Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project
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Interviewer
Michael Hirsh
Publication Date
March 2022
Date
June 2008
Abstract
Edward A. Terepka was a member of the 45th Infantry Division, which liberated Dachau on April 29, 1945. When his unit got to the camp, they let the prisoners out and then had to bring them back into the compound as the medical personnel were concerned for their health. Terepka saw the gas chamber and the crematorium, outside of which there was a pile of ashes four feet high. He and his comrades were so angry at the Germans that they shot at anyone wearing a German uniform. Terepka does not remember how long they spent at Dachau but recalls that they then went to Munich and thence back to Le Havre; when the war ended, they were ready to get on their ship and were one of the first to return to the United States. In this interview, he also tells several other stories from his wartime experience.
Keywords
World War II (1939-1945), Holocaust (1939-1945), Concentration camps, Concentration camps--Liberation, Veterans, Genocide, Crimes against humanity, United States. Army. Infantry Division 45th, Dachau (Concentration camp)
Extent
00:37:28; 19 page transcript
Subject: geographic
Dachau (Germany); Munich (Germany); Le Havre (France)
Language
English
Digital Date
2022
Media Type
Oral histories
Format
Digital Only
Identifier
C65-00136
Recommended Citation
Terepka, Edward A., "Edward A. Terepka Oral History Interview" (2022). Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project. 120.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/concentration_OH/120
Rights Statement
