157th Infantry Association records relating to the liberation of Dachau
Extent and Medium
folder
1
Creator(s)
- Felix L. Sparks
Biographical History
Felix L. Sparks, a retired United States Army Brigadier General, former commanding officer with the 157th United States Army Infantry Regiment during World War II, and Secretary of the 157th Infantry Association.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
The donor created the originals of these materials as secretary for the 157th Infantry Association. He sent photocopies to Susan Cohen of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Oral History Branch. That department made additional photocopies of the materials, retained one set, and turned over the other to United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives in Oct. 1992. Gen. Sparks signed a Donor Agreement covering both sets on 08 Dec. 1992.
Scope and Content
Contains information about the liberation of Dachau on 29 April 1945 by the 42nd and 45th U.S. Infantry Divisions. Additionally, donor Felix Sparks provides background on Dachau and his recollections of its liberation and aftermath (e.g., encounter with General George S. Patton Jr. over threatened courts martial of 45th Infantry Division members in connection with events during liberation). Also included are re-created excerpts of unit daily journals during the time of Dachau liberation with explanatory notes added by Sparks.
System of Arrangement
Arrangement is thematic
People
- Patton, George S. (George Smith), 1885-1945.
- Sparks, Felix Laurence, 1917-
Corporate Bodies
- United States. Army. Infantry Division, 42nd
- United States. Army. Infantry Regiment, 157th
- Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei. Schutzstaffel
- United States. Army. Army, 7th
- United States. Army. Infantry Division, 45th
- Dachau (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Atrocities.
- Prisoners of war--Soviet Union.
- World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation.
Genre
- Document