Reaction to Concentration Camps

Madeleine Wilczewski

Professor McDonald

17 March 2017
 Many wartime horrors were witnessed over the course of WWII. No wartime horror

could compare to the utterly disturbing realization of the Nazi death camps. On March 20th,

1933 Adolf Hitler and his Nazi army open the first concentration camp, Dachau, in Munich,

Germany. ("Nazi Camps.). Prisoners in camps such as Dachau, were forced to work. They were

forced to carryout dangerous labor such as coal mining, stone quarries, and construction. The SS

authorities had no regard for the safety of the prisoners and often mistreated them.

After the Nazis invaded Poland they began building killing Centers. These were camps

designed kill the prisoners. The Nazis created gas chambers in the camps. These were concrete

rooms, prisoners were made to believe these rooms were showers, once lured into the room they

would send gas through the vents to exterminate the prisoners. They were also shot in trenches

and their bodies burned in crematoriums. About 5 million Jews were killed in camps, in gas

chambers, such as these. America and the rest of the world was oblivious to the genocide in the

beginning of the war.

The first American troop to discover a Nazi death camp was the American Fourth

Armored Division of the Third Army, in April of 1945. This was 12 years after the first death

camp was opened. The troop found Ohrdruf a sub camp of Buchenwald by accident, they did not

send out to liberate it. Witnesses describe the camp, "Emaciated beyond all imagination or

description. Their legs and arms were sticks with huge bulging joints, and their loins were fouled

by their own excrement. Their eyes were sunk so deep that they looked blind. If they moved at

all, it was with a crawling slowness that made them look like huge, lethargic spiders. Many just

lay in their bunks as if dead.(U.S. Policy During WWII.) After Buchenwald was liberated,

Generals George Patton, Dwight Eisenhower, and Omar Bradley went to visit the camp. They
were disgusted by what they saw. They were in shock of the torture going on overseas. They

became pale and sick at the sight of the dead bodies and evidence of the cruelty that had

occurred, but insisted on exploring the entire premise of the camp. Leaving the camp Dwight

Eisenhower expresses his disbelief and determination to end these camps, "We are told that the

American soldier does not know what he was fighting for," he said. "Now, at least he will know

what he is fighting against.(U.S. Policy During WWII.) Eisenhower also ordered for journalist

to visit the concentration camps to bring awareness to the issue. In April, Broadcaster Andrew

Murrow described Buchenwald for all of America to hear. He states his opinion on the broadcast,

"I pray you to believe what I have said about Buchenwald, I have reported what I saw and heard,

but only part of it; for most of it I have no words. If I have offended you by this rather mild

account of Buchenwald, I am not in the least sorry.(U.S. Policy During WWII.) Most Americans

reacted the same way that the Generals did. People were in shock that the Nazis could inflict

these acts of violence on human beings. After Americans were aware of what was happening

overseas things began to change.

On April 26th, 1945 American troops fought to liberate Dachau, the first concentration

camp created. After 3 days the camp was liberated, the Jews that were sent on the Death March

were also rescued. During the liberation the American soldiers went into a rage. After seeing the

32,000 prisoners and the conditions of the camp the soldiers were outraged. They lined up 50

German SS Guards and executed them all. An article covering the story shows a quote which

puts the anger of the American soldiers in perspective, Let's get those Nazi

dogs! (dailymail.com). This event was marked as one of the most controversial events of

Americas involvement in World War II. In another article World War II veteran, Don
Ritzenthaler, finally explains what he witnessed the day of the liberation of Dachau. One of the

quotes from his interview shows how he truly feels looking back on that day, We were some of

the first ones in. It was a terrible place. Wed heard that much before, and nothing more. But I

always sensed that there was something more. I even had a pretty good idea just what that

something was. After what we saw, we shot any German guards we saw on

sight.(Scrapbookpages Blog). He also expresses an overwhelming guilt for his violent actions,

But leaving hell with Satans blood on our hands makes us the Devils kin, even if its as distant

cousins. It means weve surrendered to the very hate that so repulsed us in the first

place. (Scrapbookpages Blog).

Overall, the most common reaction to the concentration camps or Nazi death camps

was shock and anger. We see it first with the American Fourth Armored Division of the Third

Army, when they stumble upon Ohrdruf. Then we see the complete shock when Generals George

Patton, Dwight Eisenhower, and Omar Bradley went to visit Buchenwald. General George

Patton, known for his immense strength and rigger refused to enter the rooms full of the bodies,

becoming sick at the camp. Dwight Eisenhower, leaves the camp so awestruck, he urges

journalists and radio broadcasters to inform America of the horrors occurring. Next we see the

American citizens shock and outrage at the violence being inflicted on humans. Lastly, we see

the rage of the soldiers who liberated Dachau. They were so shaken up by the horror and torture

they had witnessed that they got their own hands bloody risking their own lives. The worlds

current population is still awestruck, hearing the stories of the concentration camps through

survivors or seeing what it was like through the holocaust museums around the world.
 Works Cited

Dailymail.com, Daniel Bates For. "'Let's Get Those Nazi Dogs:' How 70 Years Ago,

Enraged by the Horrors They Found at Dachau, Liberating US Troops Took Revenge by

Executing Dozens of German Guards." Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 05 May

2015. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.

"Holocaust | Basic Questions about the Holocaust." Holocaust | Basic Questions about

the Holocaust. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2017.

"Nazi Camps." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust

Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2017.

"U.S. Policy During WWII." U.S. Army & the Holocaust. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.

"91-year-old WWII Veteran Breaks His Silence about the Dachau Massacre."

Scrapbookpages Blog. N.p., 12 Oct. 2016. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.