William Sawchuk letter

Identifier
irn35083
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2014.170.1
Dates
1 Jan 1945 - 31 Dec 1945
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • English
Source
EHRI Partner

Web Source

https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn35083

Extent and Medium

folder

1

Creator(s)

  • William A. Sawchuk Sr.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of William Sawchuk, Jr.

Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by William Sawchuk Jr, son of William Sawchuk Sr.

Scope and Content

Letter written by William Sawchuk Sr., a soldier in the United States Army, from Germany to his family, dated May 5, 1945. In the letter, Sawchuk he describes the atrocities he witnessed as his battalion moved through Germany and encountered concentration camps and survivors whom he describes as "human skeletons" walking the roads and the dead lying besides them. He also describes the stories survivors recounted of families killed at the hands of the Nazis in concentration camps and their own starving and suffering.

Subjects

  • World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation.
  • Germany.

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.