DACHAU

On April 29, elements of the 45th and 42nd infantry divisions, and the 20th Armored Division converged on Dachau. Inside the camp were 30,000 prisoners in gray-striped clothing. The SS commandant Edward Weiter fled south on April 26 with senior staff and 1,000 guards along with 7,000 prisoners, many murdered along the march. Weiter had asked for permission to surrender but Himmler ordered no prisoners to be taken alive. The officer left in command of Dachau, SS Lt. Heinrich Wicker, feeling no authority or manpower to carry out Himmler's order, was persuaded to surrender by the local Red Cross. At the gate to the camp where the surrender was set to happen, Brigadier General Henning Linden with the the 42nd Division arrived followed by Col. Felix "Shotgun" Sparks of the 45th Division's 157th Regiment where a colorful exchange ensued where Sparks supposedly aimed his .45 at Linden and told him to "leave".

photo: dogfacesoldiers collection

surf section : LOHR || BAD KISSINGEN || STEINACH-POPPENLAUER
OBERTHERES-HASSFURT || BAMBERG || NUREMBERG
AUGSBURG-MUNICH || DACHAU

 
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