[lowbridge]

Full title: 'I have everything in my life because of him': Poignant moment Holocaust survivor salutes American soldier who liberated him from Nazi concentration camp hell in emotional reunion after 70 years

Pictures at link

[Cicero]

Wonderful photos! Definitely worth a visit to the website.

[SgtHooper]

Emotional. Wonderful!

[Gay State Conservative]

I visited Dachau many years ago.”Spooky” doesn’t even *begin* to describe the experience.

[Hostage]

Incredible, just incredible. Make sure you have something to dry the eyes with before you look in on the photos and the rest of the story.

[justiceseeker93]

Kaufman, now 87, was a 'walking corpse' on April 29 1945 when U.S. Army soldier Gillespie, 89, marched in with his comrades to liberate the charnel house that was the Dachau concentration camp near Munich.

Gillespie, a machine gunner with the 42nd 'Rainbow Division,' moved to block 11 of the infamous complex which was the first camp built by the Nazis to house its enemies in 1933.

Very touching story!

I don't want to dampen the joy of this reunion, but I am interested in checking out the historical accuracy of it.

I know that the 42nd Rainbow Division was indeed at Dachau about this time, because my dad was in the 42nd, and took some revolting photos of the camp that he brought home with him and would show to me when I was a youngster.

But in my reading on WWII, I've never seen the Rainbow Division get any specific mention for liberating Dachau, whereas other units have. Then again, I'm not sure of April 29, 1945 (one day before Hitler's suicide), as the accepted date of the liberation; IIRC, it is generally said to have occurred a few days earlier.

If there are any historians - professional or amateur - who can clear this up, please let me know.