522nd Field Artillery Battalion Flag522nd Field Artillery Battalion in "The Holocaust Corridor"522nd Field Artillery Battalion guidon

LEFT: 522nd  Battalion Flag (Click for larger format); Right: 522nd  Battalion Pennant

Summary of the 522nd in "The Holocaust Corridor"
Encountered seven subcamps:
Liberation in Popular Culture

The popular culture image in the media of liberation is of a combat unit stumbling upon a subcamp filled with starving inmates, shooting off locks, breaking down gates and fences with their vehicles, and engaging in combat with resisting SS guards.

The reality is what the 522nd experienced. The location of many subcamps were known to the U.S. Army and units were assigned to them. For example, the 63rd Infantry was assigned the Kaufering Subcamps.
The camps were empty since the SS transported the inmates as troops such as the 522nd approached. The 522nd met with no resistance at the subcamps they encountered. All subcamps needed to be entered and assessed for any survivors. Survivors were found at two of the subcamps encountered by the 522nd (Kaufering IV and Bad Tolz). Subcamps needed to be secured for designated units to collect evidence of war crimes.

Unexpected encounters occurred when the 522nd rescued French POWS escaping from slave labor (Moerlbach) and subcamp inmates on a death march.

Subcamps Liberators and POW and Death March Rescuers


In March 1945, the 522nd was operating as a non-divisional Seventh Army unit assigned to Seventh Army units as needed.

For almost all of April, 1945, the
522nd was attached to the 4th Infantry Division (ID) and operated with the 4th's 12th Infantry Regiment (IR).

The 522nd advanced through the area of the subcamps.

As the
522nd  advanced, the SS abandoned the subcamps and transported the inmates by death marches.The SS murdered inmates unable to be transported. Inmates may have attempted to evade being transported.

In their unit history Fire for Effect, the
522nd reports encounters with the Ellwagen, Horgau, Kaufering IV, Turkenfeld, and Bad Tolz subcamps of the Dachau satellite subcamp system.

All subcamps needed to be entered, secured, searched for any living inmates, SS guards, and evidence of crimes.

Ellwagen had been shut down in 1942. Turkenfeld had never been put into operation.

At this time no information is available if the 522nd found any living inmates at Horgau or Kaufering IV. Other units did find living inmates at Kaufering IV.The 522nd co-liberated the 50 itp 150 nmates were at Bad Tolz.

The information in Fire for Effect is incomplete and additional research is needed.

On May 2, 1945 at Waakirchen, the 522nd with elements of the 12th IR, rescued inmates from the Kaufering subcamp of the Dachau satellite system who were on a death march. Approximately 6000
inmates started the death march on April 26. Mortality on death marches was as high 50%. That suggests the
522nd  rescued an estimated 3,000 survivors.

Table: 522nd Locations, Attachments, Assignments, and Units Supported:March 12 to May 18, 1945.

March 27 and 28: Crossing the Rhine River

From March 21 to March 26, the 522nd was assigned
to the XV Corps Seventh Army. In the  XV Corps the 522nd was attached to the 45th Infantry Division and operated with the 45th's 171st FAB and attached 283rd Artillery in support of the 45th's crossing of the Rhine River at Worms.

From March 26 to March 29, the
522nd was attached to 44th Infantry Division and operated with their 156th Field Artillery Battalion to provide fire in support of the 44th's Rhine River crossing at Frankenthal south of Worms.

Cpl. Kenzo Okubo and T/5 Harry Ishibashi, Headquarters Battery. are reported to have been the first soldiers to have crossed the Rhine River in a DUKW on a liaison mission.

On March 27 all units except the Service Battery
crossed the Rhine River. The Service Battery crossed on March 28.
Rhine River
                      Crossing
Click on image for larger format

March 28, 1945 12th Army Group Situation Map showing the 44th Infantry Division with the attached  522nd FAB crossing
the Rhine River south of Worms near F
rankenthal on March 28, 1945

Public domain map from the Library of Congress
Rhine River Crossing
Click on image for larger format

522nd crossing the Rhine River on a pontoon bridge south of Worms near Frankenthal on March 28, 1945

Photo by T/5 Henry Ishida, Service Battery from Fire for Effect page 111. Copyright Henry Ishida. Used by permission of Laurie Oue, Henry Ishida's daughter.

On the other side of the Rhine River the 522nd advanced through the area of the one hundred and twenty-three subcamps of the Dachau satellite system. In early April as American troops approached, the Nazis abandoned the subcamps and transported the inmates on death marches. That is why the subcamps encountered by the 522nd had few if any living inmates.

Map
Click on map for larger format

Map of the 
522nd's route through Germany showing the locations of the subcamps the 522nd encountered, the location of their liberation of French POW slave laborers, and their rescue of subcamp inmates from a death march

April 22 to 26:
Ellwagen subcamp (No Inmates)

The Ellwagen subcamp was on
the direct line of march of the 522nd.
 
The Ellwagen subcamp of the Dachau system was opened in July 1941and shut down and abandoned in October 1942.

April 26:
Lauingen subcamp (No Inmates)

The Lauingen subcamp was on the direct line of march of the 522nd
The Lauingen subcamp was a Messerschmidt facility that assembled parts for fighter aircraft.

The SS closed the Lauingen subcamp
on April 12, ten days before units of the 12th Armored Division liberated it on April 22 and two weeks before the arrival of the 522nd. The 3,000 inmates were transported to various other locations. Some were liberated by an unidentified American unit in the Augsburg area in late April with others liberated at the main Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945.

April 27: Horgau Dachau subcamp (No Inmates) (Location of Battalion Headquarters April 27)

The 522nd co-liberated the Horgau Dachau subcamp with units of the 610th Tank Destroyer Battalion and 12th IR.

Tadashi Tojo and Robert Sugai, A Battery, were present during the liberation of
the
Horgau Dachau subcamp.

Tank Destroyer
Click on image for larger format

Forward observers of of the 522nd on a tank destroyer
of the 610th Tank Destroyer Battalion nears Augsburg.  Ausburg is 11 miles east of Horgau.
This illustrates the 522nd and 610th operating together at about the same time and place as the liberation of Horgau.
Undated.


Photo by G. Oiye, C Battery

Photo from United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Eric Saul


At the time, the  522nd was operating with the 12th Infantry Regiment.

The 610th Tank  Destroyer Battalion was attached to the 4th ID from March 17 to May 9, 1945.

The Horgau subcamp had billets for approximately 550 slave laborers in the village of Horgau. The slave laborers worked in the nearby complex of 21 buildings constructing Nazi combat aircraft.

The SS had evacuated the Horgau Dachau subcamp before U.S. troops arrived.

On April 4,the SS transferred the remaining 274 prisoners at the Horgau subcamp to the Pfersee subcamp A few of at the Pfersee subcamp were sent to the main Dachau camp while the rest were sent on a death march.

The Horgau subcamp inmates were rescued
at Klimmach from the death march by units of the 12th Armored Division.

At this time, we have no information if the any living inmates who had escaped or evaded the April 4 death march transport were still at Horgau at the time of his 522nd FAB and 12th IR liberated the Horgau Dachau subcamp.

 
April 28 or 29th: Units of the 4th ID a Liberate Dachau Subcamp in Augsburg (No Inmates)
At the time of liberation, from 1630 until 1800 on April 28,1945 the 522nd was positioned at Augsburg-Bergheim, 5 miles south of the Pfersee subcamp and 6 miles west of the bombed out Haunstetten subcamp (see map below). During those 90 minutes soldiers of the 522nd were unlikely to have had time to enter either subcamp before moving 8 miles south to their next position at Bobingen,

All 4th ID units and attached units, including the 522nd are included in the recognition of the 4th ID as a liberating division of a subcamp.
522nd at Bergheim
Click on map for larger format

Top: Pfersee, subcamp location, entered by units of the 4th ID on April 28 or 29, 1945
Left:
Augsburg-Bergheim, 522nd position from 1630 until 1800 on April 28,1945
Right: Augsburg-Haunstetten: Bombed out aircraft manufacturing facility and subcamp

Google. (n.d.). [Augsburg Area Dachau Subcamps and 522nd FAB Location, April 28 & 29, 1945]. Retrieved June 3, 2024, from https://www.google.com/maps/@48.3423151,10.8026312,13z?authuser=0&entry=ttu
Edited by Leonard H. Cizewski, June 4, 2024


April 29:
Kaufering IV subcamp at the Lechfeld Airfield near Hurlach (Unknown number of inmates who evaded transport found hiding nearby by other units)

The 522nd passed directly through the Kaufering IV subcamp at the Lechfeld Airfield near Hurlach.

1st Battalion, 255th Infantry Regiment, 63rd Infantry Division was assigned to liberate the Kaufering subcamps.

Recognized co-liberators of Kaufering IV

April 27: 12th Armored Division

April 28: 101st Airborne Division

April 29-30: 63rd ID

Kaufering IV was initially a slave labor camp for the Lager Lechfeld Nazi airfield. Later is was a camp for inmates incapable of transport.

The Kaufering IV subcamp was set afire and partially destroyed when inmates from nearby subcamps were transported to the main Dachau camp in mid-April. Bodies were still smoldering when the subcamp was liberated. The smell of those burning bodies were the ones that soldiers of the 522nd report In their oral histories and other accounts. At none of the other subcamps encountered by the 522nd or at the main Dachau concentration which the 522nd toured after the war were bodies being burnt.

The U.S. Army counted the bodies of eighty-six prisoners who had been burned to death, plus 274 others of people had died from starvation or typhus or had been shot to death.

From the main Dachau concentration camp, the Kaufering inmates were sent south on a death march where on May 2 at Waakirchen in the Bavarian Alps they were rescued by the 522nd with units of the 12th IR.

At this time, we have no information if any inmates who evaded the SS evacuation and killings were present when the 522nd FAB passed through the Kaufering IV subcamp at the Lechfeld Airfield near Hurlach. Soldiers from other units made contact with those inmates.

38.5 miles to the east of Hurlach, units of the 45th and 42th Infantry Divisions and 20th Armored Division liberated the main Dachau concentration camp.

The 522nd was operating 26 to 34 miles west of the main Dachau concentration camp. In Fire for Effect the 522nd states that no units of the 522nd took part in the liberation of the main Dachau concentration camp.

Abandoned JetPhotos by Staff Sergeant George Oiye, C Battery  of 522nd soldiers with the planes being assembled by slave laborers Kaufering IV subcamp at the Lechfeld Airfield near Hurlach.

April 29 - 30: Turkenfeld Subcamp (No Inmates) (Location of Battalion Headquarters April 29 to 30)

522nd displaced through Turkenfeld which included a subcamp.of the Dachau system. That subcamp was constructed but never put into operation.

April 30:
Morlbach (Unknown number of French POWS ) (Location of Battalion Headquarters April 30 to May 1)

The 522nd liberates French POWS possibly being used as slave laborers at the nearby
Schloss Morlbach.

Very few details have been found.

The 522nd would provide initial security and care for liberated prisoners and transferred them to the care of U.S.Army G-5 Civic Affairs units for transfer to the Free French as soon as possible.

May 2: Dachau Subcamp Inmates Death March Rescue (Unknown Number) (Battalion Headquarters Located at Waakirchen May 2 to 4)

In April 1945, the SS decided to exterminate the inmates of the concentration camps and subcamps.

Between April 26 and May 1, 1945, 14,180 Dachau subcamp prisoners were sent south on death marches.

Of the 14,250 prisoners, 9700 were.Jews from the Kaufering subcamps (9,700/68%). Others were Jews and Slavic Russians from the Munich area subcamps of Allach (2,000/14%), Munchen-Riem (1,500/11%), ,Munchen-Giesing (500/4%), and Ottobrunn (300/2%),and the Kommando Präzifix (150/1%). Some were German political prisoners.

Most of the prisoners began the death march at the main Dachau concentration camp. As the inmates marched south from Dachau, smaller groups of prisoners from the Munich area subcamps joined them.

By April 30, 1945 only 9,000 to 10,000 inmates had survived.

While the death march was crossing from the west to the east bank of the Loisach River, the Germans blew up the bridge as American troops were approaching.  3,300 prisoners, mostly Slavic Russians, were on the west side of the river. An unknown number on the bridge were killed. Less than 7,000 prisoners, mostly Jews from the Kaufering subcamps along with German political prisoners, had crossed to the east side of the river.

Later on April 30, 1945, an unknown number of prisoners who had crossed to the east bank were killed when the SS attempted to liquidate the surviving prisoners in the Rottach River valley. On May 1, 1945, the SS killed more of the prisoners as they marched through Bad Tolz towards Waakirchen.

Between Bad Tolz and Waakirchen, the SS abandoned the survivors.

On May 2, 1945 along the road from Bad Tolz to Waakirchen the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, along with units of the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, rescued the survivors. The rescue of the subcamp inmates from the death march may have been a series of rescues of small groups of survivors along the road.

Hundreds or thousands of the less than 7,000 prisoners who had crossed to the east bank of the Loisach River on April 30, 1945 may been been murdered by the SS guards, or died from disease, medical neglect, exposure, exhaustion, and starvation before rescue by the 522nd FAB and 12th IR. Typically, At least 50% of prisoners on death marches died. The number of people rescued along the road near Waakirchen is unknown.

The 522nd stayed with them to provide security and care for two days until May 4 as that is probably when Third Army Medical and Civil Affairs units arrived.

Security was required as the war was not over as members of the SS and other armed Nazis remained nearby in the foothills of Bavarian Alps.

 
MemorialThe 522nd Field Artillery Battalion and the Waakirchen Death March Rescue: An Illustrated Record

Related 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division Documents:

May 2, 1945: Units of the 12th IR report armed SS in civilian clothes in the area. That is why the 522nd provided security for the inmates rescued from the death march.

May 3, 1945: Report of communications between units of the 12th IR and 522nd regarding artillery support.

May 4, 1945: 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division: Ordering one platoon of I Company to send "displaced persons" in a single file to the location of K Company  on May 5, 1945.. "Displaced Persons" refers to liberated subcamps inmates. Those may include the subcamp inmates rescued from the death march by the 522nd or other subcamp camp inmates liberated by 12th in the area.
Companies I and K. 12th IR appear to be operating on the road between Bad Tolz and Waakirchen where the 522nd is providing security for and caring for the rescued subcamp inmates

Between May 9 and November 1945: Postwar Tours of the Main Dachau Concentration Camp: (Initially 32,000 inmates)

As early as May 9, 1945, one day after the end of the war in Europe and ten days after the liberation of the April 29, 1945 liberation of main Dachau concentration camp, as the first units of the 522nd deployed from Schaftlach to Donauworth,Germany for occupation duty, soldiers of the 522nd had the opportunity to tour the main Dachau concentration camp.

The camp and town Dachau were the center for the care and processing of the 32,000 inmates initially liberated and the liberated inmates from the 123 Dachau subcamps.

The soldiers of the 522
nd took photos and described their tour in their oral histories and memoirs.

Recognition of the 522nd as a Liberating Unit


The 4th Infantry Division is a recognized liberating division as its 8th IR was the 4th ID unit assigned to Augsburg.

The U.S.Army Center of Military History (CMH) established criteria that only recognized divisions as liberating units of camps and subcamps. Attached units, including non-divisional units when attached to divisions, are included in that recognition. Therefore if the day or days of the liberation of Haunstetten by the 4th ID correlates with the April 28, 1945 attachment of the 522nd with the 4th ID, then 522nd is included in that recognition. As stated above, soldiers of the 522nd probably entered Haunstetten while advancing on April 28 and 29, 1945.

522nd Related Sites in Germany Today


The 522nd Field Artillery Battalion: Memorials, Markers, Cemeteries, and Landmarks Today in the "The Holocaust Corridor"

Sources and Researchers

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The 45th Infantry Division in World War II: An Unofficial Guide to Resources

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