As the war winded down the US army began to near Dachau- the infamous and massive concentration camp in Southern Germany where 41,000 people met their end.
The Germans didn’t know what to do and asked Himmler for advice. Himmler ordered the prisoners killed or moved to the Alpine region where the last stand would take place. The camp commander forced thousands to march south, during which time more than half died.
With the commander gone now, a low-ranking officer was in command of the camp. He would agree to surrender the camp to the Americans thanks to the persuasion of a Red Cross worked under the condition he and his men be let go.
A number of American battalions would make their way to the camp and on their way, they began to discover the satellite camps and the trains.
Piled in the trains were thousands of corpses consisting of men, women, and children. The GIs flew into a rage. 4 SS soldiers found a bit later were shot on the spot. The guardhouse where guard dogs were kept was shot to pieces, killing all the dogs inside.
With the local area secure General Linden, as well as a number of officers and soldiers, would drive to the camp and arrive first. Like their men, they were very disturbed and angry about what they had seen.
As they arrived at the camp they found the camp commander out front surrendering. General Linden actually smacked him and then forced him to walk them through the camp- this camp commander would later die after an American gave a prisoner his rifle so their prisoner could kill the last camp commander.
This is how it went for the prison guards. They were not executed on the spot, but they were certainly not treated well. While 1 group of camp guards was being escorted elsewhere a nearby machinegunner shouted “they are running” and opened fire on the guards.
About 30 camp guards were killed on the day of the liberation by prisoners. The Americans just sat back and watched or gave the prisoners their weapons.
Nobody helped the guards- and I will say this- they got what they deserved. No pity here.
Anytime the Americans found a camp something similar would happen. Aid would be rendered to camp prisoners but the GIs would harm (or at least not protect) any guards they got their hands on.
You have to imagine the horror- put yourself in the shoes of a GI. You find a pit with thousands of dead children and women in it and you see thousands of men nearly dead from starvation and abuse. You would witness death on an even grander scale than in the war- and you would find out these are innocent people.
At that moment when the horror sets in, you realize there is retribution in your grasp and you can kill the monsters that guarded this place. I mean you are at war with the Germans after all. I don’t know about you, but I think I would certainly kill some SS prison guards.
