Read on Twitter
Today seems like a good day to recount the horrors faced by the 82nd Airborne Division as they, in May 1945, aided the release and care of prisoners at the Wöbbelin Concentration Camp just outside of Ludwigslust in Northern Germany. As with every other camp, the conditions the /1
prisoners faced were horrifying but still Officers and men of both the US Army and Russian Army had approached the camp to investigate but made no attempt to enter.
The ranks of the 82nd were full of men who were heroic in the face of the enemy but struggled to deal with /2
The ranks of the 82nd were full of men who were heroic in the face of the enemy but struggled to deal with /2
what they saw at Wöbbelin.
On the flip side, two men whose names are not on every page of the history books made names for themselves that day by entering the camp and beginning the treatment of those imprisoned there. Despite warnings that they would be entering conditions /3
On the flip side, two men whose names are not on every page of the history books made names for themselves that day by entering the camp and beginning the treatment of those imprisoned there. Despite warnings that they would be entering conditions /3
in which disease was ripe, Captain Philip Matthew Hannan, a Catholic Chaplain in the 505th PIR (pictured) and his assistant, James Ospital, made a request to Colonel Bill Ekman, the Regimental CO, that they be allowed to enter the camp. Ekman was sympathetic of their desire to /4
help, so granted them permission, but insisted that none of the front line combat soldiers of the 505th would be allowed to help through fear of disease spreading through the ranks. This was May 4th, with no sure sign of an end to the war just round the corner and Ekman was /5
thinking about the combat efficiency of his Regiment. Still, it doesn't sit well with me.
Prior to the Division discovering the camp, the town Mayor of Ludwigslust and his wife committed suicide, the reason soon becoming all too clear. Almost all of the towns civilians /6
Prior to the Division discovering the camp, the town Mayor of Ludwigslust and his wife committed suicide, the reason soon becoming all too clear. Almost all of the towns civilians /6
denied knowledge of the camps existence, despite the smell of corpses being evident to all.
Major General James Gavin, Commanding the 82nd Airborne Division, ordered all civilians to view the camp, and later they were forced, with the aid of camp guards, to dig the mass /7
Major General James Gavin, Commanding the 82nd Airborne Division, ordered all civilians to view the camp, and later they were forced, with the aid of camp guards, to dig the mass /7
graves in which the hundreds of victims were buried. Those from the 82nd, particularly the MP Platoon, did not take kindly to civilian protestations and even less so to anyone who denied knowing the camp was there.
In addition to the civilians, all members of the Division /8
In addition to the civilians, all members of the Division /8
encouraged, but not forced, to view the camp. General Gavin himself did so on more than one occasion and the vast majority of those stationed nearby did.
Having spoken personally to a member of B Company, 325th GIR about that period at the end of the war, it was evident what /9
Having spoken personally to a member of B Company, 325th GIR about that period at the end of the war, it was evident what /9
affect it had on the Division and of course not a shred of doubt remained in any of them as to why they were there and why they were fighting. The 82nd was a Division that fought with ferocity from July 1943 and in those final days of WWII was provided with all the reason it /10
needed for the two years it had been at war.
Captain Philip Matthew Hannan, a man who has every right to be called a hero, later went on to become the archbishop of New Orleans, a post he held for 20 years.
Captain Philip Matthew Hannan, a man who has every right to be called a hero, later went on to become the archbishop of New Orleans, a post he held for 20 years.
