Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project
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Interviewer
Michael Hirsh
Publication Date
March 2022
Date
September 2008
Abstract
Delbert D. Cooper was a private first class in the 71st Infantry Division, which liberated Gunskirchen, a sub-camp of Mauthausen, on May 4, 1945. He arrived in Europe in February 1945, meeting the 71st on its campaign through Germany and Austria. The day after the liberation, he happened across his captain outside a railroad station, who told him to join a group bringing supplies to the nearby camp. Cooper did so, spending a couple of hours in the camp, during which time he had the opportunity to look inside one of the buildings. He describes the camp, initial relief efforts, and the condition of the prisoners, and recounts an incident when he captured a German prisoner who may have been SS.
Keywords
World War II (1939-1945), Holocaust (1939-1945), Concentration camps, Concentration camps--Liberation, Veterans, Genocide, Crimes against humanity, United States. Army. Infantry Division 71st, Mauthausen (Concentration camp), Gunskirchen (Concentration camp)
Extent
00:57:56; 25 page transcript
Subject: geographic
Mauthausen (Austria)
Language
English
Digital Date
2022
Media Type
Oral histories
Format
Digital Only
Identifier
C65-00022
Recommended Citation
Cooper, Delbert D., "Delbert D. Cooper Oral History Interview" (2022). Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project. 17.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/concentration_OH/17
Rights Statement
