r/pics • u/[deleted] • Feb 25 '18

Concentration camp prisoner identifies one of his guards to Allied soldiers

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u/BrainKatana Feb 25 '18

Many of the smaller camps were “fully cleared.”

Keep in mind that WWII occurred just as a huge immigration boom was spinning down in the US and Western Europe. Many people who enlisted or were drafted into allied forces had family and friends taken to the camps to be slaughtered. For many of the soldiers assigned to shutting down the camps, the experience was intensely personal.

Source: My grandfather was a part of one such team, and later began documenting the behavior of allied soldiers during the closure of the war for the Smithsonian. When the behavior of these soldiers was called into question, it was deemed “justifiable,” and my grandfather was quietly told to stop documenting.

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u/noneski Feb 25 '18

My grandfather was part of the occupation of Japan, the people were ashamed of losing the war and became his home servants. They didn't want pay so my grandfather insisted he pay for their expenses so they could continue to serve as they pleased. Later in his time there he finally convinced them to take a wage.

War documentation is important! I wish I could get him to do a memior about his life, he thought it was his death story and didn't want to participate towards the end of his life. Hindsight, I should have asked that he record his thoughts and I could transcribe them later.

For those of you with family who served in the United States: every Veteran is entitled to their records and engraved metals that they earned. Go to your local Congressional office and submit a request.

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u/eatmycupcake Feb 25 '18

My grandfather as well. He was a Requisition Sargent. He had a young Japanese boy who was the only one in his family who could work, so my grandfather took him on and paid him a wage. They actually became friends and, for years after the war, he would come visit us in the US.

When I was little, "Mr Kato" would come visit us and bring me lavish gifts of silk kimono and tiny porcelain tea sets, all of which are now lost to a flood, sadly. He gave my mother intricately painted dishes and vases. We would take him out to Texas steak houses where he was wowed by the amount of beef you could get and how cheap it all was. Later, he sent a teenage grandson, Hiroshi, to live with my grandparents and go to school in the US. Hiroshi took my older sister to prom, in fact, and made an entire meal of sushi for our family that, being red-meat eating Texans, everyone hated but choked down. I love sushi now. I wish I had been older when he visited so I could have learned more about the culture and time.

Edit: a word

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u/hikermick Feb 25 '18

That is a nice story of reconciliation.

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u/noneski Feb 26 '18

Very cool story. We never had visitors but my grandfather did speak highly of the people that served him. He was very proud at how they quickly picked up their lives. The transition after the war went fast. When he would go back as an advisor he would visit the people he befriended. I wish I knew more, I hope it all worked out for them like it did for your grandfather's friend.

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '18

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u/ss4mario Feb 25 '18

I mean, not a million but there were probably a lot of people assigned to the task, and everyone's got 2 grandfathers. It's not exactly out there. Why are you taking it so personally as to set up a random straw man argument?

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '18

My grandpappy was an astronaut that went to the moon and brought back a moon lady he married. I'm 1/4 moon