{"id":1306,"date":"2025-05-02T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/?p=1306"},"modified":"2025-10-27T15:07:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T22:07:47","slug":"dachau-death-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/dachau-death-march\/","title":{"rendered":"Dachau Death March"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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They were liberating prisoners from Nazi death camps, when their loved ones were imprisoned by their own country.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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May 2, 1945: The 522nd Field Artillery Battalion halts Dachau Death March<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Back home, their families were imprisoned behind barbed wire. In Germany, they came face-to-face with the unimaginable: the Holocaust.<\/p>

The 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, a unit made up of about 650 Americans of Japanese ancestry, played a little-known but extraordinary role in the final days of World War II. Racing across Germany, they helped liberate victims of one of humanity\u2019s greatest atrocities.<\/p>

Activated in February 1943 at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, the 522nd had fought alongside the 442nd Regimental Combat Team in Italy and France. These Nisei soldiers, many of whom had strong science and engineering backgrounds, built a reputation for speed, accuracy, and precision in battle, contributing to victories from the Anzio campaign to the rescue of the \u201cLost Battalion\u201d in the Vosges Mountains.<\/p>

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Prisoners at appel (the daily lineup), Dachau, Germany, 1938<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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522nd Field Artillery Battalion throwing 105mm shells at Germans in Bruy\u00e9res Sector, France<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Two Nisei soldiers loading 105mm artillery shells for firing, Bruy\u00e9res, France, October 9, 1944, credit National Archives<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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Watch tower and electric fence, Dachau, Germany<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Emaciated survivors soon after liberation, Dachau, Germany, credit Ministere de la Defense<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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But in the spring of 1945, as the 442nd infantry returned to Italy for one final push, the 522nd was reassigned as a \u201croving battalion,\u201d ordered to help multiple American units advance deep into Nazi Germany. Over 60 days, the 522nd covered 1,100 miles, fought through 40 towns, and completed 52 different missions. Along the way, they captured enemy soldiers, seized German fighter aircraft, and liberated prisoners \u2014 all unheard-of feats for a field artillery unit.<\/p>

Then came April 29, 1945. As scouts from the 522nd passed through the town of Lager Lechfeld, they stumbled upon a haunting sight: a barbed-wire enclosure. Breaking through the gates, they discovered emaciated prisoners, Jewish prisoners in striped uniforms, struggling to stay on their feet, shivering in the snow.<\/p>

\u201cWhen the gates swung open, we got our first good look at the prisoners,\u201d wrote Technician Fourth Grade Ichiro Imamura. \u201cThey were like skeletons \u2014 all skin and bones.\u201d<\/p>

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It was a sub-camp of Dachau, known as Kaufering IV. The soldiers who had never even heard the word \u201cHolocaust\u201d were now witnessing it firsthand.<\/p>

Days later, on May 2, near the town of Waakirchen, the 522nd encountered the horrific aftermath of the Dachau Death March. Hundreds of Jewish prisoners, some dead, some barely clinging to life, lay collapsed in the snow, abandoned by fleeing Nazi guards. For the next three days, the Nisei soldiers turned houses and barns into makeshift shelters, covering survivors with blankets and offering food and water until medical teams could arrive.<\/p>

In total, the 522nd helped liberate about 3,000 prisoners in Bavaria.<\/p>

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Dozens of dead bodies were discovered by American troops on a train, Dachau, Germany, April 1945, credit API<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Tahae Sugita of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion with camp survivor, Dachau, Germany, credit USHMM<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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Two soldiers of the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion stand in front of the crematorium, Dachau, credit USHMM<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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A photo taken by Sus Ito, on the back is written, \"Dachau Prison Camp,\" credit Japanese American National Museum<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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Despite the enormity of what they had witnessed, the men of the 522nd rarely spoke about it after the war. Some were haunted by the memories. Others were ordered not to: their encounter with the Holocaust was officially classified. Silence became both a personal burden and a government mandate.<\/p>

It remains one of the greatest ironies of World War II:<\/p>

Japanese American soldiers liberated Nazi death camps \u2014 even as America continued to deny them full rights and freedoms at home.<\/p>

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Share this article<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They were liberating prisoners from Nazi death camps, when their loved ones were imprisoned by their own country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[37,85,20,84,87,6,250,86,32,15],"class_list":["post-1306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-442nd-regimental-combat-team","tag-522nd-field-artillery-battalion","tag-aapi-history","tag-dachau","tag-holocaust","tag-japanese-american-history","tag-military-war","tag-nazi","tag-quiet-americans","tag-wwii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1306"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4768,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306\/revisions\/4768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}