After capturing Dachau, Eisenhower released a statement that: “Our forces liberated and mopped up the infamous concentration camp at Dachau. Approximately 32,000 prisoners were liberated;”. Just how infamous was Dachau amongst allied soldiers?

First, it is important to note the significance of Dachau Concentration Camp. It was founded in March 1933, barely two months after Hitler's rise to power. It was located near Munich, and lasted just over twelve years until its liberation on 29 April 1945 by American troops. In its twelve years, Dachau developed into a vast concentration camp network with around 200,000 inmates passing through it, had over 100 sub camps, and had approximately 41,500 people killed there per the Dachau memorial. It was first opened primarily for political prisoners, but later expanded to hold Jews, clergy, Poles, and many other 'enemies' of the third reich. Dachau was among the last concentration camps to be liberated, only a week prior to the end of the war.

Prior to the liberation of Dachau, other concentration camps were liberated across Germany including Bergen-Belsen on 15 April 1945 by the British and Canadians. Buchenwald was also liberated 11 April 1945 by American troops, specifically the Sixth Armoured Division. Dachau was liberated by the Americans too, specifically the 42nd 45th Infantry Division on 29 April 1945. It is important to note too that the Soviets had been liberating concentration camps in the east from late 1944 into 1945, including Auschwitz in January 1945. By April into May, they were closing in on German concentration camps, with Ravensbrück and Sachsenhausen being liberated at about the same time. The allies were aware of concentration camps prior to their liberation. However it took time for them to get there and liberate concentration camps.

Just how infamous was Dachau amongst allied soldiers?

The morning of 29 April 1945, Brigadier General Henning Linden and Lieutenant Colonel Felix Sparks were given word to investigate a concentration camp near Munich. That concentration camp was Dachau. They approached the gates, uncertain on what to expect. 70% of the troops were freshly trained soldiers who had none to little combat experience. They were completely unprepared for what they were going to find. Despite the existence of concentration camps being known, there was no set way to brace the soldiers for what they would find. None of them, even their leaders were prepared to see what they would find at Dachau. The soldiers went in blindly.

At the entrance of the camp, German Lieutenant Heinrich Wicker surrendered the camp to the allies. Amongst the 42nd and 45th divisions were reporters for the war, they began to take photo after photo. Eisenhower wanted the Holocaust to be documented and have it be known to every american and every person in the world. He wanted them to know the atrocities that took place within concentration camps. The photos taken then are the very same photos seen today. These photos are evidence of what occured. But they only tell one side of the story. The soldiers who liberated the camp and the prisoners within it also have their own stories to tell.

Livia Bitton-Jackson was fourteen when she was liberated from the infamous Dachau death train. Over the span of several days, she, her mother, and older brother endured what felt like endless torture to them. Her brother was badly beaten, and she and her mother were starving. They could hear battle around them, and even saw an American plane. One time, the train stops and they see white trucks with red crosses, with soup being given out. It was a trap, the Nazis began to shoot at the prisoners killing many of them. She describes a very graphic scene among the survivors of it, including her brother who was struck in the forehead. No relief came until they were liberated by the Americans. She describes her first moments of freedom as "I'm numb and cold. With hunger. With death and blood, and the rattle of the train rolling on and on…. Freedom, at last. Why don't I feel it? Why don't I feel it?"

Medic Harold Porter was working at the evacuation hospital set up a few days after the liberation. On 7 May 1945, he wrote what he saw in a letter to his parents. "...as we came to the center of the city, we met a train with a wrecked engine—about fifty cars long. Every car was loaded with bodies. There must have been thousands of them—all obviously starved to death. This was a shock of the first order, and the odor can best be imagined. But neither the sight nor the odor were anything when compared with what we were still to see…" Nothing could have prepared any soldier on what they were going to witness. Many more later recounted many similar feelings: anger, sadness, sickness, shock… and what they saw lived with them for the rest of their lives.

So to summarize, Dachau is infamous amongst allied soldiers because of what they saw. They were unprepared and going in blindly. No training, no warning, nothing could have prepared them for what they were going to witness. The soldiers of the 42nd and 45th Divisions only knew there was a concentration camp near Munich and it was their job to investigate it. That was their order. It's what they saw that made it so infamous.

The Nazis tried to keep the concentration camps a secret and when the allies were closing in, they tried to destroy the evidence of their existence. However, they were unable to destroy as much evidence as they wanted. When the allies closed in, many of the SS tried to flee, and many were captured by the American troops. There were also reprisals - prisoners of Dachau attacking and killing the guards who treated them so cruelly.

The discovery and what was witnessed by the liberators lived with all of them for the rest of their lives. They remembered and told it to future generations so that they would never forget what they saw so such horrors would never happen again.

Sources:

Jackson, Livia Bitton. I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing up in the Holocaust. London, UK: Simon & Schuster Children's, 2009.

Krzeminski, Stephen C. Summary Judgement at Dachau: Exploiting the Massacre of SS Guards by Allied Liberating Troops at Dachau, 2019.

Onion, Rebecca. “‘It Is Difficult to Know How to Begin’: A U.S. Soldier Writes Home From Dachau.” Slate Magazine. Slate, May 2, 2014.

Quinn, William W. Dachau Report. Normandy Press, 2015.