Schoolcraft College

M9 Assignment: Nano-History Research Paper (WWII)

The Discovery and reaction of American Soldiers to Nazi Death Camps

Timothy Malane

History 153 – Contemporary American - U.S. History

Dr. Alec Thomson

June 10, 2018

 Malane I

The end of the fighting in WWII did not signify the end of traumatic events for some

American Soldiers. In fact it was just the beginning. The soldiers that entered Adolf Hitler’s

concentration camps would forever remember what they uncovered. For most the sights they

witnessed haunted them until their deaths. After seeing what was inside the walls of Nazi

concentration camps, General Dwight Eisenhower had stated “We are told the American soldier

does not know what he is fighting for. Now, at least he will know what he is fighting against.”

(Bridgman, Jon, End of the Holocaust: The Liberation of the Camps, Areopagitica Press, 1990).

The mass genocide that took place inside these Nazi death camps is referred to as the Holocaust.

It is unknown the total reach of the carnage caused by the Holocaust, but some experts claim that

up to 17,000,000 people were murdered at the hands of Nazi Germany and their allies. What

took place inside these death camps is some of the most deplorable and inhumane treatment of

humans we have ever seen as a planet. Even some of the strongest men from the greatest military

powers in the world were incapable of looking at the worst of the carnage found inside the

Concentration camps. The American soldiers reacted to the savagery as most of humanity would,

with utter disgust. The abhorrent treatment of innocent people was something that a majority of

U.S. soldiers would not speak of upon returning home when the war was over.

World War II claimed nearly 25,000,000 military lives in battle. Military casualties are an

expected albeit sad part of war. The most appalling statistic of WWII is the civilian casualties

caused by Nazi Germany and its allies. A study by The United States Holocaust Memorial

Museum estimates that a staggering 17,000,000 civilian lives were lost in the Holocaust.

Pinpointing the number of deaths caused by the Holocaust is difficult. There is no wartime

document created by Nazi officials that describes the number of people that were killed in the
 Malane II

Holocaust. (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Documenting Numbers of Victims of

the Holocaust and Nazi Persecution ushmm.org)

The fighting near the end of WWII was swift. There were several big battles that saw

Germany retreat at the domination by an American led Allied Front. The German resistance saw

a fierce push by the Allies. The show of domination and power broke the spirit of the Nazi

soldiers and this signified the end of WWII was near. In December of 1944 Adolf Hitler

launched what would be his final counteroffensive known as the Battle of the Bulge. Hitler was

unsuccessful in this battle and soon the allies were closing in on Germany. This push towards

Berlin is where American soldiers first witnessed the concentration camps that were abandoned

by the Nazi’s. The American soldiers that walked into these Nazi death camps were unprepared

for what they would find.

The first American liberated concentration camp was named Ohrdruf. This Nazi death

camp was located in a town in Germany by the same name. The camp was surrounded by a tall

barbed wire fence. Inside the gate was an open main area nearly 100 yards square. Upon entering

the camp at Ohrdruf in April 1945, the American soldiers discovered dead bodies that were

stacked in piles. Some of the bodies were covered in lime to cover the smell of the rotting flesh.

There was an overpowering odor made up of death, feces, urine, and dirty clothing. One account

of the atrocities found at Ohrdruf is from an American soldier named Bruce Nickols. Nickols

stated that the initial sight upon entering Ohrdruf was a pile of 60-70 dead bodies in the center of

the square. Nickols went on to describe Ohrdruf, Adjacent to the main square was a small shed

that contained more dead. The bodies inside the shed were stack in alternating direction as one

would stack cord wood. Each layer of bodies was covered in quick-lime. The shed in Ohrdruf

was used as a torture facility and prisoners were beaten in the head with shovels. It was Nickols
 Malane III

understanding that all died following this abuse. Nickols also found live inmates who had hidden

during the massacre. Ohrdruf was visited by Generals Eisenhower, Patton and Bradley.

According to Eisenhower, Patton had refused to visit the punishment shed as he feared he would

become ill. Nickols described further his experience with the sights inside Ohrdruf, “I recall

becoming very upset when we got back to our quarters, but the whole experience was far beyond

my understanding. I wrote a letter to my parents describing the experience which was read at a

local gathering of business men. It was widely disbelieved.” (Bruce Nickols, Report on

Surrender of the German Concentration Camp at Ohrdruf, jewishgen.org).

Once reports started to come in from Germany, General Eisenhower told politicians and

journalists to take reports seriously from Germany. Eisenhower is quoted as saying “We are

constantly finding German camps in which they have placed political prisoners where

unspeakable conditions exist. From my own observation, I can state unequivocally that all

written statements up to now do not paint the full horrors” (Bridgman, Jon. End of the Holocaust:

The Liberation of the Camps. Portland, OR: Areopagitica Press, 1990).

American forces went on to liberate other Nazi death camps such as Buchenwald, Dora-

Mittelbau, Flossenburg, Dachau, and Mauthausen. While these camps were all unique by

location, the findings were the same. The camp at Buchenwald uncovered other ways the Nazi

Army conducted their grotesque mission of extermination. The massive amount of casualties

that the treatment of prisoners inside the concentration camps had caused, needed to be managed

by the Nazi’s. So, at Buchenwald, the German Army had built a crematorium. The crematorium

was quite literally an oven so large that the Nazi’s could burn nearly 100 bodies at a time. In an

article about the Buchenwald camp by American soldier Harry J. Herder Jr. PFC U.S. Army, he
 Malane IV

said “I went through a set of experiences that I have never been able to shake from my mind.”

(Harry J. Herder Jr. Liberation of Buchenwald, remember.org). In his writings Herder describes

the horrendous stench that filled the air from the crematorium. When the U.S. soldiers entered

Buchenwald the crematorium was “still going full blast.”

The impact that these awful actions by the Nazi’s had on American liberators of

concentration camps was lifelong. Most of the soldiers were never able to tell their families

about what they saw during those final months of WWII. For most, the discovery of the Nazi

death camps by U.S. soldiers was the most horrific part of WWII.
 Malane V

Works Cited

Bridgman, Jon, End of the Holocaust: The Liberation of the Camps, Areopagitica Press, 1990,

Portland, OR, Page 67, Accessed 9 June 2018.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Documenting Numbers of Victims of the Holocaust

and Nazi Persecution, https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10008193,

Accessed 9 June 2018.

Bruce Nickols, Report on Surrender of the German Concentration Camp at Ohrdruf,

https://www.jewishgen.org/ForgottenCamps/Witnesses/NickolsEng.html, Accessed 9

June 2018.

Bridgman, Jon, End of the Holocaust: The Liberation of the Camps, Areopagitica Press, 1990,

Portland, OR, Page 67, Accessed 10 June 2018.

Harry J. Herder Jr. Liberation of Buchenwald, http://remember.org/liberators.html, Accessed 10

June 2018.
 Malane VI

Bridgman, Jon, End of the Holocaust: The Liberation of the Camps, Areopagitica Press, 1990.

Bridgman’s book is a great representation of how the discovery of Nazi concentration

camps deeply affected the American soldiers that were not prepared for what they found.

Bridgman uses eyewitness testimony to describe the atrocities that were unearthed after

the American led Allied forces defeated Germany and the Nazi army in WWII.

Bridgman recounts the experiences of the people involved by quoting facts, and stories

from the individual people that were there.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Documenting Numbers of Victims of the Holocaust

and Nazi Persecution, https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10008193.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website tells the story of the Holocaust

through Primary sources. This article is from the museum’s encyclopedia. The

encyclopedia provides description as to why the number of casualties during the

holocaust is not certain. The USHMM explains that Nazi Germany destroyed most

documentation that referenced prisoner information and totals.

Bruce Nickols, Report on Surrender of the German Concentration Camp at Ohrdruf,

https://www.jewishgen.org/ForgottenCamps/Witnesses/NickolsEng.html.

Nickols was a member of the U.S. Army. Nickols was a soldier that liberated Ohrdruf

camp. Nickols wrote about his first-hand experience liberating Ohrdruf concentration

camp. This essay displays a vivid description of how the discovery of concentration

camps affected a U.S. service man.

Harry J. Herder Jr. Liberation of Buchenwald, http://remember.org/liberators.html.

Herder was an American Soldier that witnessed the horror of the holocaust first hand.

Herder was a part of the U.S. Army division that liberated the concentration camp at
 Malane VII

Buchenwald. Herder provides a vivid description told through his own words of what

our soldiers saw inside Buchenwald camp. The lasting effects that Herder describes is a

great display of the horror that American soldiers experienced in WWII.