were lined up in rows of two.

The events that followed could never be resolved with certainty. The fact is, however, that the American soldiers opened fire on the SS members who had already been captured. Six dead were later found at the watchtower, three more in the Würm . Eight more prisoners of war were shot while marching along the river. Witnesses reported that a GI shot and killed an SS man at close range, but it remained unclear whether he was a member of the tower crew or a separate victim. In the investigation report mentioned above, it was written about the incidents: "The whole incident tastes like an execution similar to the other incidents described in this report."

Even prisoners took revenge on SS men and prisoner functionaries . According to estimates by the US 7th Army, 25 to 50 people were killed by inmates in the first 24 hours after the liberation. Acts of retaliation continued to take place a few days after the liberation. On May 2nd, the rifle of a group of liberated concentration camp inmates was snatched from a guard from the L Company and two alleged SS men were shot with it.

The events surrounding the liberation of the camp were investigated by a commission under Assistant Inspector General Joseph M. Whitaker. The number of prisoners who were definitely killed by US soldiers in violation of international law amounts to 39 people, the maximum number is estimated at 50. The commission recommended opening five court martial for murder , one breach of duty against Howard Buechner and issuing a reprimand. The leadership of the 7th US Army found the result of the investigation to be unsatisfactory. None of the accused had to answer in any proceedings.

Legends

In reports from former prisoners, the shootings of SS members are mentioned in passing. In order to relativize and downplay the conditions in the Dachau concentration camp, revisionist authors put the fate of the camp guards at the center of their considerations. The aim of these works was to portray war crimes as "normality" or the American soldiers as murderers and cruel crusaders. The first author to address the events of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp was the former SS man Erich Kern . Former division doctor Howard Buechner received special attention. His book Dachau: The Hour of the Avenger , published in 1986, forms the essential basis for the existing legend of the execution of all SS personnel found in the camp. The 1992 Whitaker investigation files and a collection of sources compiled by John H. Linden (son of General Henning Linden) refuted Buechner's claims.

Erich Kern

The former Untersturmführer of the SS Erich Kern (actually Erich Kernmayr ) published a revisionist work in 1964 under the title Crimes against the German People. A documentation of allied atrocities , furthermore 1971 the book perjury against Germany. A documentary about political fraud . In these publications, Kernmayr quoted the statement of Oberscharführer Hans Linberger, who was serving as a seriously injured substitute in the concentration camp at the time the camp was liberated. Linberger was one of the people who were set up for execution in the coal yard, but got away unharmed. According to him, twelve men were left dead in the execution. Linberger's report - taken from the radical right-wing context of Kern's belittling text - is considered credible. His descriptions refute the assumptions, often made uncritical by right-wing authors, that all SS men in the camp had been executed.

Howard Buechner

Col. Howard A. Buechner was the chief medical officer of the 45th Infantry Division when the Dachau concentration camp was liberated. He published the book Dachau in 1986 . The Hour of the Avenger . According to him, 560 prisoners of war were executed when the camp was liberated. According to his account, 1st Lt. Jack Bushyhead shot dead 346 men in the coal yard. Furthermore, a private named Birdeye shot 12 people. In addition, he calculated 122 prisoners shot on the spot, 40 guards killed by prisoners, 30 SS men killed in action and 10 people who had escaped and were later caught. Since Buechner was both an eyewitness and a member of the US armed forces, his book was received in the right-wing scene as undoubted evidence of the Dachau massacre and forms the essential basis for the legend of the mass murder.

Due to the investigation report by Joseph Whitaker, however, his information could be refuted. Buechner's motivation becomes clear from the investigation report, which recommended the opening of a court martial for breach of duty against him. This result was due to the fact that Buechner did not provide any help to the victims of the shooting in the coal yard. In his book he justified this fact with the fact that angry prisoners shot the Germans who were still alive with revolvers. Apart from Buechner's report, however, there are no other sources for it.

He took the number of 560 SS men from a publication by the journalist Nerin E. Gun , whose information is considered unreliable, although he was one of the liberated prisoners in April 1945. According to Gun, the number was determined at a morning roll call by Lieutenant Heinrich Skodzensky. However, a man with this name could never be identified, presumably he is identical to Heinrich Wicker. Based on the total of 560, Buechner calculated 122 people (a total number named by Army photographer George Stevens Jr.), the 40 slain by prisoners, 30 fallen, 10 escaped and 12 killed by PVT Birdeye camp guards. The amount missing from the total was sold to Buechner for the execution in the coal yard, which, according to him, was carried out by Lt. Bushyhead is said to have been mainly responsible. Buechner further claimed that Bushyhead had given him the conditions in the camp and at the crematorium when asked about the reason for the shooting . The fact is, however, that the US soldiers had not even reached the protective custody camp at the time.

With the shifting of the main blame on Bushyhead and further statements that turned out to be wrong after the interrogation protocols Whitaker (for example, German doctors are said to have turned down an offer of help from Buechner), Buechner's own role in the incident was much more positive.

The role of General Patton

In his book Avenger , Buechner claimed that General George S. Patton , the then military governor of Bavaria , personally suppressed the investigative proceedings against those involved in the executions after taking note of the relevant reports and finally burned the documents. In right-wing circles this is seen as evidence that such war crimes were covered and approved by the highest authorities. The fact is that the statement by Alexander McCarrell Patch, the commander of the US 7th Army, sought to downplay the incidents. Only the executions at the funeral procession were recognized as unlawful under international law, with all others - especially the executions in the coal yard and at the protective custody camp - the accused's portrayal was adapted, stating that it was a matter of preventing attempts to escape. Ultimately, the perpetrators remained unmolested, and a trial never took place. The legend of Patton most likely resulted from an investigation that General Linden brought against Lt. Col. Sparks had started after their collision at the entrance to the protective custody camp. Patton, because of his appreciation for Sparks, put down this trial, but the executions were not part of it.

Résumé

Col. Howard A. Buechner , who was present at the liberation, wrote in his 1986 book:

“Technically, it was perhaps an inadmissible act and the death of a few hundred sadists does not compensate for the suffering and death of many millions of people caused by many other participants in the ' Final Solution '. Nevertheless, at least in this case, the vengeance was satisfied. "

The alleged "avenger", Lt. Bushyhead, he glorified a hero. Nonetheless, the shootings of unarmed, captured combatants were violations of the Second Geneva Convention of 1929 - that is, war crimes. The fact that the allegations raised by Col. Whitaker in his investigation report were not pursued cast a shadow over the US Army.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that a systematic massacre did not take place; it was all acts of retaliation by individual soldiers. The enormous psychological pressure that the soldiers were under must be taken into account - on the one hand from the fight itself, on the other hand from the discovery of the horrific conditions in the camp. The sight of the train from Buchenwald caused horror and bewilderment even among experienced war veterans.

One lesson about the inappropriateness of vigilante justice was that the victims were hardly any members of the SS skull and crossbones organizations who had terrorized the concentration camp for years. The regular guards had long since fled when the US troops arrived, at which time the camp was guarded by substitute teams, some of which consisted of adolescents and hastily drafted SS men.

Quotes

  • I have just heard how excited inmates tore the submachine guns from the soldiers' hands and shot SS men standing behind the electric wire fence with their hands raised. (Edgar Kupfer-Koberwitz, refers to the incident with the tower crew.)
  • You would not have come here to do that. That is not the American way of fighting. (Statement by a US lieutenant from Whitaker's interrogation records, according to Zarusky.) [“We didn't come here to do that.) That's not the American way of fighting. "]
  • In the excitement [...] several prisoners died trying to slip through the electrically charged barbed wire fence. Some […] were shot at by ill-advised SS men who had lodged themselves in a watchtower. The prisoners stormed the tower and threw the six SS men out of the windows. (Excerpt from the report in the New York Herald Tribune by Marguerite Higgins.)
  • Perhaps it was a technically improper act, and the deaths of these few hundred sadists could hardly atone for the millions of people who suffered and died at the hands of so many other participants in 'The Final Solution.' Nonetheless, in this instance at least, vengeance was complete. [“Perhaps it was technically an improper act, and the deaths of those few hundred sadists can hardly atone for the deaths of millions of people who suffered and died at the hands of so many other participants in the Final Solution. Nonetheless, at least in this case, the vengeance was complete. "]
  • It is felt that his shooting into them was entirely unwarranted; the whole incident smacks of execution similar to the other incidents described in this report. [“It is felt that it was completely unjustified of him to shoot them; the whole incident tastes like execution, just like the other incidents described in this report. "]
  • It was the foregoing incident which has given rise to wild claims in various publications that most or all of the German prisoners captured at Dachau were executed. Nothing could be further from the truth. The total number of German guards killed at Dachau during that day most certainly did not exceed fifty, with thirty probably being a more accurate figure. [“It was the previous incident that sparked wild allegations in various publications that most or all of the Germans captured in Dachau were executed. Nothing could be further from the truth. The total number of German guards killed in Dachau that day almost certainly does not exceed 50, with 30 probably being the more appropriate number. "]
  • During the early period of our entry into the camp, a number of Company I men, all battle hardened veterans became extremely distraught. Some cried, while others raged. Some thirty minutes passed before I could restore order and discipline. [“During the first period of our entry into the camp, a number of people from Company I, all hardened veterans in battle, became extremely upset. Some cried while others got angry. About 30 minutes passed before I could restore order and discipline. "]

Personnel

SS and US soldiers handing over the camp. From left: SS man, Heinrich Wicker (mostly covered), Paul Levy, Victor Maurer (with his back to the camera), Gen. Linden (with a net helmet) and other US soldiers

US Army

  • General George Patton , Military Governor of Bavaria
  • General Alexander McCarrell Patch , Commander of the 7th Army
  • Assistant Inspector General Lt. Col. Joseph M. Whitaker , chief investigator in the US 7th Army
  • Col. Howard A. Buechner , military surgeon and medical officer in the 45th Infantry Division
  • Brigadier General Henning Linden , 222nd Infantry Regiment (42nd Infantry Division (Rainbow Division), VII Corps)
  • According to Col. Felix L. Sparks , Battalion Commander of 3rd Battalion (157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division (Thunderbird Division), VII Corps)
  • other members of the I-Company of the 3rd Battalion
    • Company commander (last name only known as W. , rank Lt.), involved in the executions on the train and in the coal yard
    • Machine gunner (last name only known as C. ), involved in the execution in the coal yard
    • 1st Lt. Jack Bushyhead , involved in the execution in the coal yard
    • Sagittarius (name only known as P. ), involved in the execution on the train
    • PV Birdeye

SS personnel

  • Obersturmbannführer Eduard Weiter , camp commandant until April 26, 1945
  • Obersturmbannführer Martin Weiß , camp commandant Sept. 1942 - Nov. 1943, presumably camp manager 26th to 28th / 29th. April 1945
  • Standartenführer Kurt Becher , on April 28th in Dachau to discuss the handover of the camp to the Americans.
  • Untersturmführer Heinrich Wicker , camp commandant on April 29th. Fate unclear, possibly executed by a major in the US armed forces
  • First Lieutenant Heinrich Skodzensky , presumably identical to Wicker
  • Oberscharführer Hans Linberger , survived the execution in the coal yard

Civilians

  • Victor Maurer , ICRC delegate in Dachau concentration camp
  • Marguerite Higgins , American journalist
  • Paul Levy , Belgian war correspondent and translator

literature

Scientific literature

  • Jürgen Zarusky : That is not the American way of fighting . In: Dachauer Hefte 13 - Judgment and Justice, pp. 27–55. Dachau: Verlag Dachauer Hefte 1997.
  • Klaus-Dietmar Henke : The American occupation of Germany . 2nd edition, R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 1996, pp. 862-931, ISBN 3-486-56175-8 .

Contemporary witness reports

The two revisionist works by Kern and Buechner discussed in the text

  • Erich Kern: Crimes against the German people. A documentation of allied atrocities . Göttingen 1964, DNB 452385326 .
  • Howard A. Buechner: Dachau: The Hour of the Avenger . Metairie, Louisiana 1986.

Biographical novel on Felix Sparks

  • Alex Kershaw : The Liberator: One World War II Soldier's 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau . New York: Crown Broadway, 2012. ISBN 978-0-307-88799-3 .
    • The Liberator: The Story of an American Soldier in World War II . From the English by Birgit Brandau. Munich: Dt. Taschenbuch-Verl., 2014, ISBN 978-3-423-28030-3 (ISBN e-book: 978-3-423-42238-3).

References and comments

  1. ↑ Pierre CT Verheye, The Train Ride into Hell. Unpublished manuscript. The author thanks Mr. Verheye, Tucson, Arizona, for important advice on the train transport from Buchenwald. - Source taken from: Jürgen Zarusky: That is not the American Way of Fighting. In: Dachauer Hefte 13 - Judgment and Justice. P. 33.
  2. ↑ a b Whitaker's investigation report.
  3. ^ Nerin E. Gun: The day of the Americans . Fleet Pub. Corp., New York 1966. German: The hour of the Americans . Blick und Bild-Verlag , Velbert / Kettwig 1968.
  4. ^ A b Howard A. Buechner: Dachau: The Hour of the Avenger. Metairie, Louisiana 1986
  5. ^ Jürgen Zarusky: That is not the American Way of Fighting. In: Dachauer Hefte 13 - Court and Justice , Verlag Dachauer Hefte, Dachau 1997, pp. 27–55.
  6. ↑ a b c Sparks in a report on the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp from 1989
  7. ^ Jürgen Zarusky: That is not the American Way of Fighting. In: Dachauer Hefte 13 - Court and Justice, pp. 53–55.

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