Ebensee anniversary marred by Nazi salutes and "Heil Hitler"

Five young men, dressed in army fatigues, were arrested last Saturday in Ebensee, Austria after disrupting the commemoration of the 64th anniversary of the liberation of the camp from Nazi hands. They gave Nazi salutes, shouted "Heil Hitler," and shot pellets at several of the visitors, according to police.

Their actions were in violation of Austrian law, which bans neo-Nazi activities. The president of the Austrian parliament, Barbara Prammer, called the incident " beyond belief, dastardly, and shameful," and called for a full investigation.

In last week's blog I talked about the 64th anniversary of the liberation of this same concentration camp. I learned about Ebensee from my father just before he passed away. Toward the end of the war, he and other members of the Armed Forces in Europe were urged by Generals Eisenhower and Patton to go and observe the camps as they were liberated, because both men were outraged at what they had seen in the camps. They wanted to make sure there were as many witnesses as possible to the horrors that had taken place.

Ebensee's day of liberation came on May 6, but was marked this year on the 10th, a Saturday. It's a day that brings people from all over the world, many of them camp survivors and their families, as well as the American soldiers who arrived to assure their freedom. The numbers dwindle each year as the two groups age, but in spite of the difficulties of travel, many make the pilgrimage.

When I heard what had happened this year with these neo-Nazis, I thought back to 2005, when I attended the solemn events with three friends. Both soldiers and survivors were flooded with anguished memories. Survivors greeted each other with almost disbelief that they were still alive. Tears flowed as the crowd listened quietly and respectfully to the speakers.

I can't imagine what it was like last Saturday for that respectful quiet to be so crudely and cruelly broken. Sometimes words fail.

I took the photo above at the 60th anniversary commemoration at Ebensee in 2005.

Never Forget Ebensee, liberated on May 6, 1945

 

Ebensee, Austria - Sixty-four years ago today the inmates at the concentration camp — emaciated, frightened, and near death — were surprised by the sound of tanks rumbling up the road. Those who were able to ventured up to the gates to see what was going on as two tanks from the U.S. Third Cavalry roared inside the enclosure. The tanks stopped suddenly. They were unable to proceed because the mass of shocked humanity began crawling over the tanks, yelling and cheering and crying. Some simply stared in disbelief.

 

It was a day both inmates and soldiers would remember forever — the day of liberation May 6, 1945.

 

I had planned to write some more today about researching your family's military history, but with a jolt I realized what day it was and remembered what had happened 64 years ago. Since then the people in the camp have been on my mind — the people who lived through the torment and those who died from it. And also the soldiers who came upon the camp, such as my father, in the days following the liberation. Prisoners were so malnourished that, as the soldiers began to feed them, hundreds died because they couldn't digest the food.

Today we can remember them in whatever we do throughout the day — I can't suggest if or how you would do that, but I will keep them close all day in mind and heart. Some I will think of are:

• Max Garcia, a Dutch Sephardic Jew who survived and went on to fulfill his dream of becoming a successful architect in San Francisco;
• Andrew Sternberg, only fourteen when taken by the Germans, who brought his grandchildren to the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the camp;
• Sgt. Bob Persinger who, after leading the Third Cavalry tank crew into the camp, has never been able to erase the memory from his mind;
• My father, Lt. Bill Elvin, who observed the camp several days after its liberation, and said that afterwards, he ran into the woods, devastated and nearly in tears.
• But most of all, the 8,300 who perished at Ebensee at the hands of such monstrous cruelty.

The photo at right shows Polish survivors of the camp at the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the camp.