Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project
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Interviewer
Michael Hirsh
Publication Date
March 2022
Date
April 2008
Abstract
Fred Abraham was a member of the 45th Infantry Division when it liberated Dachau on April 29, 1945. Born in Germany, he and his family came to the United States in 1940; his father was in Buchenwald in 1938, but was released after four weeks. Abraham was drafted in 1944 and participated in the Rhineland Campaign and the Central Europe Campaign, the experiences of which he describes in the interview. While en route to Munich, the 45th and 42nd Infantry Divisions were redirected to Dachau. Abraham was on a reconnaissance patrol, and recognized it as a concentration camp when he saw the sign "Arbeit macht frei" on the gate; as a Jewish German whose father had been in a camp, he had prior knowledge of concentration camps, unlike many of the American soldiers. He also participated in the liberation of Allach, a subcamp of Dachau, before finding the main camp.
Keywords
World War II (1939-1945), Holocaust (1939-1945), Concentration camps, Concentration camps--Liberation, Veterans, Genocide, Crimes against humanity, Buchenwald (Concentration camp), Dachau (Concentration camp), German Jews, United States. Army. Infantry Division 45th
Extent
00:37:36; 29 page transcript
Subject: geographic
Weimar (Germany); Munich (Germany); Dachau (Germany)
Language
English
Digital Date
2022
Media Type
Oral histories
Format
Digital Only
Identifier
C65-00001
Recommended Citation
Abraham, Fred, "Fred Abraham Oral History Interview" (2022). Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project. 1.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/concentration_OH/1
Rights Statement
