William (Bill) Lowenberg describes forced labor in the Kaufering subcamp of the Dachau concentration camp
As a boy, Bill attended school in Burgsteinfurt, a German town near the Dutch border. After the Nazis came to power in Germany in January 1933, Bill experienced increasing antisemitism and was once attacked on his way to Hebrew school by a boy who threw a knife at him. In 1936, he and his family left Germany for the Netherlands, where they had relatives and thought they would be safe. However, after Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, antisemitic legislation--including the order to wear the Jewish badge--was instituted. Bill, his sister, and his parents were deported to the Westerbork transit camp in the Netherlands. In August 1943, Bill was deported from Westerbork to the Auschwitz camp in German-occupied Poland. He was transported from Auschwitz to Warsaw in late 1943, following the German suppression of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. Bill and other prisoners were forced to demolish the remnants of the ghetto. As Soviet forces advanced, Bill was placed on a death march and then transported by train to the Dachau camp in Germany. He was liberated by US forces at the end of April 1945.
Item ViewBarracks in Kaufering
View of barracks after the liberation of Kaufering, a network of subsidiary camps of the Dachau concentration camp. Landsberg-Kaufering, Germany, April 29, 1945.
Item ViewVictims of Kaufering IV
US troops view bodies of victims of Kaufering IV, a Dachau subcamp in the Landsberg-Kaufering area. Germany, April 30, 1945.
Item ViewUS soldiers view bodies of victims of Kaufering
US soldiers view bodies of victims of Kaufering, a network of subsidiary camps of the Dachau concentration camp. Landsberg-Kaufering, Germany, April 30, 1945.
Item ViewUS troops view corpses of prisoners massacred by SS guards
US troops view corpses of prisoners massacred by SS guards in a wooded area near the Kaufering IV subsidiary camp of the Dachau concentration camp. Landsberg- Kaufering, Germany, April 30, 1945.
Item ViewBarracks in Kaufering
A view of barracks in the Kaufering network of subsidiary camps of the Dachau concentration camp. Landsberg-Kaufering, Germany, after April 27, 1945.
Item ViewScene after the liberation of Kaufering IV
Forced laborers inside barracks soon after the liberation of Kaufering IV, part of a network of Dachau subcamps. Landsberg-Kaufering, Germany, 1945.
Item ViewA survivor of Kaufering IV
A survivor of Kaufering IV, one of the Dachau subcamps in the Landsberg-Kaufering area, with US soldiers after liberation. Kaufering, Germany, after April 27, 1945.
Item ViewKaufering IV camp
The entrance gate to Kaufering IV subcamp of Dachau. This photograph was taken after liberation. Near Landsberg, Germany, after April 28, 1945.
Item View