Liberation of Dachau by Japanese Americans
552nd Field Artillery Battalion 442nd RCT

April 29th 1945

By

KENJI G. TAGUMA
Nichi Bei Times
Wednesday, September 12, 2001

Excerpt from the article.

"Ernie Hollenbeck Dachau Survivor"

Ernie Hollenbeck was in his teens when he, his brothers ,and father worked at Erlenbush a work camp in Nazi occupied Poland. His father was executed by Nazi guards when he cut his hand in a saw mill while cutting rail road ties. Nazi guards shot all laborers who could no longer work.

Hollenbeck's mother and sister were gassed at Auschwitz. April 1945, a train carried Hollenbeck toward Dachau. They were forced to march 4 days on the road 70 miles to Dachau and anyone who dropped out of line was shot immediately by Nazi guards. "There were shootings left and right" Hollenbeck recalled. Many prisoners died along the way, " the Nazis often forced the wounded and sick to be buried alive". If prisoners did not assist in the burials they were shot. "The last couple of days were awful" said Hollenbeck. Some 6-7 miles from Dachau, Hollenbeck recalled seeing Asian looking soldiers in American uniforms racing along the roads toward Dachau. They did not stop along the roads but he meet them when he arrived at Dachau. There he was offered medicine, food and clothes. Hollenbeck remembered that adults in the camp said not to take food from the Asian soldiers "it might be poisoned". He was scared at first and thought they might have been soldiers from Japan.

He remembered that the survivors were like zombies and when he was told that they were free he just could not comprehend it. Hollenbeck recalled that he did not know what the word "freedom" meant since he spend a large part of his life as a slave laborer. Later "we had to pinch ourselves to believe that we were free". said Hollenbeck.

Hollenbeck stated that thousands of prisoners were killed each day at Dachau .

Thanks to Ray Hollenbeck for another interesting contribution.