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Seventy Years: The American Angels of Hillersleben.

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 20, 2015|

The cosmos trips once more. This month, shortly after my previous post about the discovery of previously unknown artwork by Hungarian Holocaust survivor Ervin Abadi, I was contacted by the family of another American soldier who was at Hillersleben camp as the survivors of the train were being nursed back to health by the medics […]

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A Survivor recounts from Hillersleben (1945)

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on December 12, 2008| 1 Comment »

A new friend in the Netherlands recently acquired this unsigned narrative by a Polish survivor who was liberated on the train by the Americans. This woman was eighteen when the war began, it looks like from Cracow, and the narrative was written shortly after liberation (as you can see from the letterhead, on the German […]

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The hospital at Hillersleben

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on November 15, 2008| 8 Comments »

(Christian Wolpers photo.) This account is taken from 1st Lt. Frank Towers’ recollection: “First of importance was getting food, water and medical assistance to these victims.Our 105th Medical Battalion was called upon to survey this group and give immediate attention to those most in need.The 823rd Tank Destroyer Battalion Commander, Lt. Col. Dettmer immediately contacted […]

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The New Witnesses.

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 29, 2019| 10 Comments »

There was another shooting at a synagogue on American soil. Sometimes I wonder if my efforts to teach about the Holocaust mean anything. Sometimes you just feel helpless. But I realize now that it is probably the most important job I have ever done, maybe now more than ever. Two weeks ago I introduced Pittsburgh […]

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Freedom and new life, and a special reunion 74 years on.

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on April 21, 2019|

The portal opened a crack this week and I stepped through it once more. We pulled it off, in this time of reflection, Passover and the Easter season. Liberation. Resurrection. New Life. And a reunion of sorts, 74 years in the making, to commemorate it all. There were a lot of moving parts, but we […]

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“I prayed that they would find peace.”

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on April 15, 2019|

“Is this Matt Rozell, the history teacher? Yes? Well Matt Rozell, God bless you and your family!” Tomorrow I am going to meet the man who called me on the telephone in my classroom in October 2011. To this day I’m not sure how he found me, or how he got my number at school. […]

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“You will always be in my heart”—German student looking to reunite Greek survivor with German friend.

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on March 18, 2019| 2 Comments »

I was contacted by a German teen who goes to school in the vicinity of the liberation site of the Train Near Magdeburg. She, her class, and her teacher are working with others to establish a memorial to the survivors to be dedicated in spring 2020 for the 75th anniversary of the liberation. They know […]

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From the cattle car to the State of the Union.

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on February 7, 2019| 11 Comments »

I saw a friend on TV the other night. About 50 million other Americans did too; maybe you were one. Well, here is a backstory to all that. After the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue shooting in October, a couple of people familiar with the Train Near Magdeburg story reached out to me to ask […]

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Memorial planned at Farsleben.

Posted in on August 26, 2017|

A friend of mine in Europe has spearheaded a committee to establish a memorial to mark the site of the liberation commemorating the liberators and the victims of the Holocaust who were freed on April 13, 1945. The mission is three-fold: Mission 1 – acquire permission to place a Monument/Marker, create a Foundation and a […]

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‘A large number of those who have been treated have lived for years as animals.’

Posted in Uncategorized on April 19, 2017|

72 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 […]

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