AFTER THE LIBERATION:
THE
AMERICAN ADMINISTRATION OF THE
CONCENTRATION
CAMP AT DACHAU
A
Thesis
Presented
for the
Master
of Arts
Degree
The
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Henry
F Staruk, III
May 2002
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my gratitude to all those
who have helped and guided me during my completion of the Master of Arts degree
in History. Firstly, I must thank Dr.
Luilevicius for his constant encouragement and assistance, which have aided my
progress through this program immeasurably.
I thank Drs. Bohstedt and Piehler for serving on my committee and
offering helpful insights and suggestions of their own. I thank also Dr. Harold Marcuse for his
suggestions regarding the sources consulted for this paper and his encouraging
words.
I owe great thanks also to Gloria Schwartz and the
volunteer staff at the Holocaust Oral History Archive at Gratz College. This collection was of inestimable value in
supplying the voices of the liberators and former prisoners of Dachau, and Ms.
Schwartz’s enthusiasm and helpfulness made it a pleasure to conduct research
there. It is the staff’s hope and mine
that more researchers will become aware of the abundance of sources contained
in this valuable yet under-recognized collection.
My thanks also to the staffs at the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives and the Ida Pearle and Joseph Cuba Community
Archives at the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum, as well as to my
colleague Scott Hendrix.
Finally, this project could not be complete without
acknowledging the contributions of my wife Markaye and our son Alexei. This particular project, like so much of my
research, involves one of the most horrible episodes in human history. On those occasions when the disheartening
subjects of my research have discouraged me most, my family has always been
able to restore my faith in the world. [END
PAGE iii]
ABSTRACT
This
study examines the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau just after its liberation
by American forces on April 29, 1945.
Of key importance are the decisions made and actions undertaken by the
Americans, the reasoning behind them, and the physical, emotional, and
psychological effects that they had on the former prisoners.
The
source material for this research falls into three categories: documents and
figures published by the Dachau Memorial Site and Archive, including the
minutes of the International Prisoners’ Committee; memoirs and testimonial
accounts from liberating soldiers, the American administrators, and the former
prisoners themselves; and relevant secondary literature concerning the
liberation and subsequent administration of the camp.
The
primary goals of the post-liberation administration of Dachau were the
rehabilitation and repatriation of the inmates and the containment of a typhus
epidemic. Inmate perceptions of the
American presence grew less optimistic during the crucial first few days, as
the careful and methodical procedures of the Americans stood in marked contrast
to the emotional day of liberation.
Also, the Americans could not avoid certain continuities with the camp’s
past, such as its physical appearance, a high death rate, and seeming
similarities with the SS administration.
Secondary
debates are addressed, such as the questions of which Army unit actually
liberated the camp and of the functionality of Dachau’s gas chamber, and
possibilities for further study are suggested. [END
PAGE v]
PREFACE
The
very name Dachau has strong and often negative associations both in
English and in German. Between 1890 and
1914, it derived modest fame from the “New Dachau School” of painting, which
immortalized the “bleak beauty” of the marshes and forests surrounding the town
of Dachau, situated twelve miles northwest of Munich.[1] The First World War effectively ended this
era, as the painters who had flocked to Dachau now rushed to the front
lines. The Second World War and
Hitler’s government would bring the region a new, more lasting, notoriety.
Dachau
is now known primarily as the site of National Socialism’s first concentration
camp, which was also, incidentally, the first of the major camps to be
liberated by American soldiers on 29 April 1945.[2] In the first days of May 1945, the camp
became a prime destination for politicians of the Western Allies as well as the
international media. These visits
recorded for posterity the inhumanity of the camp system, and photographic
evidence of Nazi atrocities appeared in newspapers, magazines, and newsreels in
England, France, America, and occupied Germany. Since then, Dachau has become synonymous with the Nazi
concentration camp system, and interest in the history of the camp has
grown.
Each year, over one million people visit the
Memorial Site now standing on the camp grounds. Beginning in 1985, the Memorial Museum sponsored publication of Dachauer
Hefte, a scholarly journal focusing on the camp at Dachau, the
concentration camp system, and Germany’s National Socialist past. Interest in survivor testimonies has [END
PAGE vii] risen in the last decades, and recollections and memoirs of the
liberating soldiers have been published or reprinted in the last few
years. 2001 saw the arrival of Harold
Marcuse’s authoritative analysis of Dachau, its history, and its presence in
the German consciousness since 1933.
Despite the apparent interest in the history of the
camp, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the post-liberation
American administration. If mentioned
at all, this period generally receives discussion only in passing. Much of this has to do with the fact that
the liberation was such an emotional event for all involved. The prisoners had indeed been freed from
their SS oppressors; however, the effects of that oppression did not dissolve
with liberation, and the story of the camp and its inmates does not end
there. The expectations of better
conditions and an imminent return home that came with the arrival of the
American Army actually fueled some resentment among the former prisoners as they
remained in the camp, still surrounded by death and disease, and again waited
for their eventual return home.
The description of disappointing or unfavorable
conditions should not, however, be read in any way as a condemnation of the
Americans. Rather, my intention is to
present them for what they were: the sometimes unexpected, usually unavoidable
aftereffects of the previous twelve years.
Clearly, the decisions of the American administrators were made with the
safety and welfare of the inmates as the primary aim. Existing conditions, the necessity of protocol and procedure, and
the average inmate’s inability to understand these caused the problems which
are the focus of this study. [END
PAGE viii]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. DACHAU AND THE CONCENTRATION CAMP
SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . 1
II. 29 APRIL 1945: THE AMERICANS ARRIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
III. THE PROBLEMS OF ADMINISTRATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
IV. REHABILITATION AND REPATRIATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
V. FINAL NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . .45
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51
VITA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 [END PAGE ix]