The documented first arrival of American
soldiers at Flossenbürg Concentration
Camp was of the 90th Infantry Division
at 10:30 A.M. on April 23, 1945. There
is no documentation of the arrival of
soldiers from the 97th Infantry
Division, but there are several items
that taken together indicate very
strongly that various personnel of the
97th Infantry Division also were at the
camp on April 23rd and probably were the
first to arrive. There is anecdotal
evidence of nine (9) individuals of the
97th that were there and with five (5)
of them specifically identified. (This
information was put together by Bob
Hacker during several 97th M. P. Platoon
reunions in the late 1990’s and from
several telephone calls.)
• From a copy of the log of the
2nd Battalion, 303rd Infantry Regiment,
97th Infantry Division there is an entry
for 1800, 22 April, that states that
they moved into position to relieve
elements of the 2nd Cavalry and that the
position was within the borders of
Czechoslovakia. This information was
received from Harold Brown, the
Commanding Officer. The concentration
camp was on the German side of the
border, so this placed the Division
forward of the camp.
• Ray Bartolo was one of a three
member wire crew of the 365th Field
Artillery Battalion, 97th Infantry
Division. He specifically remembers
being at Flossenbürg on 23 April. He
has very specific memories of the camp
and of talks with some of the former
prisoners. Ray remembers the group at
the gate was knocking off the gate lock
when he and his group arrived.
• Fred Huber, a squad sergeant of
the Military Police Platoon of the 97th
Infantry Division, was at the camp with
three jeeps; six people. Other M.P.
members of the party were Russell Smith,
Huber’s driver; Leonard Furnare; Allen
Fink; and two others that are not
identified. Huber and his squad were
detailed to the 303rd Infantry Regiment
for traffic control and other Military
Police duties.
• Furnare remembers helping to
knock off the lock on the camp gate. He
also remembers the delousing building.
• Fred Huber remembers a colonel
with a command car. After the gate was
opened, some of the prisoners rushed
out. The colonel had Huber and the
others round them up so they could be
deloused, be given medical care, and
fed. This colonel was probably from the
90th Division and was the one who
reported the "liberation" of
Flossenbürg. The 97th had just
completed their move from Soligen in the
Ruhr area near Dusseldorf. For most
moves division patches and
identification of vehicles were removed
to hinder German intelligence from
identifying new units in their area.
Without identification, most individuals
would believe that everyone was from
their division.
The above anecdotes indicate that the
Huber party was probably the first
American Army unit to arrive at the
Flossenbürg Concentration Camp with the
wire crew arriving a few minutes later.
This was a casual encounter and not
reported up either chain of command.
The significance of the incident was not
realized for almost 50 years.
The 97th Division performed many duties
at the camp. They treated the sick and
dying; buried the dead; interviewed
former prisoners and gathered evidence
for trials of former camp officers and
guards; etc. Brig. General Halsey, the
commanding officer of the 97th Division
inspected the camp as did General
Hasbrouck, the commanding officer of the
division artillery. Bob Hacker was at
the camp with Sergeant Hrychewicz
(Herky) who spoke Polish and Joe
Tretter who spoke German plus probably
some other members of Herky’s squad.
They were probably there on April 24th
or April 25th.
Julian Noga, a survivor of the
Flossenbürg Concentration Camp, designed
a bronze plaque that expressed his
gratitude to the 97th Infantry Division.
He gave and dedicated the plaque on
behalf of himself and all other
survivors of the camp at the 50th
Anniversary of the camp’s liberation on
April 23, 1995.