“REMEMBERING EBENSEE 1945
Robert B. Persinger, May 6th 2005

It is an honor to be invited back here 60 years later representing the 3rd Cavalry Group of WWII. It is hard for me to realize that these nice homes were built on these grounds that 60 years ago supported up to 18.000 prisoners, filthy barracks and a crematorium with electrified barber wire fence around it and the only entrance was through the archway which still stands today. But in no way erases the horrible sights that we saw back then, which is stored in our memories. Those memories will never to be erased.

Our tank platoon arrived in Ebensee on Sunday May 6th, 1945, and we heard of a concentration camp. At that time I was a platoon sergeant and tank commander. My platoon leader Lieutenant Garbowit directed me with my crew to proceed to the gates along with Sergeant Dick Pomante and his tank and crew. As we approached on the gravel road to the camp we saw masses of human beings that appeared almost like ghosts standing in mud and filth up to their ankles behind the high wire fence. They were dressed in their filthy striped clothes and some in partial clothing, barely covering their bodies. They appeared so thin and sickly, it was evident that they were starving. Their bodies were just skin and bones. We stopped our tank and observed for a period of time trying to decide what we would do with the mass of prisoners surrounding our tanks. Both tank crews were hesitant to accept or make contact with these poor starving individuals. None of us had ever seen human beings in this terrible situation before. We started to toss rations and energy bars to them until our supply was depleted. In all of the confusion I lit a cigarette and heard someone say ‘that it had been a long time since he smoked a Lucky Strike’. I asked him to climb up on the tank so I could give him one. This man spoke English so I radioed that information to my Lieutenant and he told me that we should keep him available for future questioning. This prisoner wanted us to walk around the camp area. At first we refused because we thought we had seen enough and really didn’t want to dismount and wade through the quagmire of mud and around all of the dead bodies. Besides that the stench of all of the dead bodies made it almost unbearable. He did convince us we needed to see more than we could see from the tank. We were taken to the barracks area, the kitchen which was bare, and then to the crematorium where there were stacks of bodies piled like cordwood one on top of the other completely around the inside walls of the crematorium. If you weren’t sick by now you would be before you exited from there. At the same time you wanted to cry. We had seen terrible sights from combat across Europe but what we were observing was a climax to the things human beings do to their fellow man. It was beyond anyone’s imagination that such horrible crimes could be committed. We returned to the village of Ebensee, to the Post Hotel where our tank company stayed, and started immediately making plans as to how we could get food to at least feed a few of them until our army units could arrive to bring food and hospital units for medical help which was so desperately needed. It was decided to start searching the complete area for food products to make a soup by using the large kettles that they had in their kitchen. We obtained potatoes, cabbage and other vegetables that were available from miles around. All of the bakeries were asked for bread. As an example Sergeant Pomante used his tank to convince an Ebensee baker to release all of his bakery goods. We finally got the soup ready but realized that somehow we had to control the serving. It was decided to fire live ammunition over their heads from our tanks when they started to overrun the soup line. This brought their attention and did provide control. The servings started and some gulped it down so fast that many died from the reaction from it. Their stomachs could not accept the rich hot soup.

The army medical hospitals arrived quickly along with other army quartermaster units to provide services to get the prisoners on the road to recovery. We stayed with them and helped for two weeks to nourish them before we received orders to return to the states and prepare for invading Japan with General Patton and his Third Army.

I want to tell you a story about the man to whom I gave a cigarette. His name is Max Garcia a member of the committee planning this event. In 1987, forty-two years after our entry into Ebensee I met up with him at our annual veterans reunion in El Paso, Texas, and I still keep in touch with him. He has attended many of our annual reunions. He became acquainted with our group and took charge of our return to Europe to trace our wartime steps from Normandy to here in May 1990. His late wife, Pat, was adopted by our veterans and we knew her as our sister. They, along with a number of ex-prisoners, have become close friends of mine and I am very grateful for all those wonderful people who have lived through ’Hell on Earth’. I will never forget them as I stated earlier, they are glued with my memories of this terrible place as I knew it. I thank you once more for the invitation to return here and pass along some of my memories.