Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project
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Interviewer
Michael Hirsh
Publication Date
March 2022
Date
October 2008
Abstract
Robert Persinger was in a reconnaissance squadron in the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which was attached to the 80th Infantry Division when Ebensee was liberated on May 6, 1945. The squadron arrived in Europe in the summer of 1944 and fought at the Battle of Metz and the Battle of the Bulge, then proceeded on campaign through Europe. Assigned to capture and hold the town of Ebensee, they learned from the townspeople of a concentration camp up in the mountains. Persinger took two tanks and went to investigate; when they arrived, they walked through the camp, seeing the barracks and crematorium, and then radioed back to the platoon. They stayed in the camp for over a week while medical personnel began treating the prisoners. Persinger has been invited back to Ebensee for memorial services three times and has met many ex-prisoners.
Keywords
World War II (1939-1945), Holocaust (1939-1945), Battle of the Ardennes (1944-1945), Battle of Metz (Metz France 1944), Concentration camps, Concentration camps--Liberation, Veterans, Genocide, Crimes against humanity, United States. Army. Armored Cavalry Regiment 3rd, Ebensee (Concentration camp)
Extent
00:36:33; 23 page transcript
Subject: geographic
Ardennes; Metz (France); Ebensee (Austria)
Language
English
Digital Date
2022
Media Type
Oral histories
Format
Digital Only
Identifier
C65-00104
Recommended Citation
Persinger, Robert, "Robert Persinger Oral History Interview" (2022). Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project. 92.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/concentration_OH/92
Rights Statement
