WWII Story: John Laughlin Visits a Concentration Camp

As part of the Allied invasion force, John witnessed the affects of Nazi rule as his unit entered a POW Death Camp in Germany. Unlike many GI's who witness these events, John had a camera. In this segment of the interview John shares some of his photos with us.

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[kokosz33]

Did John say where did he took those photos? this barn ? trench?

[stonleywave]

In the full length interview I believe he does mention where he took these photos. I seem to recall that they were Polish prisoners and given the vector of the allied advance, must have been in western Germany. If you need to know (i.e. had family members in this area) send me a note and I'll review the video.

[flatblackrose]

Auschwitz was not liberated by US troops, it was liberated by the Red Army on January 27, 1945. US troops did liberate Dachau and in their anger at what they found they massacred the SS troops they had taken as prisoners.

[stonleywave]

I don't recall that he ever said what he saw was in Auschwitz. It was simply one the many death camps that were liberated by the Allied Forces. As for the SS troops who were massacred, I'm sure many American GI's captured by the Japanese or Russian's who survived (most didn't) German captivity had similar experiences. That's war.

[69chevy68]

Is the man in the vid still alive?

[stonleywave]

The last time I checked he was still with us and I haven't heard otherwise since then (summer 2008).

[germanyforever40]

Thank you sir for your service to the USA. I'm sure those images are probably burned into your memory, I hope they did not affect you too much. You and all the Allied men who fought over there are all heros in my book.

[flexpint]

Respect to you John. God bless.

[MuchoFunkie]

@kokosz33 Look at what I wrote to "KillTheNazis" and understand.

[MuchoFunkie]

@KilITheNazis And to make it even more clear, the real bastards of Germany at this period was the SS, and only few divisions in the SS - Like Allgemeine SS, were responsible for these atrocities (Which by the way was multi-national, so not only Germans are bastards here) - If we look at the Wehrmacht for example (The standard German Army), under 1/10 of the German soldiers in the Wehrmacht followed the national socialist ideology (Nazi ideology).

[MuchoFunkie]

@KilITheNazis Rofl, your name on youtube is "KillTheNazis", so I guess your on a conquest to put a face on the Germans from WW2, or just Germans in general. Well, some of the most nice people I know are from Germany, and when I talk to them about WW2 they fall in agony really, because most of them I know had relatives who either fought the war, or lost someone in the war. War is not black and white, good and bad things happen on both sides. - Continued

[Gavilanes65]

Im so glad to know that Hitler is in Hell...ALIVE!!!!

[cmskid20]

theres so many videos of interviews i want to watch them all

[KilITheNazis]

@kokosz33 I agree, the Nazis should be called Germans

the Nazis were Germans

Deep down the modern day Germans still look to their Nazis as heros

I wish Germany had faced a harsher punishment for what they did in that war, they got away pretty damn easily, Germany should never be trusted again and they never should have been unified

[debzeppeliniv]

God bless you, God bless you all. Thank you. We all love and respect all of you.

[kokosz33]

That barn - wast it in Gardelegen west of Berlin?