Who Dachau Left Behind - April 29, 1945

About this episode

The episode discusses the liberation of Dachau and the overlooked aspects of that historical event.

On April 29, 1945, American soldiers liberated Dachau, the first concentration camp the Nazis ever built, and freed 32,000 survivors in one of the defining moments of the Second World War. But the full story of that day includes a suppressed military investigation into American war crimes, Japanese-American soldiers whose families were imprisoned in U.S. internment camps, and a category of prisoners who walked out of Nazi custody directly into Allied confinement. This is the liberation history taught us to celebrate, and the parts it left out.

People in this episode

Host: Richard G Backus

Topics covered

• Dachau liberation
• American war crimes
• Japanese-American soldiers
• Nazi concentration camps
• World War II history

Keywords

• Dachau
• liberation
• American soldiers
• war crimes
• Japanese-American internment
• World War II

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: American soldiers, Nazis

Places: U.S.

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