EngineerBurial of Deceased Dachau InmatesEngineer Logo

U.S. Army Engineers

In February, 1945, when the Nazis ran short of coal, the SS at Dachau ceased ceased using the crematorium at Dachau and instead buried their Dachau victims in mass graves at Leitenberg.

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Leitenberg
RIGHT ORANGE CIRCLE: Leitenberg; LEFT ORANGE CIRCLE Dachau concentration camp

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Inmates loading
                  bodies on wagon
Dachau inmates loading bodies onto a wagon to be hauled to a mass grave at Leitenberg.
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Inmates
                  unloading bodies at mass grave
Dachau inmates unloading bodies at a mass grave at Leitenberg.

As U.S. troops approached, the SS evacuated inmates from the Dachau SS subcamp satellite system to Dachau along with inmates from Buchenwald.

Prior to arrival of U.S. troops, the administration of the Dachau had collapsed.

Transport of the bodies to
mass graves at Leitenberg had ceased.

When U.S. troops liberated Dachau on April 29, 1945 they found hundred or thousands of bodies of the Dachau main and subcamp inmates along 4800 bodies of the Buchenwald inmates in boxcars who had all perished during their transport.

T
o prevent the outbreak of disease U.S. Army Engineer units began burying the dead victims of the Nazis. The U.S. Army continued to use that site
for mass graves of victims of Dachau.

Helmet Stencil2829th Combat Engineer Battalion, 40th Combat Engineer Combat Group

Left: Helmet stencil of the 2929th Combat Engineer Battalion;

From May 9 to 13, the 2829th Combat Engineer Battalion, 40th Combat Engineer Combat Group was stationed at Munich, twenty miles from the Dachau concentration camp, and served in the burying of the dead.

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Dallas News
                Clipping

Mass Grave

Interview with Sergeant John Dahl, 2829th Combat Engineer Battalion, 40th Combat Engineer Combat Group, on burying Nazi victims at Dachau.

Dallas County News, May 6, 1985
2829th Combat Engineer Battalion, 40th Combat Engineer Combat Group,  digging trench for mass grave for deceased Dachau inmates including bodies found by Task Force Sparks in boxcars in the adjacent SS training facility.

In the late 1940s, the mass graves were disinterred and some of the bodies were returned to their home countries for reburial

Approximate 7400 victims remained.and are now buried in the Dachau Leitenberg Concentration Camp Cemetery

Concentration Camp Memorial Cemetery Leitenberg
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1949 Cross

Cross at erected in 1949
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Marker
Marker
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Italin Chapel
Italian Chapel

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Grounds
Grounds
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Grounds
Grounds

Correcting History on Other Sites

On the 45th Infantry Division's page at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum  site is this inaccurate statement:

The local townspeople were brought in to give the dead prisoners a proper burial

We will contact the USHMM to ask that history be changed to a more accurate one that states:

While the townspeople of Dachau may have participated in the burial of the dead Dachau victims, most of the work was done by U.S. Army Engineers.

Because of the urgent need to protect the health of the 32,000 liberated inmates, a proper burial was not possible and the Engineers buried the thousands of bodies in a mass grave at Leitenberg

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-45th-infantry-division

Sources:

40th Engineer Combat Regiment Redesignated 2829th Engineer Combat Battalion, 40th Combat Engineer Combat Group Chronology June 3, 1943 to June 8, 1945

40th Combat Engineer National Association Home page

Concentration Camp Memorial Cemetery Leitenberg

Dachau Leitenberg concentration camp cemetery (Wikipedia)

Norman Coulson, the American soldier who stayed at Dachau for a year after the camp was liberated

French, Alexander. History of the 40th Engineer Combat Regiment in WWII

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The 45th Infantry Division in World War II: An Unofficial Guide to Resources
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Last Major Update: May 7, 2022
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Posted: April 21, 2021
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