Confidential U.S. Army Report
[United States Seventh Army]. Confidential U.S. Army Report of the Brutal Atrocities Committed at Dachau. 1933-1945.
Compiled in the days immediately following the U.S. Army’s liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Dachau in 1945, this text was produced exclusively for the confidential use of the Army’s investigating team in making its report to superior officers and in preparing evidence for future war crimes trials. It includes the sworn testimony of 22 witnesses: prisoners, camp doctors, U.S. Army doctors, a delegate of the Red Cross, a civilian employee, and a Secretary for Criminal Affairs of the Gestapo.
Established in 1933 by the National Socialists (Nazis), Dachau was the prototype for German concentration camps. Located ten miles from Munich, it served as an organizing model and training center for SS concentration camp guards. Dachau initially interred mostly political enemies of the Third Reich, but later expanded to include large numbers of Jews and other social “undesirables.” As detailed in this U.S. Army report, it was mainly a labor camp, with subsections for medical experimentation and prisoner executions. Over 188,000 prisoners were incarcerated and at least 30,000 perished in Dachau during its operation.