Solomon Lasky - Dachau
Solomon Lasky, of New Jersey, served as a cannoneer in an anti-tank company of the 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. He fought in major campaigns in France and Germany, and entered Dachau on April 29, 1945.
"What we saw was unbelievable .... Men who were not sure why they were fighting the Germans got their answer when they saw the load of death in boxcars, the crematorium and the unburied bodies everywhere. Veteran soldiers who were used to seeing death all around them were overcome by the sight. The GIs went wild and rounded up all the SS troops and German soldiers, and they received their just reward.
We liberated thousands of underfed and sick inmates; they were skin and bones with deep sunken eyes. They did not have the strength to stand up. They looked at us with blank stares and did not even realize they were free. We gave them", all the rations we had, but it was the wrong thing to do because they were not in any condition to digest solid food.
At that point I was ready to kill any German. I have never been overcome by such anger. The reaction of non-jewish soldiers was very similar to mine."
Solomon Lasky was decorated for heroism and has long been active in Jewish causes.
Source: GIs Remember, (Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Jewish Military History, 1994).