42nd
              Infantry Division PatchThe 42nd Infantry Division and the Liberation of Dachau42nd Infantry Division Distinctive Unit Insignia

In April, 1945, the 42nd Infantry Division (ID) had over 14,000 soldiers in 21 component and attached units advancing southeast through Germany.

The XV Corps, Seventh Army assigned Dachau to the 45th Infantry Division which assigned Dachau to Task Force Sparks (3rd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment [IR] and attached 191st Tank Battalion) commanded by Lt. Col. Felix Sparks.

The 42nd ID was assigned to Munich and was aware that Dachau was assigned to the 45th ID. Most of the soldiers and units of the 42nd proceeded towards Munich assignments as ordered.

The SS had destroyed most of the bridges over the Amper River and Canal with access to Dachau. That required the 42nd to cross to the Amper River and Canal distant from Dachau, The 42nd’s also needed to  to accommodate the units of 20th Armored and 45th Infantry also advancing on nearby roads towards Munich.That resulted in the 42nd having limited access to Dachau.


Assistant Division Commander of the 42nd, General Hemming Linden on his own authority and at the suggestion of accompanying war correspondents and journalists, disregarded his orders to advance on Munich. He ordered units of the 222nd Infantry Regiment to cross boundary between the 42nd and 45th Infantry Divisions to go to the Dachau concentration camp. Crossing divisions boundaries places soldiers at risk of friendly fire accidents. Because of the destroyed bridges, they were only able to cross the Amper River and Canal in jeeps or on foot.

On April 29, 1945, a representative of the International Red Cross (IRC) had negotiated the surrender of Dachau, along with the SS commander of Dachau, were near the front gate of the concentration camp to make contact with the approaching American troops.

Task Force Sparks chose to first secure the adjacent SS facility before proceeding to the concentration camp. While in the SS facility, soldiers of Task Force Sparks killed 21 SS soldiers, most after their surrender capture.

At about the same time as Task Force Sparks entered the SS facility, General Linden proceeded towards the front gate of the concentration camp.General Linden did not communicate his move to Dachau to his superiors in the 42nd ID or the XV Corps.Task Force Sparks and the units of the 222nd IR were not in contact with each other and were unaware that both were at Dachau.

The units of the 157th and 222nd made contact near Guard Tower B where they killed 17 captured or surrendered SS soldiers.

The gunfire inside the SS facility and Guard Tower B had been initially misidentified as combat. Subsequently it was intentionally misreported as combat to coverup the murders of the SS soldiers.

General Linden and the units of the 222nd IR received the surrender of the Dachau from the SS commander in the presence of the representative IRC.

Lt. Col. Sparks and General Linden made contact at the front gate of the concentration camp where they had a confrontation over issues of authority and responsibilities. General Linden with his riding crop struck a 157th soldier on his helmet. Lt. Col. Sparks drew his pistol. General Linden threatened to have Lt. Col. Sparks court-martialed.

In violation of the XV Corps plans for the concentration camp, the 222nd opened the main gate of the concentration camp. Chaos erupted among the liberated prisoners. Liberated prisoners killed SS guards. During the chaos, the SS commander of Dachau, a POW in the custody of the 222nd, appears to have been killed by unknown persons at an unknown location. Soldiers of the 157th and 22nd eventually restored order and secured the camp.

The XV Corps assigned external perimeter security of the camp to the 157th and internal camp security to the 222nd until XV Corps troops could relieve them. By the evening April 29, 1945 the camp was closed to unauthorized personnel.

A few hundred soldiers of the 222nd Infantry served during the surrender of Dachau and the post-surrender security of the camp and care of the liberated prisoners.

Before the camp was closed on the evening of April 29, 1945, a few soldiers of the, 242nd Infantry Regiment, 232nd Field Artillery Battalion, 342nd Field Artillery Battalion, and 392nd Field Artillery Battalion, 42nd ID, while on their way to their Munich assignments, briefly stopped at the concentration camp, becoming soldier-witnesses of the liberation.

By April 30, soldiers of the 222nd had been relieved by units of the XV Corps and were on their way to Munich.

On May 1, Lt. Col. Sparks was relieved of command of the 3rd Battalion, 157th IR and immediately sent back to the U.S. because of events during liberation. General Linden suffered no consequences because of his actions during liberation.

Postwar, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum recognized the 42nd Infantry Division as a co-liberating division of Dachau. All members of component and attached units of the 42nd from April 29 to May 1, 1945 are included in the recognition of the 42nd as a co-liberating division of Dachau.

The 232nd Infantry Regiment

On April 27, 1945, the 232nd Infantry Regiment went into an assembly area as XV Corps reserve near Sulz, Germany near Munster.

Sometime between April 27 and April 30, 1945, the 232nd advanced south towards Allach on a road west of Dachau and west of the 222nd Infantry Regiment.

The closest the 232nd came to the Dachau concentration was 8 miles to the west.

Units of the 222nd were ordered to the concentration camp by General Linden. General Linden did not order units of the 232nd to Dachau.

Unlike soldiers of other units of the 42nd, reports of soldiers of the 232nd are not corroborated by the usual sources. The 232nd is not mentioned as being at Dachau in The 42nd "Rainbow" Infantry Division: a Combat History of World War II nor in any of the other histories of the liberation of Dachau.
No photos of soldiers of 232nd have been published from official U.S. Signal Corps photographers, by the civilian war correspondents or journalists, or by soldiers of the 232nd from their personal cameras. Diaries or letters home by soldiers of the 232nd detailing being in the concentration camp have not been published.

Units of the 222nd Infantry Regiment entered the concentration camp about 1600 on April 29, 1945.

By 2045 units of the 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division secured the perimeter of the concentration camp, preventing entry by unauthorized personnel. Soldiers of the 222nd Infantry Regiment provided security inside the concentration camp.

In order for soldiers of the 232nd to have entered the Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945, they would have needed to have been aware that soldiers of the 222nd had entered the concentration camp. Nothing in the historical record indicates that the other units of the 42nd Infantry Division were aware that General Linden and units of the 222nd were at the concentration camp. That suggests that soldiers of the 232nd were unlikely to have been aware of what was occurring at Dachau on April 29, 1945.

The only time soldiers of the 232nd would have been able to enter the concentration camp on April 29, 1945 was between 1600 and 2045.

During the time period, soldiers of the 232nd would have had to secure a vehicle. That soldiers would have obtained authorization for such a use that was not consistent with their orders to advance on Munich seems unlikely.


Had they obtained a vehicle, the soldiers would have had to make a 16 miles round trip across the unit boundary of the 222nd and the division boundary of the 45th Infantry Division. Crossing unit and division boundaries was dangerous as it placed soldiers at risk of friendly fire accidents. At most they would have been able to spend a few minutes inside the concentration camp to participate in the liberation as soldier-witnesses.

The above scenario lacks credibility.

On April 30, 1945, with units of the 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, soldiers of the 232nd co-liberated the Allach subcamp of the Dachau system.

In Dachau 29 April 1945 : The Rainbow Liberation Memoirs two 232nd soldiers claim to have been at Dachau on April 30, 1945. One soldier claims to have entered the concentration camp. The concentration camp was closed to unauthorized personnel so that is not credible. The other soldiers claims to have entered the adjacent SS facility. Is it credible that soldiers would have been able to to use their unit's vehicle to make 17 mile round trip in an active combat zone for trip unrelated to their assignment?

What is more credible is that soldiers of the 232nd misidentified Allach as Dachau in their oral histories in which they report that were at the Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945.

On the Complete and Accurate History of the Liberation of Dachau

Because of postwar hero worship of WWII veterans and subsequent lack of fact-checking of the oral histories of  WWII veterans, 42nd history of the liberation of Dachau tends towards mythology rather than accuracy.

80 years after the liberation of Dachau, the 42nd Infantry Division, WWII 42nd ID veterans, their families and friends, and history deserve a complete and accurate history of the 42nd and the liberation of Dachau.

The complete and accurate history of the 42nd ID and the liberation of Dachau includes the location of soldiers and units during liberation. Identifying the location of a 42nd soldiers and units from April 29 to May 1, 1945 does not effect their status as a member of a recognized co-liberating division of Dachau.People may refer to members of the 42nd ID from April 30 to May 1, 1945 as “liberators.” While that is correct, including the location of soldiers on those dates makes those soldiers’ history complete and accurate.

Holocaust revisionists and modern Nazis use inaccuracies in our histories to deny the Holocaust and challenge division integrity. Researching, documenting, and sharing the complete and accurate history of the 42nd Infantry Division and the liberation of Dachau honors, preserves and protects and integrity of the 42nd.
 
Personal Note:

I compiled this using the standards of historical research and scholarship to the best of my ability as an amateur historian. I am responsible for any errors. I will make corrections if errors are reported with citations.

I am the son of the late Private First Class Felix A. Cizewski, 45th Signal Company, 45th Infantry Division. After years of research, I identified my father’s location as Haimhausen on April 29, 1945 during the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp and Feldmoching on April 30, 1945 during the liberation of the Allach subcamp. Those were his assigned locations where he served as a messenger. All soldiers of the component and attached units of the 45th Infantry Division during the 48 hours period from the afternoon April 29 to the afternoon  May 1, 1945 are included in the U.S. Holocaust Museum’s recognition of the 45th as a co-liberating division of the Dachau concentration camp regardless of their assigned location during that time period.

Sources

Whitlock, Flint, The Rock Of Anzio: From Sicily To Dachau, A History Of The U.S. 45th Infantry Division

Zarusky, Jurgen, "That is not the American Way of Fighting": The Shooting of Captured SS-Men During the Liberation of Dachau"

April 30, 1945 Co-Liberation of the Allach Subcamp of the Dachau System by Units of the 45th and 42nd Infantry Divisions compiled by Cizewski, Leonard H.

The 42nd "Rainbow" Infantry Division: a Combat History of World War II

Dann, Sam, editor. Dachau 29 April 1945 : The Rainbow Liberation Memoirs

<< The 42nd Infantry Division at Dachau: Unresolved Issues and Unanswered Questions

<< The 45th Infantry Division in World War II: An Unofficial Guide to Resources
All items not in the public domain c 2021-2025
Administrators: Leonard H. Cizewski & Judy Erwin Branham

The 45th Infantry Division in World War II: An Unofficial Guide to Resources
:
Posted:June 4, 2025

Update,Revision & Correction History:
June 8, 2025


hosted by ibiblio
Website Permission and Acknowledgements:

Please contact the administrators for instructions on how to acknowledge the source.

Many volunteer researchers at their own expense obtained many of these public domain items from sources such as the National Archives.