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Until May 1945, my father never wrote home about the horrors of German POW camps. In his letters from Europe, he referred to the German enemy as lice, and Krauts. He had met French men and women who had survived as German captives. but his characterization of the enemy was not because he knew about the POW camps. (treatment of prisoners was never mentioned. ) maybe this subject was off-limits, and would be censored in letters he wrote home?
Maybe knowledge and evidence of the German camps was officially and intentionally kept from him. Maybe it was not widely known by the military. I don't know. Certainly he had enough radio equipment to monitor commercial news broadcasts from all of Europe.
In May 1945, he was ordered to Berchtesgaden, Germany-- to investigate Hitler's country home which had been under attack. He wrote one letter which he composed on a dirty German typewriter and sent to my mother May 2,1945.
At home in the 1990's, in his suburban ranch house outside Detroit, he wrote a more complete description of that day he would never forget. Reproduced below are both of those typewritten accounts.
Above and below: On May 2,a 1945-- Abe Sacks posing in the picturesque Bavarian Alsps scenery near Hitler's country. home in Berchtesgaden, Germany.
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In the mid-nineties, recalling the events of May 2, 1945, Abe wrote this (from the comfort of his suburban Detroit home):
"I was a first Lieutenant in charge of a Signal unit of six men. We were attached to a division of 1500 men. Our mission was to secure Berchtesdarten(Hitler's home) where one division of German troop still remain remained.
After a 5 a.m. breakfast of cold C rations, and with only two hours sleep, we found ourselves 10 miles outside of Munich. There we noticed people in striped clothing running indiscriminately. The further we went, the larger of the group became.
And in the distance, we noticed a tall smoke stack, emitting smoke.
As we got nearer, we detected a strange oder. (Remember at this time, we did not know there were concentration camps in Germany). As we continued on our way, and as the odor became more and more intense, we noticed a wooden sign saying Dachau. Not knowing what Dachau was, we turned in. What a site met our eyes! We saw masses of humanity dressed just like the people we had seen on the road minutes before. These thousands of poor souls were running around just aimlessly - climbing over broken down fences to escape.
The further we traveled inside the camp, the more horrible were the sites - and the more intense was the confusion. We now found ourselves in front of the crematorium, and the odor became a sickening stench. Every now and then, the door would open, and we saw mountains of gassed bodies, ready to go into the ovens.
I must tell you that from the moment we entered this hell, not a single word could come out of our mouths. And if this was not enough of a horror to witness, we came across a railroad siding with around 25 box cars with wide open doors. In front of the doors were piles of bodies on the ground; some still hanging on the doors.
On our way out of Dachau, just adjacent to the camp stood a little white church facing those box cars. I wondered then - and still wonder today, about the minister and his congregants. How could they live with themselves?????
Traveling now on the autobahn, we came across an airfield where I thought we could set up our signal equipment to rest and report our findings. Suddenly, 11 German transport planes landed, and a couple of hundred Germans dismounted with all their gear. Remember, they were only six of us. Should we stand still or run? I gave the order to stand still. Going through my mind was how ironic it was that after all the sites we had seen at Dachau, it was now our turn to be prisoners.
But God was with us. I said to my men - wish me luck - and I left them and walked into the contingent of German soldiers with my hands up. I asked for their commanding officer. To my surprise, he came out, saluting me. I returned the salute - and then he said, "where do we surrender?" Just two days later, in my radio shack, my staff Sergeant handed me the following order: All troops of German Army, which oppose the U.S. Seventh Army, have been ordered to surrender May 6. Signed Lt. Gen. Patch. The rest is history."
"I was a first Lieutenant in charge of a Signal unit of six men. We were attached to a division of 1500 men. Our mission was to secure Berchtesdarten(Hitler's home) where one division of German troop still remain remained.
After a 5 a.m. breakfast of cold C rations, and with only two hours sleep, we found ourselves 10 miles outside of Munich. There we noticed people in striped clothing running indiscriminately. The further we went, the larger of the group became.
And in the distance, we noticed a tall smoke stack, emitting smoke.
As we got nearer, we detected a strange oder. (Remember at this time, we did not know there were concentration camps in Germany). As we continued on our way, and as the odor became more and more intense, we noticed a wooden sign saying Dachau. Not knowing what Dachau was, we turned in. What a site met our eyes! We saw masses of humanity dressed just like the people we had seen on the road minutes before. These thousands of poor souls were running around just aimlessly - climbing over broken down fences to escape.
The further we traveled inside the camp, the more horrible were the sites - and the more intense was the confusion. We now found ourselves in front of the crematorium, and the odor became a sickening stench. Every now and then, the door would open, and we saw mountains of gassed bodies, ready to go into the ovens.
I must tell you that from the moment we entered this hell, not a single word could come out of our mouths. And if this was not enough of a horror to witness, we came across a railroad siding with around 25 box cars with wide open doors. In front of the doors were piles of bodies on the ground; some still hanging on the doors.
On our way out of Dachau, just adjacent to the camp stood a little white church facing those box cars. I wondered then - and still wonder today, about the minister and his congregants. How could they live with themselves?????
Traveling now on the autobahn, we came across an airfield where I thought we could set up our signal equipment to rest and report our findings. Suddenly, 11 German transport planes landed, and a couple of hundred Germans dismounted with all their gear. Remember, they were only six of us. Should we stand still or run? I gave the order to stand still. Going through my mind was how ironic it was that after all the sites we had seen at Dachau, it was now our turn to be prisoners.
But God was with us. I said to my men - wish me luck - and I left them and walked into the contingent of German soldiers with my hands up. I asked for their commanding officer. To my surprise, he came out, saluting me. I returned the salute - and then he said, "where do we surrender?" Just two days later, in my radio shack, my staff Sergeant handed me the following order: All troops of German Army, which oppose the U.S. Seventh Army, have been ordered to surrender May 6. Signed Lt. Gen. Patch. The rest is history."