The Liberators
America's Witnesses to the Holocaust
Michael Hirsh
- At
- last,
- the
- everyday
- fighting
- men
- who
- were
- the
- first
- Americans
- to
- know
- the
- full
- and
- horrifying
- truth
- about
- the
- Holocaust
- share
- their
- astonishing
- stories.
- Rich
- with
- powerful
- never-before-published
- details
- from
- the
- author’s
- interviews
- with
- more
- than
- 150
- U.S.
- soldiers
- who
- liberated
- the
- Nazi
- death
- camps,
- The
- Liberators
- is
- an
- essential
- addition
- to
- the
- literature
- of
- World
- War
- II—and
- a
- stirring
- testament
- to
- Allied
- courage
- in
- the
- face
- of
- inconceivable
- atrocities.Taking
- us
- from
- the
- beginnings
- of
- the
- liberators’
- final
- march
- across
- Germany
- to
- V-E
- Day
- and
- beyond,
- Michael
- Hirsh
- allows
- us
- to
- walk
- in
- their
- footsteps,
- experiencing
- the
- journey
- as
- they
- themselves
- experienced
- it.
- But
- this
- book
- is
- more
- than
- just
- an
- in-depth
- account
- of
- the
- liberation.
- It
- reveals
- how
- profoundly
- these
- young
- men
- were
- affected
- by
- what
- they
- saw—the
- unbelievable
- horror
- and
- pathos
- they
- felt
- upon
- seeing
- “stacks
- of
- bodies
- like
- cordwood”
- and
- “skeletonlike
- survivors”
- in
- camp
- after
- camp.
- That
- life-altering
- experience
- has
- stayed
- with
- them
- to
- this
- very
- day.
- It’s
- been
- well
- over
- half
- a
- century
- since
- the
- end
- of
- World
- War
- II,
- and
- they
- still
- haven’t
- forgotten
- what
- the
- camps
- looked
- like,
- how
- they
- smelled,
- what
- the
- inmates
- looked
- like,
- and
- how
- it
- made
- them
- feel.
- Many
- of
- the
- liberators
- suffer
- from
- what’s
- now
- called
- post-traumatic
- stress
- disorder
- and
- still
- experience
- Holocaust-related
- nightmares.Here
- we
- meet
- the
- brave
- souls
- who—now
- in
- their
- eighties
- and
- nineties—have
- chosen
- at
- last
- to
- share
- their
- stories.
- Corporal
- Forrest
- Robinson
- saw
- masses
- of
- dead
- bodies
- at
- Nordhausen
- and
- was
- so
- horrified
- that
- he
- lost
- his
- memory
- for
- the
- next
- two
- weeks.
- Melvin
- Waters,
- a
- 4-F
- volunteer
- civilian
- ambulance
- driver,
- recalls
- that
- a
- woman
- at
- Bergen-Belsen
- “fought
- us
- like
- a
- cat
- because
- she
- thought
- we
- were
- taking
- her
- to
- the
- crematory.”
- Private
- Don
- Timmer
- used
- his
- high
- school
- German
- to
- interpret
- for
- General
- Dwight
- Eisenhower
- during
- the
- supreme
- Allied
- commander’s
- visit
- to
- Ohrdruf,
- the
- first
- camp
- liberated
- by
- the
- Americans.
- And
- Phyllis
- Lamont
- Law,
- an
- army
- nurse
- at
- Mauthausen-Gusen,
- recalls
- the
- shock
- and,
- ultimately,
- “the
- hope”
- that
- “you
- can
- save
- a
- few.”From
- Bergen-Belsen
- in
- northern
- Germany
- to
- Mauthausen
- in
- Austria,
- The
- Liberators
- offers
- readers
- an
- intense
- and
- unforgettable
- look
- at
- the
- Nazi
- death
- machine
- through
- the
- eyes
- of
- the
- men
- and
- women
- who
- were
- our
- country’s
- witnesses
- to
- the
- Holocaust.
- The
- liberators’
- recollections
- are
- historically
- important,
- vivid,
- riveting,
- heartbreaking,
- and,
- on
- rare
- occasions,
- joyous
- and
- uplifting.
- This
- book
- is
- their
- opportunity,
- perhaps
- for
- the
- last
- time,
- to
- tell
- the world.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
