Louis Ranciato collection
Extent and Medium
folder
oversize box
1
1
Creator(s)
- Louis Ranciato
Biographical History
Louis Ranciato served in the United States Army during World War II. Louis began his military career with the 118th Medical Regiment, 43rd Division in 1941. In 1942 he was transferred to the 38th Division. He was deployed to Europe with the 101st Airborne Division in 1943 and participated in the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Rosalie Heffernan and Anthony Ranciato
Funding Note: The accessibility of this collection was made possible by the generous donors to our crowdfunded Save Their Stories campaign.
The Louis Ranciato collection was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Rosalie Heffernan in 2016.
Scope and Content
The Louis Ranciato collection includes a journal, photographs, and newspaper clippings relating to Staff Sergeant Louis Ranciato’s experience in the United States Army and as a liberator of the Dachau concentration camp. The journal includes entries and poems recalling his experiences, starting in 1941, and provides a timeline and his comments on the development of the war and returning home. The entries dated May 2-7, 1945 describe his observations of Dachau. The collection also includes photographs of a man believed to be Louis during his time in the military and of Dachau after liberation as well as newspaper clippings about the liberation of Dachau.
System of Arrangement
The Louis Ranciato collection is arranged as a single series.
People
- Ranciato, Louis.
- Louis Ranciato
Corporate Bodies
- Dachau (Concentration camp)
- United States. Army. Airborne Division, 101st
Subjects
- World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation.
- Soldiers--United States--Diaries.
Genre
- Diaries.
- Document
- Photographs.