Oral History Interview with Thomas E. Maas

Milton Harrison was a 19 year old First Sergeant in the Medical Detachment of the Ninth Armored Infantry Battalion of the Sixth Armored Division. In 1945 he heard about German atrocities from home but not in the army. On April 11, 1945 on the way from Mühhausen towards the Saale River, his unit encountered Russian Prisoners of War who had escaped from Buchenwald. From them they learned about this camp and that most of the SS had already left. A tank under the command of Captain Kiefer, with a total of four Americans was dispatched to investigate. Shortly thereafter, a small group of 28 men, including Mr. Harrison, followed. On the way they stumbled on the now unguarded "Little Buchenwald," a camp for mostly Jewish children between 10 and 14 years old who had worked at hard labor.

They were the first American soldiers to enter Buchenwald, and Captain Kiefer and First Sergeant Harrison reported the situation at Buchenwald to their superior officers that evening. When his group reached the main camp, the ovens were still hot. He inspected the camp, was shown a lampshade made from human skin and rows of bottles containing human parts which were part of Ilse Koch's collection. He describes the survivors’ physical condition and their reaction to the liberators.

On April 12, the Waffen SS attacked Buchenwald with small arms and mortar. Two American captains and Rabbi Herschel Schacter were in the camp at this time, and called for assistance. With help from the 44th Infantry Battalions, the SS was overwhelmed on April 14th, and Buchenwald was declared a "non-combat zone" on that day and medical assistance began arriving. Generals Groh and Patton toured the camp and were horrified. Inhabitants of Weimar were ordered to bury the dead.

Mr. Harrison, who is one of the historical officers of the Buchenwald Information Committee of the Sixth Armored Division Association, stresses that only soldiers of Command A of the 6th Armored Division can be called liberators of Buchenwald. He cites several references to verify this claim. He describes the lasting effect seeing Buchenwald had and still has on these soldiers.

Alfred Brosan was born on July 20, 1923 in a small town near Vienna, Austria called Rodaun. He had one sister. Alfred’s family lived in the suburbs of Vienna and laterin Vienna proper. His father had a prosperous leather goods factory and traveled all over Austria and Europe to sell his goods. In March 1938, when the Nazis occupied Austria, the Aryan foreman was put in charge of the business. Alfred’s parents decided to leave Vienna that year and fled to the International Settlement in Shanghai, China--where you could enter without visas. About 15 members of Alfred’s family made the trip, including his father’s siblings and their families. Alfred and his parents traveled via the trans-Siberian railroad, first landing in Harbin, Manchuria where they were welcomed by a group of Russian Jews who had settled there. His aunts, uncles and his sister went by boat through the Suez Canal and Indian Ocean. All arrived in Shanghai several weeks after Kristallnacht.

Alfred’s father was able to requesthis international clients toforward money due him to Shanghai, enabling them to have a good start, eventually establish a successful business and live comfortably. Alfred describes living in Hongkew before it was a ghetto and in 1943 being forced to a less desirable area-- close to the waterfront and Japanese warships. This created financial difficulties arising from having to move the factory. Alfred reports that nevertheless, the Jewish community had a satisfactory relationship with the Japanese. Alfred also mentions disease and scarcity in the Hongkew Ghetto, lack of food, poor people dying from exposure during winter cold spells.He also details surviving bombingsduring the end of the war.Despite the negative aspects of Shanghai, Alfred recalls his time in Shanghai favorably.

Alfred describes his family’s decisions and timeline leaving Shanghai, including the delay due to hisfather’s heart attack. In 1946 his sister married an American GI and came to the United States which enabled his parents to emigrate to the United States on the Czechoslovakian quota per his father’s birth country. Alfred was not able to leave with them and remained in Shanghai. After many bureaucratic transactions, he was able to obtain a visa for the United States and left Shanghai on the last ship to leave before the Communists arrived. He joined his parents in Philadelphia, married, raised a family, and started a successful business there.