The Texas Liberators

By April 1945, Allied troops of both America and the Soviet Union had established control over Germany and German-occupied Poland. General Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the liberation of the concentration camps that the Nazis used for the imprisonment, forced labor, and extermination of Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, Communists, political prisoners, and common criminals. The liberating soldiersmany as young as eighteenwere shocked beyond imagination at what they saw in these camps. Within these covers, twenty-one Texas Liberators speak compellingly in their own words. They describe their discovery of the camps, their first encounters with detainees, the repression of certain memories in order to survive and live their lives, and the feeling by many that normal would never be normal again. This testimony allows all of us to begin to understand the sacrifices made in the name of freedom. Accompanying many of the narratives are recent portraits of the surviving Liberators. The stark, profound images capture a range of expressions and emotions in these elderly gentleman, leading to an even deeper connection to their experiences.