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My novel deals with the abuse of Allied prisoners of war by the Germans and uses examples from Mauthausen (which is specifically named by William L. Shirer as a place where American POWs were worked to death in the infamous quarry) and its sub-camp at the Loibl (Ljubelj) Tunnel linking present-day Slovenia with Austria. I have just returned from a visit to Buchenwald and am mystified. Near the entrance into the camp there is a memorial marker indicating that many nationalities were abused in Buchenwald. Citizens of the United States are specifically included. Yet nowhere in the camp, which has undergone a very large dose of de-Communizing, did I find any specific reference to the presence of American prisoners. I did find the monument to the more than two thousand Polish POWs who were simply herded into a barbed-wire cage and exposed to the elements, with the result that only a dozen survived more than a fortnight. I also found a marker at Block 17, which apparently was the barracks where British and Canadian POWs were kept. In the "reconstructed" crematorium, there are many references to the wholesale slaughter of Soviet POWs. A tour through the exhibits in the former supply house showed no reference to Americans. A word on de-Communizing. As is well known, the Communists insisted that Buchenwald inmates, under the leadership of party cadres, liberated the camp by themselves. A monument to this feat was made by the sculptor Cremer and placed near the now-closed memorial tower (ostensibly because it is unsafe). Several of the men in the sculpture group are armed. But the literature being distributed today says the inmates opened the gates to American GIs without stating that the camp "liberated" itself. The hint is that the SS fled, leaving the camp to the inmates, but this is not spelled out. Further, there is much emphasis today on Special Camp Number 2, which was down the hill from the Nazi camp and was set up by the Red Army to incarcerate Nazis and other opponents of the Soviets. This camp was not known to the outside world until the unification of Germany. It functioned from 1945 to 1950. Could anyone point me toward literature about American POWs in Buchenwald? Stephen G. Esrati Author of COMRADES, AVENGE US, the novel about the search for Nazi war criminals who preyed on Americans, Canadians, and other Allied POWs. Much of the book is based on reality. It is available from me for $7.50 (including shipping to U.S. addresses). Ask charges for other destinations. VISA, MasterCard. For more information, check my web page at http://www.netcom.com/~cohiba P.O. Box 20130 Shaker Heights, Ohio 44120 stevsta@gwis.com Phone: (216) 561-9393 FAX: (216) 561-6030
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