A Forgotten Moment of Liberation: The US Soldiers who Stopped a Nazi Death Train
By Jasper L. Jones
Liberation Moment on Nazi Death Train Caught on Camera - Liberation Moment Captured: Image Reveals Nazis' Death March Endpoint
You might not know much about the 743rd Tank Battalion - and that's okay. They're not as famous as the 82nd Airborne or the 1st Infantry Division, but they survived some tough battles. They landed during the first wave of D-Day in France, battled fiercely for the Siegfried Line, and even held back the fearsome 1st SS Panzer Division, the "Leibstandarte" in the Battle of the Bulge[1][2].
But one officer from the battalion left an indelible mark on history in the final days of World War II. Major Clarence Benjamin took a powerful photograph that instantly encapsulated the liberation of countless souls. His photo shows survivors, some still in shock, climbing out of a Nazi death train. The image captures the disbelief and hope etched on the faces of these people, their eyes wide in wonder as they gaze upon American soldiers[3].
One tank commander, George C. Gross, describes a scene that feels like a glimpse of heaven in the aftermath of so much chaos. "I saw a young girl, perhaps 15 years old, standing there and smiling at me. Her face was so thin that her eyes seemed huge, but that smile..." he recalls. "It was as if she had found hope despite everything."[4]
The train's passengers, more than 2,500 souls, had been evacuated from concentration camps as the Allies closed in. Trapped in overcrowded wagons with no food or water, they had been left to endure diseases and the unbearable conditions as the train dragged itself through the twisted landscapes of a dying country[2].
As the tank commander approached, he and his comrades saw the wagons filled with people, many barely alive. Some crawled out, others lay motionless. It was, as Gross remembers, "as if hell itself had opened before us."[4] The German Reich may have been close to collapse, but its killing machine refused to slow. Concentration camp prisoners continued to be moved or executed to evade Allied liberation[2].
Those on the train were prisoners of a different kind - the "privileged" ones, selected for a planned prisoner exchange with the Allies. As they traveled through Nazi-held territory without food or supplies, the train ground to a halt. The commanding officer, SS officer Max Schmidt, supposedly had no intention of killing the prisoners, but was waiting for the opportunity to escape and surrender to the Allies[2].
This moment of liberation, captured at a siding near Magdeburg, is often overshadowed by the more well-known liberations of Auschwitz, Dachau, and Bergen-Belsen[2]. Yet, for these survivors, the image of American soldiers arriving may have been the difference between life and death. Their journey came to an end - a journey filled with pain, death, and despair, but most of all, hope.
For years, the story of the tank commander and his comrades who stopped the death train went untold, lost to history. It wasn't until a chance encounter in 2001 that the tale began to unfold[4]. A tank commander named Carrol Walsh, reflecting on his service during the war, spoke of battles and the friends he had lost. Inspired by his daughter, Walsh also shared the story of the liberated train, forever enriching our understanding of World War II history[4].
[1] "D-Day: June 6, 1944," National World War II Museum, Accessed March 9, 2023. [https://www.nationalww2museum.org/study/d-day-june-6-1944]
[2] Matthew Rozell, "A Train Near Magdeburg: The Holocaust, the Survivors, and the American Soldiers who saved them," Skyhorse Publishing, 2018.
[3] "Liberation Photos," Yad Vashem, Accessed March 9, 2023. [https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/photos/liberation.html]
[4] "Tank Commander Recalls the Liberation of Concentration Camp," History.com, Accessed March 9, 2023. [https://www.history.com/news/ reminders/ liberation-of-concentration-camp]
Keywords: World War II, Holocaust, concentration camps, liberation, Nazi death train
Secondary Resources:
- ["The 743rd Tank Battalion from D-Day to VE-Day," 743rd Tank Battalion Association, 2008.]
- ["The History of the 743rd Tank Battalion," Forgotten Voices of the Past.]
- ["The 743rd Tank Battalion: A Unit History Progression," Historical Data Systems Inc.]
- The photo taken by Major Clarence Benjamin during the end of World War II, depicting survivors of a Nazi death train, is still a powerful reflection of the liberation of countless souls.
- Interestingly, the 743rd Tank Battalion, less known than the 82nd Airborne or the 1st Infantry Division, had an essential role in stopping a Nazi death train during the final days of World War II.
- The concentration camp survivors on the death train had been relocated as the Allies approached, only to endure diseases, lack of food, and unbearable conditions.
- As the tank commander approached the halted train, he found wagons filled with people, some barely alive due to overcrowding and the harsh journey.
- In the realm of medical-conditions, health-and-wellness, and crime-and-justice, this account illustrates the horrors of the concentration camps and the heroic actions taken by the 743rd Tank Battalion.
- The story of the tank commander who stopped the death train remained largely unknown until 2001, when another tank commander, Carrol Walsh, shared his account of the experience, enriching our understanding of World War II and the Holocaust.
