{67 years ago, on Friday the 13th of April, the 743rd Tank Battalion overran the train near Magdeburg, Germany. Shortly thereafter, other attached units of the 30th Infantry Division, notably the 105th Medical Detachment and the 823rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, also arrived at the liberation site and immediately set to work trying to handle this unexpected encounter. What will follow over the course of the next few days is the account of T4 Wilson Rice as he reports on the disposition of the survivors and the soldiers in this combat zone. The days of the week are falling on the dates of the month for this, the 67th anniversary. This account was uncovered and transcribed by Frank Towers, Historian of the 30th Infantry Veterans of World War II and a participant in this incident, as noted many times on this website.}
Monday
16 April 1945
Dr. Julius S-, the doctor that Col Treherne put in charge of the Concentration train, was in the office this morning. He came in for some vital medical supplies, and rode in on the back of a motorcycle. He showed us two pictures of himself before he was taken prisoner by the Nazis six years ago. He was a very fleshy man. This morning he stripped down to the waist. He was nothing but skin and bones. He would pull his skin and it would stretch out some three to four inches. He has his wife and two children with him. We gave him some white medical gowns, a stethoscope, medical supplies, and for himself, we gave him some soap, candy and chocolate for the children, sugar, coffee, soap, razor and blades, and other toilet articles. We also gave him some cigarettes and pipe tobacco. Concerning the medical supplies, when the Col. would ask him if he had enough, and he told him he could take it all, he would say, “It is too much. All that I want is just enough”. He was very considerate. The thing that he seemed to get the most enjoyment from was the American Medical Journal that Major Lowell gave him. He subscribed to the Journal for fifteen years and hadn’t seen an issue for the past six years. Dr. S- was very interested that we write to a doctor friend of his in Detroit, as the friend believed him to be dead.
Teaching History Matters 