Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project
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Interviewer
Hirsh, Michael
Publication Date
March 2008
Abstract
This is an oral history interview with Holocaust concentration camp liberator LeRoy Petersohn. Petersohn was a medic with the 11th Armored Division, which liberated Mauthausen-Gusen on May 5, 1945. His unit was called to the camp, and an English-speaking prisoner led Petersohn around the camp, including the crematorium and the barracks. While going through one of the women's barracks, Petersohn found a woman with a seven-week-old baby, born in another camp; the baby had a skin infection and needed immediate treatment. He fetched a doctor and they surgically cleaned the wounds. Petersohn stayed in the camp for five days, treating prisoners. In 2005, he was reunited with Hana Berger Moran, who had been the baby he saved, at the sixtieth anniversary of Mauthausen's liberation. Petersohn frequently speaks to schoolchildren, and has been featured in two other books. In this interview, he also tells of some other wartime experiences, including a close call at the Battle of the Bulge.
Keywords
Concentration camps--History--Austria, Ardennes, Battle of the, 1944-1945--Personal narratives, World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Austria, World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation, World War, 1939-1945--Medical care, 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
C65-00105
Recommended Citation
Petersohn, LeRoy, "LeRoy Petersohn oral history interview" (2008). Concentration Camp Liberators Oral History Project. 93.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/concentration_OH/93
Rights Statement
