Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project
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Interviewer
Hirsh, Michael
Publication Date
December 2008
Abstract
This is an oral history interview with Holocaust concentration camp liberator Robert F. Enkelmann. Enkelmann was in a mortar battalion in the 102nd Infantry Division, which discovered the Gardelegen massacre on April 15, 1945. Two days earlier, several thousand prisoners from nearby camps were locked inside a barn which was then set on fire. The 102nd found the remains, and their commander ordered the townspeople to bury the bodies properly. Enkelmann guarded the barn while the bodies were being buried. After the war, he stayed in Europe with the Counter Intelligence Corps investigating war crimes. Enkelmann, the son of a German immigrant, was the interpreter for SS General Heinz Harmel and arrested the secretary of Hans Frank, the Nazi Governor-General of Poland. In this interview, he recounts his experiences at Gardelegen and in CIC, and describes a close call during the Battle of the Bulge.
Keywords
Concentration camps--History--Germany, Ardennes, Battle of the, 1944-1945--Personal narratives, Gardelegen Massacre, Gardelegen, Germany, 1945, World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation, World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities, World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American, World War, 1939-1945--Veterans--United States, Veterans--United States--Interviews, Genocide, Crimes against humanity
Holding Location
University of South Florida
Language
English
Media Type
Oral histories
Format
audio/mp3
Identifier
C65-00038
Recommended Citation
Enkelmann, Robert F., "Robert F. Enkelmann oral history interview" (2008). Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project. 30.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/concentration_OH/30