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To: ContextiBackgroundChapter
From: Doug Wilson
Date:
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Re: Other materials for chapter
I have attached to this message several documents that may provide some information for
this chapter. I will also post these do~umentsonthe S: 'drive on the CMH server so that .
everyone can access them once the computers are connected to the server.
Three of the documents are brief reports prepared originally in 1994 for the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum. The reports deal with:
1. Confronting the atrocities perPetrated by the Nazi regime. This report provides a
piece of information about the domestic situation in the U.S. and what the
government and the public knew about the Holocaust (Sec. IB). Although the
report does not mention loot~dassets or restitution specifically, it ispossible that
some of the cited sources or some of the films or exhibitions mentioned address
these topics.
2. The conditions in liberated concentration camps and DP camps, particularly the
anti-Semitism that continued after the war. The anti-Semitism report mentions
the difficulty some Jewish bps faced with 'recovery of their property. More
generally, both reports deal with the situation faced by Allied troops after the war,
the condition of victims and refugees, and the problems facing occupiers and
victims (IC2). Again, the dtations may be the most useful portion of the reports.
The fourth document deals with the wartime destruction and dislocation in Europe
following the war. Because the reRort is extracted from a larger mailUscript, it may seem
somewhat disjointed as it was not ineant to stand on its own. ,
Please let me know if you hav y an~ trouble accessing these documents.
--->7'A~k Bob if original sources are at R&D.
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DRAFT - November 14, 1994 (Edited January 12,2000)
LIBERATION EXHIBITION:'
CONFRONTING ATROCITIES
I.
ALLIED EFFORTS TO EXPOSE NAZI ATROCITIES TO ALLIED CITIZENS AND
TROOPS
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Even before fighting ended in Germany in 1945, the United States government had begun
to inform the American public of the atrocities committed by the German National Socialist
government in concentration and slave labor camps. IIi April the. U.S. government released
Army Signal Corps films depicting the atrocitie? - wounded and underfed American POWs, the
emaciated condition of camp prisoners, and the exhumation and reburial of dead prisoners by
German civilians. Five newsreel companies released the films, and every major New York
theater (except Radio City Music Hall) screened them in April and May of 1945. 1 Prior to the
release of the films, the New f.ork Times eqitorialized that theaters had a responsibility to move
beyond the role of providing entertainment'ai1d to use theater's power to influence the public
consciousness. The Times argued that theaters had a social obligation to present the Signal
Corps films, and thereby to educate the masses, even in the face of anticipated public
opposition. 2
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However, the American viewers' reaction to the Signal Corps films was surprisingly
tolerant. A Gallup Poll indicated a general willingness, of the American public to see the films,
a~d the Times noted an increase in female ~l1diences.3 The press debated t~e impact of the films
, o n the public. The Times complimented all five newsreel companies for their responsible
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handling of the subject. It specifically pra~sed the PatM newsreel company for exhibiting
reportorial dignity and criticized only Paramount for unnecessary dramatization. 4 Not all
opinions of the films were favorable, however; the Natipn, for instance, denounced what it
considered to be propagaJ)da portrayed by ,the "atrocity press."s
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INew York Times, April 25, 1945, p. 3; New York Times, April 27, 1945, p. 3.
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2New York Times, April 29, 1945, Sec. 2, p.
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3The Gallup Poll, Nazi War Crimes, May 20; 1945; New York Times, to1ay 6, 1945, Sec. 2, p. I.
4Ibid.
SThe Nation, May 19~ 1945: See also, Newsweek, May28, 1945, for' a discussion of the film "We,Accuse" and
the refusal of the Hay;; office to show it; The Saturday Review, June 30, 1945, for a debate concerning the impact of
atrocity films on the public. See Appendix I for a~discussion about the role of the Protestant press in confronting
Nazi atrocities. Robert W. Ross mentions paid advertising as a means through which groups sought to disseminate
information not covered by the press in So It Was'True (Minneapolis: UniversitY of Mimiesota Press, 1980).
DRAFT
1
�In April 1945; London theaters also screened newsreels depicting Nazi atrocities. During
the screenings somevi'ewers attempted to leave the cinemas, but British and Allied soldiers
barred their exit. 6 The BritIsh public was particularly skeptical of atrocity stories. The BBC
chose to broadcast Edward R. Murrow's story on Buchenwald rather than to use its own
reporters because the British people held Murrow in high esteem, and the BBC felt that the
British public would be more receptive to ihformation presented by Murrow.' Fleet Street printed
a transcript of the broadcast on the front page of London newspapers.7
General Dwight D. Eisellhower invited a delegation of congressional representatives and
, the press to tour the Nazi camps in April 1945: He wanted those who would, be most able to
disseminate the information to the American public to see the horrors for themselves. Seventeen
editors accepted the invitation; including Joseph Pulitzer of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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On June 30, 1945; the Library of Congress hosted the opening of an exhibition sponsored
by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Washington Evening Star. Photomurals depicted the
atrocities of the Nazi concentration camps. At'1he opening ceremony a Post-Dispatch
correspondent quoted Mr. Pulitzer: "If the people of Washington view these photographs ... it
is my earnest hope that they will insist on speedy, fair but remorselessly severe trials for the
guilty."s
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More than 500 people attended the exhibition's opening ceremony, and radio station
WMAL broadcast the speeches delivered by congressional delegates who had toured the camps.9
The Army Signal Corps provided motion pictures of German atroCities to acc~mpany the
photomurals. These films and the educational feature "Our Job in Germany" ,(films that were
first shown publicly at Kiel Auditorium in St Louis) also circulated among the public .schools of
Washington after the exhibition. The exhibition remained Washington from June 30 to
July 14, after which it traveled to Boston, Cleveland, and cities in Missouri and IllinoIs. to
in
In Europe, the U.S. Army Orientation Branch; through its Theater Orientation
Information Program, educated American military personnel about the conditions in occupied
territories. The branch's Operations Section held weekly orientation meetings and published
6
New York Times, April 21, 1945, p. 5.
7Alexander Kendrick, Prime Time: The Life ofEdward R.Murrow (Boston: Little Brown, 1969), pp. 278-279.
In researching the London Times of 8 April 1945 - 8 June 1945, the printed version of Murrow~s broadcast was not
discovered. However, it is likely that the printed broadcast could be found with additional research of other London
papers. In the course ofresearch, several additiona,i articles were found which made reference to Germans' visits to
camps to view atrocities as well as commentaries on riewsreels of atrocities. See Appendix IV.
8St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 1, 1945.
9See Appendix II.
lOSt. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 20, 1945. See additional information in HMM Confronting Atrocities file,
including draft 9f speech given at opening, newspaper articles discussing exhibition and surveying public opinion,
and related correspondence.
DRAFT
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"Army Talks" and "Information Bulletin," weekly publications explaining the military's
missions, particularly occupation duties. In addition, from August to October 1945, Army
Information and Education Staff Schools in Paris and Oberammergau, Germany, conducted a
series of one-week courses that included Ii War Department film titled "Atrocities."11
, II.
ALLIED EFFORTS TO EXPOSE NAZI ATROCITIES TO GERMAN CITIZENS AND
POWs
!
As early as March 1945 the Allies had begun to establish programs toinform German
citizens ofthe existence ofN~i concentration camps,seeking to make Germans aware of their
individual and collective responsibility. To achieve its goal of re-educating German citizens,
between March 27 and April 12, 1945, th~ U.S. Army Office of War Information conducted a
survey in Krefeld, Germany, to ascertain current German attitudes toward defeat and toward
German responsibility for the war. 12
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In April 1945, the New York Times reported a plan to display pictorial layouts of scenes
, from concentration camps in every community in 'conquered' Germany. The information services
of Britain and the U.S., along with Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces
(SHAEF), organized billboard displays that juxtaposed pictures of camps with editorials from
Allied nations to illustrate the "revulsion with which Germans are viewed." Radio and motion
picture programs followed. 13
To determine the impact of the Allied campaign to expose German citizens to
concentration camp atrocities, in early june 194~ an officer of the U.S. Army Psychological
Warfare Branch interviewed German civilians residing in the Allied zones of occupation. Many ,
Germans identified the British Broadcasting Corporation and Radio Luxembourg as principal
sources of information about atrocities. Most Germans admitted knowing something of the
camps before the Allied occupation, and even though information about the extent of the
atrocities had been widely disseminated in the occupied territories by June, the interviewer
detected no sense of collective responsibility by the German citizens.14
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Il"Report of Operations," 8 May-September 1945, Box 3 of Orientation Section, Information Branch,
European Theater of Operations, RG 332, National Archives and Records Administration (hereafter NARA),
Suitland, MD.
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12"Some Civilian Attitudes in One Rhineland City," Report No. 124, Survey Section; Office of War
Information, May 14, 1945'IRG 332, Box31, File 155, NA:RA, Suitland, MD.
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13 New York Times, April 24, 1945, p. 6. The New York Times shows German citizens on June 3, 1945, in an
unidentified community looking at a billboard of photographs depicting concentration camp atrocities. [I cannot
determine if this note refers to a 6/3/45 issue of the Times or possibly the 6/6/45 issue mentioned in note 20.]
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'4Morris Janowitz, "German Reaction to Nazi Atrocities," The American Journal ofSociology, 52/2 (Sept.
1946): 141-146.
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DRAFT
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�In the attempt to force Germans to confront the crimes and their responsibility, the Allies
released the newsreel "Welt im Film" on May,18 [1945?]. The American and British elements
of the Allied Military Govel11ll1ent produced the series, which became compulsory viewing for
Germans ,living in the American and British zones. Of the first 100 films in the series, 66 issues
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featured war crimes. Notably, Issue 5 was a translation of an American production called
"Atrocities Found in German Camps."ls The New York Times of June 8, 1945, published a
. photograph of a group of German women emerging from a cinema at an unidentified location
after having viewed a compulsory film ..
While German theaters were screening "Welt im Film, " the Office of War Information
(OWl) and the SHAEF Psychological Warfare Division were producing "Die Todesmuhlen. "
OWl produced the film "to re-educate Gernlans and inculcate a sense of collective guilt for the
atrocities and therefore acquiescence in th~ occupation.,,16 Various problems delayed the film's
release, and it was not until November that officials tested it in Frankfurt 'on prepared and
unprepared audiences in order to compare reactions. The.Frankfurt screenings were a success,
and beginning January 25; 1946, the occupation government ordered German theater owners to
show a program including the "Welt im Film" newsreel and "Die Todesmuhlen." Attendance
was voluntary, but some local Military Government officials enforced compulsory viewing by
stamping the food ration cards of those who attended. 17
.In addition to film and billboards, the Allies used the U.S. Army Office of War
Information booklet entitled KZ, A Story in Pictures ofFive Concentration Camps, which was
designed for distribution among German civilians and German prisoners ofwar. 18 The OWl
conducted a survey of German prisoners of war and found that the booklet had a significant
impact on POWs; it created a heightened aversion to the camps and established recognition of
the unjust treatment of the Jews. 19 Allied authorities also made German prisoners of war watch
,Army Signal Corps atrocity films as part of the Army's reorientation program. In the case
reported by the New York Times, German POWs were both outwardly unmovea during the film
and reportedly unwilling to accept responsibility for the things they saw depicted on screen. 20
15 Welt im Film, Microfiche Film Catalogue No.1, pamphlet accompanying Imperial War Museum (IWM)
archive holdings, HMM file, Confronting Atrocities. See.Appendix III.
16Brewster S. Chamberlin, "Death Mills: An Early American Attempt at Mass 'Reeducation' in Occupied
Germany, 1945-1946," in Historians and Archivists (Fairfax, VA: George Mason University Press), p. 231.
17 Jbid.,
p. 239. .
18KZ, Bildbericht ausfunfKonzentrationslagern, NARA, Suitland, MD, RG 332, Box 31, File 155.
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19"German Prisoner Reactions to KZ Booklet on Atrocities," Report No. 131, Surveys Section, Office of War
Information, June 23, 1945, RG 332, Box 31, File 155, NARA, Suitland, MD
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DRAFT
York Times, June 6, 1945, p. 5.
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Film was the most immediate means through which the Allies attempted to disseminate
information concerning the Nazi concentration camps. In April 1945, the Army Signal Corps
atrocity films were the first medium through which the U.S. government began to inform the
American and British puhlic, and the American public was generally willing to view the films.
The Sf. Louis Post-Dispatch exhibition opened i,n Washington two months later, and, with its
accompanying films, traveled to libraries and schools in several American cities. The British
were less accepting of the films, and of atrocity information in general, as exemplified by the
circumstances surrounding Edward R. Murrow's radio broadcast. The U.S. Army educated its
military personnel on the concentration camps through the weekly publications "Army Talks"
and "Information Bulletin," the Army Information and Educat'ion Staff Schools, and the War
Department film "Atrocities."
The Allies also used film in their early efforts to inform German citizens of Nazi
atrocities and make them aware of their individual and collective responsibility. T~e May 1945
"Welt im Film newsreel was compulsory viewing for German citizens, as was "Die
Todesmiihlen" the next year. German prisoners of war viewed the U.S. Army Signal Corps
atrocity films as part of the Allied reorientation program. Meanwhile, SHAEF erected billboard
displays with accompanying editorials, while Allies distributed the KZ booklets .among German
citizens. The British Broadcasting Corporation and Radio Luxembourg also contributed
significantly to the Allied information campaign..
II
Ruth E. Heller
R&D Associates
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LIVING CONDITIONS IN LIBERATED CAMPS, APRIL-DECE~ER 1945
Neitherthe atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki nor the losses from
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the combined efforts of all the armies, navies, and air forces thatfought in vyorld War II
could match the single most effective killiIlg weapon in the twentieth century:: the Nazi
concentration camp (KZ). Long after its destruction, the weapon continued to claim
victims. For the KZ not only attacked the body, it assaulted the senses, the psyche, and the
memories ofthose who came in contact with it.!
Human odor was first to assault the senses. It struck the nostrils of the liberating
GIs even before they could see the emaciated bodies and the unburied corpses or
expedence the camp's deadly silence. Odor became.the most poignant impression to linger
in their memories. I
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From April 4, 1945, when the 89th Infantry Division liberated Ohrdorf/Gotha KZs,
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to May 7, J945, when the 4th Armored Division, 3rd U.S. Ariny unlocked Mauthausen,
Allied soldiers exposed the horrors of eight major KZs and their sub-camps. Qn April 12,
Generals Eisenhower, Bradley, and PatJ;on visited Ohrdorf, a Buchenwald KZ sub-camp.
~patton got sick to his stomach.
Eisenhower turned pale. Later, he ordered every army
I Robert H. Abzug, Inside the Vicious Heart: Americans and the Liberation ofNa;Concentration
Camps (New York: Oxford U P, 1985) 27,31.
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unit in the area not on front line duty to visit
t~e
camp. The general wanted to make sure
the GIs knew what they were fighting for. 2
The invading troops liberated most of the camps peacefully. Before Allied troops
arrived, the SS guards had abandoned the cam~s, transferred inmates to other' camps, or
attempted to eliminate the prisoners before leaving them. As a consequence, when Allied
soldiers entered the camps, some troops found camps with small numbers of inmates
(Nordhausen-Dora and Landsberg), and others opened extremely overcrowded compounds
(Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, Dachau, and Mauthausen). The Nazis had designed
Mauthausen KZ for 5,000 inmates. Upon the' camp's liberation, GIs discovered 18,000
people inside. A few days before the Americans arrived, two Luftwaffe officers prevented
the SS from entombing live inmates in tunnels. The officers turned the camp at
Mauthausen over to the Vienna Fire Department, who then surrendered it to the 11 th
Armored Division. On Friday, April 13, 1945, 4th Armored Division troops quietly took
over Buchen:wald from its communist prison tru~tees (Kapos). The Kapos told 'the troops
that on April 11, using weaporis smuggled from the camp's armaments plant, they revolted
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and killed their SS guards. After liberation, the new American camp directors reported
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killings of former SS guards at Mauthausen, Ebensee, and Gusen. Survivors discovered
2 Abzug, Inside the Vicious Heart, 27, 30. Bob Kesting, "Updated Lists of Certified Liberating Units,"
(Wash" DC: USHMM, 30 Aug. 1994), 1-3.
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the former guards in the conscripted civilian/prisoner of war (PW) clean-up details. The
former inmates killed their SS tormentors before U.S. soldiers could intervene?
At Thekla, Allied soldiers did not arrive in time to rescue the camp's' inmates. Just
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before its liberation, SS guards and Hitler Youth squads had removed 1,200 prisoners from
the camp. The SS then locked the remaining 300 inmates in a barn and burned them alive.
Those who managed to escape the flames were machine-gunned by the Hitler youth. On
April ,18, when elements of the 5th Armored Division discovered the camp, the few
survivors told them what had happened. Margaret Bourke-White of Life magazine was
there to photograph the massacre scene. 4
Dachau was an exception fo peaceful liberation. The swift American advance
caught the SS guards by surprise. In the camp, GIs found 32,000 living skeletons as well
as approximately 3,500 corpses
s~acked
in 40 railroad cars. The German atrocities at
Dachau offended and outraged the battle-hardened soldiers' sense of decency. The
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3 Maj. James Q. Simmons, "Sanitary Report, Camp Mimthausen (Period 8 May to 25 May 1945)," 25
May 1945, Headquarters lith S.D., Office.ofthe Surgeon (Suitland, MD:NARA, RG 112, Reports Surgeon
Gen. U.S. Army, Geographic Series, En( No. 1945-1946, Box 1337). SHAEF, G-5, Displaced Persons
Branch, "Displaced Persons Report No. 34," 18 June 1945 (Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 260, OMGUS
Records Civil. Admin Div., Box 179, File 319.1). "Reconnaissance Report of21 April 1945, Inspection of
German Concentration Camp for Political Prisoners at Buchenwald on the north edge of Weimar," in War
Diary of Brig. Gen. E. F. Wood, 26 Nov. 1944-30 Sept. 1945 (Wash, DC: Center of Military History
Archives, 228.01 [Hrc Geog M] Germany, 314. I Wood, E. F. Brig. Gen.), photos. Abzug, Inside the Vicious
Heart,48. Also in NARA-Suitland, MD"RG 2600MGUS Recdrds Civil. Admin. Div. Records Exe. of
POW and DP Branch, 1945-1959, Box 179, File 319.1.
4
Abzug, Inside the Vicio~s Heart', 27, 30, 74-77.
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guards in the camp and shot them in their legs. The wounds prevented the guards from
escaping the survivors' fatal vengeance. s
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Once the~~the survivors became the responsibility of the Allies.
In 1944 plans for dealing w~th refugees and displaced persons (DPs) included camps
housing 2,000 to 3,000 persons. However, during the period from' April to December
1945, Allied commanders met a grim reality thflt s':1fPassed all plans and expectations, The
average DP camp eventually housed 10,000 people, and in some camps as.many as 40,000
resided. The Allies had underestimated the magnitude of capturing the concentration
camps, caring for the immediate needs of the liberated victims,and repatriating the healthy
survivors.6
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The military necessities associated with conducting an active campaign against a
stili pot'ent enemy hindered Allied efforts to manage the newly liberated concentration
camps. On May 8, 1945, VE pay, the victorious commanders turned their efforts to
controlling.captured prisoners of war (PWs); est~blishing order in the European zones of
occupation; collecting, supplying, and repatriating recovered Allied soldiers or civilian
conscript/slave laborers; and aiding the millions of uprooted DPs. That the postwar
managers had any success at all in dealing with DP problem is especially significant. In the
American occupation zone, the DP population peaked in mid~ 1945 at over 4,20'0,000.
5
Abzug, Inside the Vicious Heart, 92"95. SHAEF, G-5, "Displaced Persons Report No., 34." .
6 SHAEF, Admin Memo No. 39: "Displaced Persons and Refugees in Germany," 23 Dec. 1944 '
(Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 2~O, OMGUS, AG Records, Ent. No. 1945-1946, Box,92). The General Board,
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Through repatriation, the number ofDPs declined to 600,000 by September. At the same
time, postwar troop demobilization reduced the ,number of military personnel available for
fulfilling normal obligations in the zone of occupation. 7
A general directive from Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces
(SHAEF) in No:vember 1944 made the care, control, and repatriation of displaced United
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Nations nationals an aim of military government. At the end of hostilities when military
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government was established, responsibility for DPs shifted from field,co~anders to'
military government agencies. The Displaced Persons Executive (DPX), a member ofthe
SHAEF combined staff, helped administer DP affairs. The DPX and other agencies often
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included United Nations Relief and R~habilitation Agency (UNRRA) personnel. However,
UNRRA remained subordinate to SHAEF. After the dissolution ofthe combined
command, UNRRA proved unable to assume major responsibility for the care ofDPs in
Germany. An agreement, for which negotiations beg;;m in September 1945 and concluded
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on February 19,-1946, gave United States Forces European Theater (USFET) general
USFET, "Displaced Persons, Refugees'and Recovered Allied Military Personnel," St,udy No, 35 (Suitland,
MD: NARA RG 153, JAG [Anny] War Crimes Branch, Box 63, File 364).
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, 7 Earl F. Ziemke, The U.S. Army in the Occupation of Gennany: 1944-1946 (Wash., DC: Center of
Military History, U.S. Anny, 1975),413. 12th Army assigned responsibility for KZs to the Displaced
Persons Executive (DPX). Col. H. H. Newman, "Discipline in Displaced Persons Assembly Centers," 4 April
1945,SHAEF, APO 757 (Suitland, MD, RG 260, OMGUS, AG Records, Box93, File AG 283!7). USFET,
"Procedure for Care of United Nations Displaced Persons," 31 Aug . .1945 (Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 260,
EntNo. 1945-1946, Box 92). This le,tter lists specific clothing items to be taken.from German stocks and
provided to DPs, The General Board, USFET, "Displaced Persons, Refugee,S and Recovered Allied
Personnel," Study No. 35 "A Study of Displaced persons in th.e Third Anny Area," 8 July 1945 (Suitland,
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MD: NARA, RG 332, Hist. Program Files, Stack 8, Row 18, Compo 26, Shelf 7).
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responsibility for DPs but turned over the management ofDP camps to UNRRA, although
inthis capacity UNRRA remained under USfET supervision. 8
Within a day or two qfliberation ofth,e K.Zs, medical and administrative personnel
relieved the combat units and assumed the responsibility of caring for the former inmates.
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Providing food was a priority. As a consequence of the 600-700 calories per day
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diet under the Nazis, the. medics found the liberated population ravaged by malnutrition
and associated diseases. SHAEF set a daily ration of 3,200 calories per day for recovered
allied military persollI1el who had been prisoners of war held by the Germans, 2~000
calor~es
for DPs, and a special ration of2,300 calories for K.Z survivors -levels above the
1,900 calories allocatep for the German" population. After the issue of the Harrison Report
in July t"945, officials increased the K.Z daily ration to 2,500 calories.
At overcrowded Bergen-Belsen, the 35,000 liberated survivors could not digest the
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standard military rations(C, K, and 10-1). British medical teams responded to the nutrition
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problem with a recipe developed for victims of famine in Bengal. The "Bengal Mixture"
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consisted of dried milk, flour, sugar, and molasses. This mix was supplemented with
chocolate bars, Horlicks, Ovaltine, cocoa, and biscuits. Though it was unpopular because
it was too sweet for European tastes, the medics claimed that the mixture saved half the
camp's population. For the severely 'ill, medical personnel prescribed intravenous feeding
.re..~s. +-e...J
and blood transfusions. Camp medics reported that at Mauthausen some survivors4eught
80liver J. Frederiksen, The American Military Occupation of Germany 1945-1953, O-leadquacters,
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injections ~ fear that they were being killed as their comrades had been by SS doctors
using intravenous poisons. Later the recovery diets gave way to fresh vegetables, meat,
dairy products, and cereals requisitioned from German sources.
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Although the Allies ordered, that DPs in camps receive fooq, clothing, and
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accommodations from Getman stocks, in some areas, especially with the onset of winter,
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these resources proved limited. The U.S. military made its stores available to the DP
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centers. Allocations of Red Cross food parcels and the establishment of mail serviCe
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between the United States and DP camps in the U.S. zone also played an important role in
breaking the monotony ofthe camp diets. 9
Allied officials immediately addressed sanitary conditions in the camps. Military
authorities ordered local citizens to'view the camps and "requested" the mayors
(Burgermeistern) of the towns near the KZs to supply "volunteers" for burial details and
clean-up squads. German PWs also cleaned the camps. They scrubbed, disinfected, or
burned the barracks. Medics transferred the critically ill to hospitals in other camp,
United States Anny, Europe: Historical Div., 1953), 73-78.
9 Paul Kemp, "The Liberation of Bergen-aelsen Concentration Camp in April 1945: the Testimony of
Those fnvolved," Imperial War Museum Review, 28-41. The General Board, USFET, "Displaced Persons
Refugees and Recovered Allied Military Personnel," Study No. 35, 25 June; SHAEF, G-5, Displaced Persons
Branch, "Displaced Persons Report, No. 34," 18 June 1945 (Suitland, MD: NARA RG 260, OMGUS _
Records Civil. Admin. Div., Box 179, File 319.1). Maj. Gen. C.L. Adcock, "Report on Operations,
Displaced Persons Branch,':' 18 Oct. 1945, Headquarters, USFET, Off, of Milt. Government (U.S. Zone)
(Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 260; Box 92). Brig. Gen. R.Y. Lovett, "Procedure for Care of United Nations
Displaced Persons," 31 Aug. 1945, Headquarters SHAEF, APO 757 (Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 260,
OMGUS AG Records, Box 93, File 383.1). Report states the Germans were living better than the DPsand
orders the situation changed. The document also specifically states what is to be requisitioned and 'allocated
for the DP center· residents and those living outside the camps. Capt. W. L. Steck, "Feeding United Nations
Displaced Persons in Approved Camps and Centers in the U.S. Zone ofGerinany," 18 Sept. 1945,
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facilities, usually SS buildings or facilities not previously used by inmates. By the end of
1945, most of the non-repatriated KZ survivors lived in solid former Wehrmacht barracks
(Kasernen) or in expropriated civilian dwellings. lo
Despite the efforts of military personnel to clean up the camps after liberation,
conditions remained overcrowded and sanitation was often still a problem. ~ .
Genera~orted
on September 16,1945, that overcrowding at the Landesberg and Feldafing camp~J
Judah Nadich, Special Consultant on Jewish Affairs to the Commanding
/'
remained a significant problem. In Feldafing, rooms designed for six occupants contained
twenty to forty people. In Lan~esberg, it was not uncommon to find two or more people to
a single bed. Moreover, in some barracks, overcr~wding combined with low water
pressure made sanitary conditions deplorable. 11 Major Irving Heymont, after his .,
initial
,
inspection of Landesberg, described the conditions he found:
The DPs sleep in bunks of rough, unfinished lumber that are often '.
double and even triple decked. Mattresses are straw-filled sacks. Bedding
consists of shoddy gray Wehrmacht blankets or U.S. Army blankets. Sheets
seem to be unknown. The hallways are littered with trash and scraps of old
Headquarters, USFET (Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 260, Ent. No. 1945-1946, Box 92). This document rev'ises
the allotments for individuals in DP centers.
'
10 SHAEF, "Displaced Persons Report," No. 34,18 June 1945; No.' 35,25 June 1945; No. 36,2 July
1945; No. 37, 9 July 1945 (Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 260, OMGUS Records Civil. Admin. Div., Box 170,
File 319.1). The General Board, USFET, "Displaced Persons, Refugees and Recovered Allied Military
Personnel," Study No. 35.
'
llMaj. Judah Nadich, "Report on Conditions in Assembly Centers for Jewish Displaced Perio'i1s,"
19 September 1945, Combined Displaced Exe. c/o G-5 Div. USFET (Suitland, MD: NARA RG 260, Ent. No.
1945-1946, Box 92). '
,
�9
food. Behind a number of the staircases, I ,saw signs of human excrement
that obviously had been there for some time. The toilets beg description ..
About half the bowls were inoperative,but full of excrement. Toilet seats,
while not entirely lacking, were smeared with excrement or wet with urine.
In explanation of the deplorable state of affairs, I was told that the water
pressure was low because of war damage to the water mains. 12
'
As winter approached, the need for suitable housing and clothing became acute.
Nadich reported that in Landesberg "a great number of the residents have only torn shoes
i
,or none at all. It is understood that Red Cross clothing stocks are available and steps
:1
should be taken to speed the delivery of all types of clothing."13 USFET Headquarters also
realized that there was a need for winter clothing. "Some displaced persons are still
walking aboutin camps in cotton trousers and carpet slippers. Where requisitions. for.
~.
winter clothing and footwear are not met in time from stocks under military control,
arrangements for local levy will be made." On August 31, 1945, USFET Headquarters
l
released a memorandum to Commanding Generals that caUed for the weatherproofing of
buildings and the end of housing DPs in tents by September 15, 1945. 14
Allied medical ,officers gave swift attention to survivor hygiene and diseases
rampant in the camps - typhus, tuberculosis (TB), and diarrhea. They dusted survivors
with DDT, vaccinated them, and isolated the TB patients. Camp officials disinfected;
12Maj. Irving Heymont, Among the Survivors of the Holocau~t - 1945 (Cincinnati, OH: American,
Jewish Archives, 1982),8-11.
13 Nadich,
14 USFET,
"Report on Condition~ in As~embly Centers for Jewish Displaced Persons," 2.
"Procedure for Care of United Nations Displaced Persons."
�10
steamed, or 'destroye9 lice- and bedbug-infested bedding and clothing. They drew
replacem~nts
bathed 1,200
,l
i
from confiscated German stocks .. At Dachau a Quartermaster Bath Unit
to 1,5'00 persons daily;
Despite the efforts of the medical staff, the tamp
commander had to impose a quarantine to limit the. spread 'of disease. However; resident
!
and. visitor movements in and out of the camp proved impossible to control. 15
Although survivors received excellent care for their physical ailments, malnutrition
and its associated diseases continued to take a toll on the liberated. The death rate· in the
individual KZ camps shrank from the wartime rate of hundreds a day to.an average of 20.
The camp at Ebensee was an exception. American inedics used the camp to treat the
critically sick from Mauthausen, and there the death rate averaged up to 30 per day.
Unfortunately, officials did not treat mental illness in the same efficient manner as
physical disease ..While Allied officials identified psychological problems in many camp
.
.
survivors, they did not treat them, giving priority to physical health. In addition, long-term
15 Col. A. L. Bradford, "Medical and Sanitary Proble~s and Reco~mendation," 8 May 1945 and
"Report and Recommendations on Medical and Sanitary Problems," 11 May 1945, Off. of the Camp
Surgeon: Allach-Dachau Concentration Camps, APO 758, U.S. Army (Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 112,
Surgeon Gen. Off., Geographic Series, Ent. No. 1945-l956, Box 1394). Col. A. L. Bradford, "Monthly
Sanitary Report," 6 June 1945, Headquarters, 127th Evacuation Hospital, Semimobile, AP 758, U.S. Army
(Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 112, Surgeon Gen. Off., Geographic Series, Ent. No 31, 1945-1946, Box 1394).
Col. Lawrence C. Ball, "MontlilySanitary Report," 1 June 1945, Headquarters 116th Evacuation Hospital
(SEM), Office of the Commanding Officer, APO 758, U.S. Army (Suitland, MD: NARA, Surgeon Gen. Off.,
Geographic Series, Ent. No. 31,1945-1946, Box 1394, File Unit 1). This unit served as Dachau's "Inner
Camp" hospital.
' .
�11
psychiatric rehabilitation was impractical because patients we're repatriating and the
medical staffs were demobilizing.16
In addition to the continuing camp logistics and medical problems, DP discipline
became a serious problem for U.S. officials. Newly liberated survivors joined DPs and
went on pillage rampages. GIs had to control them and return them to their camps~ Ethnic
and national differences also contributed to camp internal disorder., Classifying DPs by
nationality, segregating the different groups, and establishing DP-operated police forces
combined with rapid repatriation to, amelio~ate the discipline problem.
During the second half of 1945, Allied officials created separate camps for different
nationalities. Many of the camps became unexpectedly semi-permanent and housed Poles,
BaIts, and Hungarians. These individuals, who did not wish to be repatriated to their
J
homelands, chose rather to be "Stateless." The issue for Polish refugees was further
I,
:
,
,
I
'I"
i
: 16 Maj. Ralph Wolpaw, "Sanitary Conditions on Buchenwald Concentration Camp," and "Standard
Operating Procedure for Sanitation Buchenwald," Headquarters 120th Evacuation Hospital Semimobile APO
403, U.S. Army, 19 April 1945 (Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 122 Surgeon Gen. Off., Geographic Series, Ent.
No. 1945-1946, Box 1394,File 120). Maj. JamesQ. Simmons, "Sanitary Report, Camp Mauthausen (Period
8 May to 25 May 1945)," 25 May 1945, Headquarters 11 th AD, Off. ofthe Surgeon (Suitland, MD: NARA,
RG 112, Reports of the Surgeon, U.S. Army, 1945-1946, Geographic Series; Box 1337): Lt. Col. Hugh
MacDonald, "Period Reports, Medical Department Activities," 7 June 1945, 139th Evacuation Hospital,
, Semimobile, APO 403, ETOUSA (Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 112, Records of the Surgeon Gen. Off., Box
, 409, File 319.1-2). This document is a pre-deployment report of the history of the 139th Evac. Hosp. and its
activity at Ebensee KZ (DP Camp No. C212) from 14 May when it relieved the 30th Field Hosp. The report
reviews the food, sanitation and housing problems that the unit confronted and overcame at Ebensee." It also
mentions that it worked closely with the 515th Clearing Co. Finally, the report includes charts that show the
number of patients the unit served; their nationality and their treatment. SHAEF, "Displaced Persons Report
," No. 34.
.
�12
complicated because Poland was unable to accommodate its citizens who sought
repatriation. 17
Jews sought their own United Nations identification category. Disgusted with their
lot in Europe, many Jews ,refused to accept their national citizenship and sought "Stateless"
i'
status. In August 1945, in response to the Harrison Report, the American command
I
/
authoriied the conversion of Landsberg DP,center to a Jewish camp. Survivors and Jewish
1
,
'I . relief agencies proceeded to bUIld schools and work~hops and to' conduct religious services.
"
)
Equally significant, Jews received UN
statu~
and were able to sl}.bmit requests for
repatriation to Palestine. IS
Although repatriation proceeded aLa rapid pace, problems related to DP camp
I'
management continued to plague military officials throughout the fall of 1945. In October,
17 Ziemke, The U,S, Army in the Occupation of Germany, 413. SHAEF, G-5,Displaced Persons
Branch, "Displaced Persons Report No. 35," 25 June 1945 (Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 260, OMGUS
Records Civil. Admin. Div., Box 179, File 319.1). The document indicates that "National Areas" were set up
in the DP camps that aided in the restoration of order.
.
18 Eisenhower, "Dear Mr. President," 8 Oct. 1945 (Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 260, Box 92). Maj.
Irving Heymont, Among the Survivors of the Holocaust" 1945, (Cincinnati, Ohio: American Jewish Archives,
1982). Nadich, "Report on Conditions in Assembly Centers for Jewish Displaced Persons." Maj. H.A.
Engler, "Feeding of United Nations Displaced Persons in Approved Camps and Centers in the U.S. Zone of
Germany," 23 Oct. i 945 (Suitland, MD: RG 260, Ent. No. 1945-1946, Box 92). Gen. Eisenhower, "Feeding
of United Nations Displaced Persons in Approved Camps and Centers in the U.S. Zone of Germany, 18 Sept.
1945, Headquarters, USFET, APO 757 (Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 260, Ent. No. 1945-1946, Box 92). This
letter approves the allocation of specific supplies to DP camps. Col., H.H. Newman, "Special Ration in the
U.S. Zone of Germany for Persons Persecuted by the Nazi Regime," 15 Oct. 1945, Headquarters, USFET
(Suitland, MD: NARA RG 260, Ent. No. 1945-1946, Box 92).
,.
•
J
Maj. Gen. C. L. Adcock; "Determination and Reporting of Nationalities," 16 Nov. 1945,
Headquarters, USFET, Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone (Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 260, OMGUS
Records Exe. OFF., AG, Box 91, File 383.7). Memo changes USFET Letter ago 354.2 GEC-AGO, dated 22
Aug. 1945, subj.: "Special Camps for Stateless, and Non-repatriables." Non-repatriable, Stateless, and Jews
are defined and recognized under UN classification and they are to be treated differently from other ex-enemy
DPs.
'
-,
�13
conferees at the UNRRA Council meeting in London failed to assume the obligations to
supply, equip, and transport DPs. As a result, there was little improvement in the general
welfare of camp residents beyond their physical health. USFET replaced SHAEF in July
with orders to continue to service DP health; nutrition, and other camp needs. However, in
November, in what became a second great European migration, Jewish DPs and German
expellees began to arrive from eastern Europe. A vaiI'able housing in Germany and Austria
for the expected 450,000 additional DPs had been exhausted during the immediate postwar
resettlement. The addition of new mouths to feed threatened existing German stocks and
I
put pressure on USFET to import food ..However, Congress failed to appropriate the
necessary funding. 19
As 1945 ended, the elements of a potentially explosive population movement began
to gather.. Governing authority for the American zone 'in Germany transferred from USFET
to .Office of Military Government United States (OMGUS). The new organization
,
,
19 Ziemke; The U.S., Anny in Occupation of Gennany, 413. Capt. T. W. Guptill, "Dental Treatment for
Displaced Persons," 6 Dec.' 1945, Headquarters USFET, APO 757 (Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 260, Ent. No.
1945-1946, Box 92). Maj. Gen. C. L. Adcock, "Allocation of Clothing for Displaced Persons and Civilian
Internees, (U.S. Zone) Germany, January-June 1946," 6·February, 1946, USFET, Off. of Military Government
(U.S. Zone) Economic Div., Supply Control Div. (Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 260, Ent. No. 1945-1946, Box
'I 92). Document supplements the 17 Dec. 1945 order for the allocation of specific clothing ite~s for D~s' in 23
! Nov. 1945, 3rd Anny, 7th, Anny and Berlin District. Lt. Gen. Keyes, "Repairs for Displaced Persons
, Camps," 23 Nov. 1945, Headquarters 7th Army Western Military pistrict, U.S. Army, APO 758 (Suitland,
MD: NARA, RG 260, OMGUS Records Exe. Off., AG, Box 91, File 383.7). The letter authorizes the
winterizing ofDP camps within 7th Anny area. The names of the camps are listed.
Brig. Gen. Bryan L. Milburn, "Emergency Relief for Polish-Jewish Immigrants, Berlin," 13 Dec.
1945, Off. of Military Government for Gennan (U.S. Zone), Off. of the Chief of Staff, APO 742 (Suitland,
MD: NARA, RG 260, Ent. No. 19A5-1946, Box 92), Gen. McNarney, "Subject is Jewish Infiltration and
Displaced Persons,;' 24 Aug. 1946, Office Of Military Government for Gennany (U.S.), USFET (Suitland,
MD: NARA, RG 260, Ent. No. 1945-1946, Box 92). The document details the problem of resourcei competition developing from the influx of Jewish infiltrators from,Poland since Nov. 1945. Frederiksen, The
I American Military Occupation of Germany 1945-1953, 72-80.
'
!
i
�14
immediately took action to relieve the pressures created by ,immigrant arrivals. German
police, rearmed under USFET, received authorization to arrest DPs outside their new
camps.20
Robert R. Brown, Ph.D.)
R&D Associates
. I
!
,
I
, I
20 Gen, MeN arney, "Responsibility for M'ilitary. Government in U.S. Zone in Germany," 14 Dec. 1945,
Headquarters USFET (Suitland, MD: NARA, RG 260, Box 91, File 383.7). Lt. Gen. Lucius D. Clay,
. "Measures Taken to Control Lawlessness of Displaced Persons," 15 Dec. 1945,'OMGUS Off. of the Deputy
Military Governor, APO 742 (Suitland, MD: NARA RG 260, Box 91, File 383.7).
�Liberation Exhibition .
. Living Conditions in Liberated Camps
I
.
\
. Report to the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
from
('
R&D Associates
5888 Woodfield Estates Drive
Alexandria, VA 22310
7 November 1994
(Edited January 2000)
�DISPLACED PERSONS AND ANTI-SEMITISM
This research brief addresses the' question of anti-Semitism inside DP camps as
well as discrimination against Jewish DPs outside the camps and against those who
repatriated shortly after liberation of the Nazi concentration camps. Specifically:
1). The initial failure ofthe Military Government to create separate camps for
Jewish refugees; indifference to hostile attitudes toward Jewish DPs on the part of the
U.S. military.
.
2). Jewish DPs' experience with Anti-Semitism in their native lands after
repatriation, ranging from physical attacks to oppressive government poliCies and, . '.
bureaucratic delays. .
***************
At the end of World War II, the Americanarmy faced the daunting task of
supervising and caring for thousands of displaced persons (DPs) in Europe. For reasons
I. of administrative efficien~y:·the army categorized a displaced person' based on his
: nationality.) Effectively this meant that the army often grouped' Jews with their fellow
f'
r
nationals. Consequently, the army sometimes classified the Jewish DPs from Germany
; and her wartime allies -. Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, and Rumania
as "enemy
!
'
I nationals," thus also depriving Jewish DPs of the status of United Nations displaced
1
' .
i persons.
'
.
Moreover, Allied policy did not initially recognize religion as a basis to
~
; determine the level of care needed by DPS.2 "What happened in fact was that ~ ~
.
[Jewish DPs] were thrown together in assembly centers with the Balts, Poles, and other
healthier displaced persons, many of whom were anti-Semites and a great number of'
: whom were actually Nazi collaborators.,,3 .
I
The military personnel operating the nationality-based assembly centers attributed
~~\~~,
\
I theIr perception~f Jewish DPs to the attitude that Jewish DPs showed toward them. "The
I.
;\
: Jews seemed distrustful ofjust about everyone, avoided work, and seemed interested only
I
.
.
i
, in what they .could procure in the way of food and clothing. Old anti-Semitic stereotypes
. \
. lLeonard Dinnerstein, "The U,S. Army and the Jews: Policies Toward The Displ~ced Persons After World
Volume 9. The
, End ofthe Holocaust, ed. Michael R. Marrus (London: Meckler), pp. 513-515.
.
. : 2Ibid.; Robert H. Abzug, Inside the Vicious Heart: Americans and The Liberation ofNazi Concentration
Camps, (Oxford: Oxford University Press), p. 151.
.
i 3Abzug, Inside the Vicious Heart, p. 151.
.i War II," in, The Nazi Holocaust: Historical Articles on the Destruction ofEuropean Jews,
i
�2
blended wIth ... scenes of degradation to leave a rather unfavorable impression on many
in the occupation force.,,4
•
I
Soon after the military established the DP camps, some raised concern for the
I refugees and the conditions in the ~ camps.
In the early summer of 1945, President
I
i Truman sent Earl G. Harrison to evaluate the conditions·ofJewish DPs and other
I
I
.
persecutees.5 After an intensive inspeCtion of several camps, Harrison brought attention
to the special ne,eds of survivors of concentration camps and called for the establishment
i of speci~l camps for Jews.
I
6
,
i
However, even after Harrison i~ued his report 'in the summer of 1945 a~d the
: U.S. military began to. segregate D~C\~ps, Jewish DPs still faced unsympathetic
;
I officials.
FGf:ius:tam::;e., Major Juda~ Nadich (Special Consultant to the Theater'
I
~
Commander on Jewish Activities) submitted a report on the Landsberg and Feldafing
Icamps to the Chief of Staff, Headquarters, United States Forces European Theater
I'
: (USFET) in whic.h he wrote that military government officers "in Landsberg [were]
, i hostile in attitude.
[Jewish DPs were]
[t]reate~
like enemy DPs. Object to attitude that
I
"
~ all DPs are l,ooters. Germans accuse DPs of every crime committed and MG officers and
!MPs [are]
syri1pat~etic' to Germans.,,7
Moreover, Nadich reported that the complaints of
I
!Jewish DPs about their treatment "seem to be well-founded.
Anti~Semitic utterances and
,
Iactivities attributed to'MG officers and non-corns, [are] making DPs bitter and [are]
, lowering morale."g
"
In addition to the indifference, 'anti-Semitism, and hostile attitudes that. Jewish
,iDPs endured during the 'establishment and maintenance ofDP camps, Jewish DPs wh~
,
!had been expeditiously repatriated (often against their will) after the liberation of the
'4Ibid., p. 152. .
. IS"Mr. Harrison's mission was to inquire into the needs of the non-repatriables, with particular reference to
!the stateless and Jewish refugees, among the qisplaced persons in the liberated countries of western Europe
;and in the Supreme Headquarters area of Germany, He was also to determine the manne'r in which those
!needs were being met by military authorities, the governments of residence, and international and private
Irelief bodies." OCMH Historical Manuscript" Displaced Persons, 1945-46," (U.S. Army Center of Military
!History, 8-3.1, CA 35), prepared by the Provost Marshal General's School, Military Government
II Department for ORC Units, 31 July 1952, p. 5 6 . '
.
:
" 6l b'd
1.
:7Combined Displaced Person Executive, c/o G-5 Division, USFET, "Report on Conditions of Jewish
; Displaced Persons" (Report No.2), 27 September 1945.
:8Ibid.
'
.
�."
3
I
I
.
.
!concentration camps experienced anti-Semitism in their native lands. In the late summer
,
.
,and early fall of 1945, as the actions taken in response to the Harrison report began to
limprove~econdition~Jewish DPs,9 unfavorable conditions for, Jews in Central
iEurope sent them fleeing by the thousands into the American and British zones ?f
Germany and Austria. In October 1945 some 200 repatriated Polish Jews sought refuge
I .
.
.
\
.
,
lin the American and British zones of Austria daily.l0
!
Between July 1945 and July 1946 the DP population in the American zones
"
"
,
\
:increased by an average of about 10,000 per mnnth. II
!
1I1de~d, the increased ~umbers
I'
'
!caused such problems that eventually Allied officials began to tum away Jews escaping
I
,
. 'anti-Semitism and persecution in Eastern Europe. Although there were attempts t~ close
.lthe gates of the cari:1ps to new DPs c~ming from the Ea&t, ultimately military authorities
I
.
'realized that, despite the fact that the camps were over-burdened, they had to accept new
,
pPS. 12 However, the increased strailf on the camps meant that many of the army
~ersonnel running them became .less sympathetic to the plight of the Jewish DPs.
These
~ersonnelhad an administrative t~sk to fulfill, and the new bps were making it harder for
rhem to fulfill this task. "Jewish observers continually reported GIs as being unusually
~ough. towards,'and unsympathetic to, the displaced persons. Many American. soldiers
I
.
klso accepted the views of the Germans that the Jewish refugees were responsible not
I
.
"
'
only for their own plight but for all the crimes committed in Germany.,,13
i
As Eastern Europeans repatria~ed to their homelands, many quickly realized that
hnti-Semitism had not disappeared with the downfall of Hitler. In Poland especially,
i
. Jews found that not only were they not welcome in their old homes, but they were also
~ubject to physical assaults and active discrimination. On December 10, 1945, the New
fork Times reported that in Poland "Jews are receiving threatening l~tters warning them
t
.
"
1"Jews in U.S. Zone of Reich Find Conditions Improving," New York Times (August 26, 1945) finds that
':'[t]he Jews, the first of many minorities to be persecuted byfascism, are finding that after three months of
9onfusion, almost inevitable in a land so deeply scarred by war, their lot is being ameliorated in the United
States zone of occupation." See also Dinnerstein, p. 520.
1,o"Polish Jews Flee Into Austria Daily,':.Few York Times (October 7, 1945).
IIIOinnerstein, "The U.s. Army and the Jews,". p. 520. .
I?Ibid.
.
.
I?Ibid. Also the New York Times (July 21, 1945), in an article "Jewish Congress Asks Aid of Big 3," found
that indifference to the Jewish DPs' welfare was astonishing. "The Allied Military Government officers t!lke
no interest in their welfare. Their [the OPs'] fate is left to the initiative of a few Jewish soldiers."
I,
,
�4
to get out. There is also banditry, not necessarily anti-Semitic, but 'every once in a while a
I
~ew is murdered ... and every time it happens, hundreds more Jews start walking.,,14 In
~ddition tosmall-scale, individuai incidents, there were also reports of mass assaults on
Polish Jews in Poland. In Krakow "2,000. returning Jews were assaulted, 500 of them .
I
'
undergoing siege in the temporary quarters ofthe Jewish community there while the
I
,
Provisional Government's police looked on.,,15
:
.
The fear that many Jews had for their lives was ~ea[ However, the anti-Semitic
&ttacks on Jews were not only physical in nature. Even though the governments of
I
!
.
Poland and other East European countries were, not adopting official anti-Semitic
I
'
,
legislation, the Jews nonetpeless suffered from purposeful petty bureaucratic delays. For
~xample, a New York Times article reports that in Slovakia "although anti-Semitic laws
I
'
'
have been rescinded, no specific law for the return of their possessions to the Jews has ,
I
'
,
fueen passed.,,16 .Moreover, in some rural parts of Slovakia, Jews were denied a share in
I
.
•
I
'
distributions from the United Nations R~lief and Rehabilitati9n Agency (UNRRA). In
Vienna as well, bureaucratic foot-dragging, not official policy, was cited as the culprit in
i
17
~ews not having their ,property returned to tl)em.
j
,
•
In Germany, a similar situation prevailed. "Little has been accomplished toward
I
i
~estoring
their (Jewish) confiscated property ... it is a long way from the Allied Control
i
<]::ouncil's Policy table.to the buergermeister's office."l~ In Bad Nauheim [Neuheim?]
lbcal German officials reduced rations for Jewish DPs to the same level as German
I
!
divilians after only two months, even though the nutritional needs ,of D.rs who survived
I
the Nazi concentration'camps were greater than those bfthe German public who,
~omparativelY, ate well during the war.
Nadich's report to the Chief of Staff, HQ,
I
USFET contends that "[f]ood supplementation is badly needed, but the Burgomeister
.
[~iC] claims he is following orders of the Landsrat ... who, i~ t~rn, showed an order from
I
.
the Landesemerungsamt [sic] of Frankfurt which states that returnees from concentration
I
I
'
.
,
'
,
camps should get clouble ration tickets for 2 months or'extra ration tickets for 3 months'
I
I
'
are Accused of Anti-Semitism," New York Times (December 10, 1945).
1~"Pogroms in Poland,Reported Occurring," New York Times (July 21, 1945).
11"Anti-Semitism Rife in Central E1,Irope," New York Times (September 9, 1945)
I]Ibid.
:
IlJews in U.S. Zone of Reich Find Conditions Improving," New York Times (August 26,1945).·
I
I
\
�5
~nly."19 Although German officials and authorities might not have been motivated by··
lnti-Semitism
I
dir~ctly to impose bureaucratic obstacles, these problems·did have a
.
f
deleterious impact on the condition of Jewish DPs.
I
.
The U.S. Military Government's initial failure to acknowledge the special needs
I
'
and situation of Jewish DPs as it established DP camps meant that most camps housed
I
~ews
.
alongside other refugees; some of whom were anti-Semitic. The failure to estabH~h
~eparate
,
camps forlewish DPs served to diminish the special needs of Jewisl;t DPs in the
I
~yes
,
of the lower echelons of military personnel -
that is, those actually respopsible for
~aring for the DPs. This blind spot, in tum, often led to hostile attitudes toward and
rhistreatment of Jewish DPs in and ou(~fthe camps. In .addition, Jewish repatriates also
i
.
dften confronted anti-Semitic attitudes and policies in their native lands.
I
j
Chadwick M. Fleming
R&D Assoclates
I
,
i
1
19,Combined Displaced Person Executive, c/o G-5 Division, USFET; "Report on Conditions of Jewish
I.
qlsplaced Persons" (Report No.2), 27 September 1945.
'
I
!
I
I
�'.
I
I
I
Liberation Exhibition
Displaced Persons and Anti-Semitism
Report to the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
from
R&D Associates
5888 Woodfield Estates Drive
Alexandria, VA 22310
7 November 1994
(Edited Ja,nuary 2000)
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets
Description
An account of the resource
<p>The Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States, formed in 1998, was charged with investigating what happened to the assets of victims of the Holocaust that ended up in the possession of the United States Federal government. The final report of the Commission, <a href="http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/pcha/PlunderRestitution.html/html/Home_Contents.html"> “Plunder and Restitution: Findings and Recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States and Staff Report"</a> was submitted to President Clinton in December 2000.</p>
<p>Chairman - Edgar Bronfman<br /> Executive Director - Kenneth Klothen</p>
<p>The collection consists of 19 series. The first fifteen series of the collection are composed mostly of photocopied federal records. These records were reproduced at the National Archives and Records Administration by commission members for their research. The records relate to Holocaust assets created between the mid 1930’s and early 1950’s by a variety of U. S. Government agencies and foreign sources.</p>
<p>Subseries:<br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Art+and+Cultural+Property+">Art and Cultural Property</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Gold+">Gold</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Gold+Team+Review+Form+Binders+">Gold Team Review Form Binders</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Art+and+Cultural+Property+and+%E2%80%9COthers%E2%80%9D+Review+Form+Binders">Art and Cultural Property and “Others” Review Form Binders</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Non-Gold+Financial+Assets+Review+Form+Binders">Non-Gold Financial Assets Review Form Binders</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=History+Associates+Binder+">History Associates Binder</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Non-Gold+Financial+Assets+Review+Form+Binders+%282%29">Non-Gold Financial Assets Review Form Binders (2)</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Financial+Assets+Documents">Financial Assets Documents</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=RG+84%2C+Foreign+Service+Posts+of+the+State+Department%E2%80%94Turkey">RG 84, Foreign Service Posts of the State Department—Turkey</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Financial+Assets+Documents">Financial Assets Documents</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?search=&advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=%5BJewish+Restitution+Successor+Organization+%28JRSO%29%2C+Oral+Histories%5D&range=&collection=20&type=&user=&tags=&public=&featured=&exhibit=&submit_search=Search+for+items">[Jewish Restitution Successor Organization (JRSO), Oral Histories]</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=PCHA+Secondary+Sources">PCHA Secondary Sources</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Researcher+Notes">Researcher Notes</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Unnumbered+Documents+from+Archives+II+and+Various+Notes">Unnumbered Documents from Archives II and Various Notes</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=RG+260%2C+Finance+Inventory+Forms">RG 260, Finance Inventory Forms</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Reparations">Reparations</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Chase+National+Bank">Chase National Bank</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Administrative+Files">Administrative Files</a><br /><a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Art+%26+Cultural+Property+Theft">Art & Cultural Property Theft</a></p>
<p>Topics covered by these records include the recovery of confiscated art and cultural property; the reparation of gold and other financial assets; and the investigation of events surrounding capture of the Hungarian Gold Train at the close of World War II. These files contain memoranda, correspondence, inventories, reports, and secondary source material related to the final disposition of art and cultural property, gold, and other financial assets confiscated during the Holocaust.</p>
<p>For more information concerning this collection consult the<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/35992"> finding aid</a>.</p>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/35992" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1040718" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
2954 folders
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
["Liberation Exhibition: Confronting Atrocities"]
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States
Art & Cultural Property Theft
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 182
<a href="http://clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/Systematic/Holocaust-Assets.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/description/6997222" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Adobe Acrobat Document
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Medium
The material or physical carrier of the resource.
Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
6/24/2013
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
6997222-liberation-exhibition-confronting-atrocities
6997222