DACHAU AND IT'S LIBERATION
Personal account by Felix L. Sparks Brigadier General, AUS (Retired)
Excerpts from General Sparks personal account of the liberation of Dachau Concentration
Camp, edited by Charles V. Ferree.
The following is a page from the World War II history book of the 157th. Infantry
Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, Seventh United States Army.
Dachau was liberated on Sunday, April 29, 1945 by troops from Company I, 157th Infantry
Regiment. Thousands of dead and emaciated bodies of civilian prisoners from
many countries were within and in the proximity of the Dachau Concentration Camp.
There are no words for Dachau, and even the pictures of its horrors are pale beside its realities.
Veterans of six campaigns to whom death was commonplace, sickened and vomited at
Dachau. Not the sight and smell of death did this, but the decaying evidence
of human cruelty that was beyond the understanding of the normal mind. Dachau was rot
and stench and filth. Dachau was Hitler and the SS. And, deny it though its people
did with every breath, Dachau was Germany of 1933-45. Let Dachau live in our memories ....
At 0730 on the morning of April 29th, the task force had resumed
the attack with companies L and K and the tank battalion as the
assault force. The attack zone assigned to company L was through the
city of Dachau, but did not include the concentration camp, a short
distance outside of the city. Company I was designated as the reserve
unit, with the mission of mopping up any resistance bypassed by the
assault forces. Shortly after the attack began, I received a radio
message from the Regimental Commander ordering me to proceed
immediately to take the Dachau concentration camp. The order also
stated: "Upon capture, post an airtight guard and allow no one to
enter or leave."
As the main gate to the camp was closed and locked, we scaled the
brick wall surrounding the camp. As I climbed over the wall
following the advancing soldiers, I heard rifle fire to my right front.
The lead elements of the company had reached the confinement area
and were disposing of the SS troops manning the guard towers, along
with a number of vicious guard dogs. By the time I neared the
confinement area, the brief battle was almost over.
After I entered the camp over the wall, I was not able to see the
confinement area, and had no idea where it was. My vision was
obscured by the many buildings and barracks which were outside the
confinement area. The confinement area itself occupied only a small
portion of the total camp area. As I went further into the camp, I saw
some men from company I collecting German prisoners. Next to the
camp hospital, there was a L-shaped masonry wall, about eight feet
high, which had been used as a coal bin. The ground was covered
with coal dust, and a narrow gage railroad track, laid on top of the
ground, lead into the area. The prisoners were being collected in the
semi-enclosed area.
As I watched about fifty German troops were brought in from
various directions. A machine gun squad from company I was
guarding the prisoners. After watching for a few minutes, I started for
the confinement area. After I had walked away for a short distance, I
hear the machine gun guarding the prisoners open fire. I immediately
ran back to the gun and kicked the gunner off the gun with my boot. I
then grabbed him by the collar and said: "what the hell are you
doing?" He was a young private about 19 years old and was crying
hysterically. His reply to me was: "Colonel, they were trying to get
away." I doubt that they were, but in any event he killed about twelve
of the prisoners and wounded several more. I placed a non-com on
the gun, and headed toward the confinement area.
It was the forgoing 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 not exceed fifty, with thirty probably being a more
accurate figure. The regimental records for that date indicate that
over a thousand German prisoners were brought to the regimental
collecting point. Since my task force was leading the regimental
attack, almost all the prisoners were taken by the task force, including
several hundred from Dachau.
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 that time,
the over thirty thousand camp prisoners still alive began to grasp the
significance of the events taking place. They streamed from their
crowded barracks by the hundreds and were soon pressing at the
confining barbed wire fence. They began to shout in unison, which
soon became a chilling roar. At the same time several bodies were
being tossed about and torn apart by hundreds of hands. I was told
later that those being killed at the time were "informers." After about
ten minutes of screaming and shouting, the prisoners quieted down.
At that point, a man came forward at the gate and identified himself
as an American soldier. We immediately let him out. He turned out to
be Major Rene Guiraud of our OSS. He informed me that he had been
captured earlier while on an intelligence mission and sentenced to
death, but the sentence was never carried out.
Within about an hour of our entry, events were under control. Guard
posts were set up, and communications were established with the
inmates. We informed them that we could not release them
immediately but that food and medical assistance would arrive soon.
The dead, numbering about nine thousand, were later buried with the
forced assistance of the good citizens of the city of Dachau.
On the morning of April 30, our first battalion resumed the attack
towards Munich.
At this point, I should point out that Seventh Army Headquarters
took over the actual camp administration on the day following the
liberation. The camp occupation by combat troops after that time was
solely for security purposes. On the morning of April 30, several
trucks arrived from Seventh Army carrying food and medical
supplies. The following day, the 116th and 127th Evacuation
Hospitals arrived and took over the care and feeding of the prisoners.
END
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In a letter from General Sparks mailed to me from his home in
Lakewood, Colorado on March 13, 1997, the General writes: "Note:
The actual body count of dead German guards killed at Dachau (by
machine gun fire) was 30. This count was made by the Inspector
General who conducted the investigation. The wall at which the men
were killed contained 22 bullet holes. This count was also made by
the Inspector General."
Charles V. Ferree
"Let any doubter, in all the generations to come, comtemplate what
it would be like to live in a world dominated by Hitler, the
Japanese warlords, or any other cruel dictator or despot."
IRA C. EAKER Commanding General, United States Eighth Air
Force