Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project

Interviewee

David Pardoe

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Interviewer

Michael Hirsh

Publication Date

March 2022

Date

June 2008

Abstract

David Pardoe was in an anti-tank unit in the 63rd Infantry Division, which liberated Landsberg on April 29, 1945. Unlike most American soldiers, Pardoe knew about concentration camps long before he got to Europe, having read about them in anti-fascist publications; he actually expected to liberate people. When his unit got to the camp, several prisoners were wandering around the grounds; he thinks they had already been liberated earlier that day or the day before. Pardoe's unit was only at the camp for a few minutes, and Pardoe did not have a substantial conversation with any of the prisoners. After the war, he became a high school social studies teacher; in this interview, he describes some of the courses he taught and how his war experiences affected his teaching and personal philosophy.

Keywords

World War II (1939-1945), Holocaust (1939-1945), Concentration camps, Concentration camps--Liberation, Veterans, Genocide, Crimes against humanity, United States. Army. Infantry Division 63rd, Landsberg (Concentration camp)

Extent

00:57:19; 19 page transcript

Subject: geographic

Landsberg am Lech (Germany)

Language

English

Digital Date

2022

Media Type

Oral histories

Format

Digital Only

Identifier

C65-00099

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Rights Statement

In Copyright