The Liberation of Dachau

April 29, 1945

In April 1945, as the European war neared its end, one question loomed large: how would the Allies ensure that justice was served to the perpetrators of Dachau and other Nazi crimes against humanity?

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The Watchdog

How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World War Two

By Steve Drummond

Winner of the 2024 Harry S. Truman Book Award

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EXCERPT FROM THE WATCHDOG

Portland, Oregon, January 16, 1943

SATURDAY NIGHT WAS QUIETER THAN USUAL in war-booming Portland. A cold snap on Friday had killed two people in a storm that brought high winds and left a thin blanket of snow across the city. Temperatures were expected to sink into the low twenties.

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The Liberation of Buchenwald

April 11, 1945

On April 11, GIs of the 6th Armored Division entered Buchenwald, the main camp in a large complex of concentration camps near Weimar that had recently been abandoned by German troops. American soldiers who liberated the camp were met by thousands of emaciated camp survivors. Shortly after the camp’s liberation, Bernard Bernstein reached Buchenwald and came face-to-face with the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust. His story is part of the Truman Library’s archives.

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