The soldiers of color who freed concentration camps 80 years ago

By Russell Contreras, Axios

U.S. forces liberated Nazi concentration camps 80 years ago this month. Among the liberators were Black, Latino, Asian American and Native American soldiers whose actions today are often forgotten.

Why it matters: The Pentagon recently purged references to soldiers of color from its websites, per an order by President Trump. But civil rights advocates say the liberators warrant recognition for their service at a time when many returned home to discrimination, segregation and racial violence.

The big picture: U.S. forces liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany, on April 11, 1945 — the first of many camps to be freed on the western front from April to May.

• It’s unclear how many soldiers of color were involved. But evidence collected during the past 25 years indicates that many who helped liberate camps where Jews were imprisoned were themselves in racially segregated military units.
• Robert Williams of the USC Shoah Foundation, a group that preserves survivor testimonies of the Holocaust, tells Axios the soldiers’ actions at the camps and throughout the war speak volumes today, amid the nation’s rising antisemitism and distrust between some groups.

The original article highlights articles and exhibits about this forgotten piece of history.

America’s Black Holocaust Museum is dedicated to sharing Black history.

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