The Day the Thunderbird Cried

The Day the Thunderbird Cried

On this day April 29, 1945, the U.S. Seventh Army's 45th Infantry Division liberated Dachau, the first concentration camp established by the regime in Germany. Simultaneously, a significant subcamp of Dachau was liberated by the 42nd Rainbow Division. Dachau, located about 10 miles northwest of Munich.

Over the years, Dachau's population expanded to include Jehovah's Witnesses, Romani people, homosexuals, and repeat criminals. By 1938, Jews constituted a large portion of the internees. The camp was notorious for its brutal forced labor, particularly in armaments production, and served as a training ground for guards. It was also the site of horrifying medical experiments on prisoners, testing the limits of human endurance to cold, pressure changes, diseases, and other brutal treatments, leading to the death or crippling of many.

As World War II progressed, the main camp was supplemented by numerous satellite camps near armaments factories throughout southern Germany and Austria, all collectively managed under the Dachau administration. In the war's final days, conditions worsened drastically, culminating in a forced death march of about 7,000 prisoners towards Tegernsee.

The camp's liberation exposed horrific scenes to the liberating American forces, including over 30 railcars filled with decomposing bodies and numerous emaciated survivors. Shocked by the gruesome sights and brutalities endured by the prisoners, some American troops executed at least two groups of captured German guards on site; official reports state that 30 guards were killed. Following the liberation, the local German population was compelled to bury the 9,000 deceased inmates found in the camp. Throughout its operational years, Dachau processed at least 160,000 prisoners, with records indicating at least 32,000 deaths at the camp and its subcamps, though many more were transported to extermination centers elsewhere.

There are reports of men of the 45th taking vengeance on the remaining German guards, those incidents were dismissed by General George S Patton.