Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project
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Interviewer
Michael Hirsh
Publication Date
March 2022
Date
August 2008
Abstract
Gerald Virgil Myers was a member of the 80th Infantry Division, which liberated Buchenwald on April 12, 1945. He went to Europe as a replacement, arriving at Omaha Beach four months after D-Day. He and his unit liberated a small labor camp in France, near Pont-à-Mousson, freeing about 200 prisoners. They spent three months fighting in France before being sent to Luxembourg when the Battle of the Bulge began and entering Germany in February 1945. In the Weimar area, they saw several former Buchenwald inmates in prisoner uniforms, so Myers and his unit went to investigate the camp. They found a Lithuanian who could speak English who told them about the camp and mentioned seeing an American tank, probably from the 6th Armored Division, the day before. Myers was at the camp for less than an hour but was in the area for several days bringing prisoners back to the camp so they could be fed and given medical treatment. He frequently speaks about the Holocaust, giving dozens of presentations at local schools.
Keywords
World War II (1939-1945), Holocaust (1939-1945), Battle of the Ardennes (1944-1945), Concentration camps, Concentration camps--Liberation, Veterans, Genocide, Crimes against humanity, United States. Army. Infantry Division 80th, Buchenwald (Concentration camp), Prisoners of war
Extent
01:35:59; 36 page transcript
Subject: geographic
Weimar (Germany); Normandy (France); Ardennes; Pont-à-Mousson (France)
Language
English
Digital Date
2022
Media Type
Oral histories
Format
Digital Only
Identifier
C65-00092
Recommended Citation
Myers, Gerald Virgil, "Gerald Virgil Myers Oral History Interview" (2022). Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project. 80.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/concentration_OH/80
Rights Statement
