Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Illustrated map of the combat route of the 42nd Infantry Division, the Rainbow Division, given to Romeo Fagiolo, a soldier in the Division, not long after the war. It was created by R.E. Gustafson, a colonel in the Division. This map depicts troop movements through Rain, Germany, to the liberation of Dachau and to Austria from April 27 to May 8, 1945. The division landed in France in December 1944, crossed the German border in March 1945, and liberated Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945. Romeo Fagiolo, age 22, was assigned to an anti-tank unit. He was one of the first soldiers to enter Dachau on the day of liberation. The next day, his division continued on to Munich and after the war ended on May 7, 1945, served as an occupying force in Austria. This map is part of a series with 2010.130.1, .2, and .4 illustrating the campaign from Wingen, France, to Austria, north of Salzburg.
- Artwork Title
- The Rainbow Trail, Part IV: Advance of 42nd Infantry Division from the Danube to Austria
- Date
-
creation:
approximately 1948
depiction: 1945 April 27-1945 May 08
- Geography
-
depiction:
Germany
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Romeo J. Fagiolo
- Markings
- front, top left corner, title, bold black ink : THE RAINBOW TRAIL
front, lower left center, map legend, black ink : Advance of 42nd Inf. Div. from / the Danube to Austria / April 27-May8 / 222 d Inf. Regt. (red line) / 232 d Inf. Regt (yellow line) / 242 d Inf. Regt. (blue line) / 20th Armd Div. (brown line) / Dotted lines indicated non-combatant moves / Scale-1:350.000
front, lower right, small text, black ink : R.E. Gustafson - Contributor
-
Designer:
R.E. Gustafson
Subject: Romeo J. Fagiolo
- Biography
-
Romeo Fagiolo was born on January 29, 1922, in Washington, DC, the only son of Italian immigrants who had met and married in the US. His father was in the insurance business and Romeo had one sister. He graduated high school in 1941 and was drafted into the United States Army in February 1943. He completed basic training at Fort Hood, Texas. Romeo was selected to participate in the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP), at Texas A&M University, but it was disbanded after four months. He was reassigned to an anti-tank unit in the 42nd Infantry Division, the Rainbow Division. In November 1944, the division was deployed to Marseilles, France, and rushed to the front where they fought in the Battle of the Bulge at Bastogne. Romeo received a battlefield promotion from corporal to staff sergeant.
Romeo and his division reached Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945. As he approached the camp gate, he passed dozens of railroad cars filled with corpses and surrounded by corpses. When he entered the camp, he saw the living dead. Romeo was one of the first infantry soldiers to enter the camp and he viewed the crematories and the bathing areas, where the filth and smell were intolerable. One of the division’s most difficult tasks was containing the prisoners who were mobile, as they were not allowed to leave the camp in order to prevent the spread of disease. Romeo left Dachau the next day as they were bringing in local townspeople to view the horrifying conditions. The Rainbow Division continued on to Munich, and then into Austria. When the Germans surrendered on May 7, 1945, the 42nd served as an occupying force in Austria through June 1946. At that point, it was deactivated and Romeo returned to the United States and resumed civilian life.
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Classification
-
Information Forms
- Category
-
Maps
- Object Type
-
Thematic maps (lcsh)
- Physical Description
- Paper copy of a rectangular hand drawn map with a light brown background. The area of the advance is enclosed within 2 curved, narrow, bold black lines moving horizontally from the upper left, through the center of the page, to the lower right from Rain, through Dachau, Munich, Wasserburg, and Rosenheim to Austria; there are breaks in the lines for rivers. Along the advance lines are 3 colored division insignias with adjacent arrows pointing southeast and east: left edge and upper center is a white and blue striped square, 3rd Infantry Division; upper left is a red square with a yellow thunderbird, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team; lower center is a red, irregular triangle with a black Blackhawk and BH, 86th Infantry Division. There are color coded troop advance lines for 4 units. There are dates of engagements with numbers and text in black ink. In the upper right is a rectangular map legend with black text on a white background. In the upper center is the title in black ink with the red, yellow, and blue rainbow insignia of the 42nd Division. The designer’s name is printed in the lower right corner in black ink. There is a border of 2 thin, black lines; the edges are irregularly cut.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 17.500 inches (44.45 cm)
- Materials
- overall : paper, ink
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- Restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The map was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2010 by Romeo J. Fagiolo.
- Funding Note
- The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
- Record last modified:
- 2024-04-29 07:56:02
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn41448
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Also in Romeo J. Fagiolo collection
The collection consists of four prints of a set of maps depicting the 42nd Infantry Rainbow Trail relating to the experiences of Romeo J. Fagiolo as an infantry soldier in the United States Army, serving in combat in the European Theatre and present at the liberation of Dachau concentration camp during World War II.
Date: approximately 1948
Copy of hand drawn map, Rainbow Division entry into Germany by division member
Object
Illustrated map of the combat route of the 42nd Infantry Division, the Rainbow Division, given to Romeo Fagiolo, a soldier in the Division, not long after the war. It was created by R.E. Gustafson, a Division colonel. This map shows troop movements through the Hardt Mountains, across the French-German border, and through the Siegfried Line from March 15 to March 31, 1945. The division landed in France in December 1944, crossed the German border in March 1945, and liberated Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945. Romeo Fagiolo, age 22, was assigned to an anti-tank unit. He was one of the first soldiers to enter Dachau on the day of liberation. The next day, the division continued to Munich and, after the war ended on May 7, 1945, served as an occupying force in Austria. This map is part of a series with 2010.130.2, .3, and .4 illustrating the campaign from Wingen, France, to Austria, north of Salzburg.
Copy of hand drawn map, Rainbow Division advance into Germany by division member
Object
Illustrated map of the combat route of the 42nd Infantry Division, the Rainbow Division, given to Romeo Fagiolo, a soldier in the Division, not long after the war. It was created by R.E. Gustafson, a colonel in the Division. This map depicts troop movements through Miltenberg, Germany, to the capture of Furth from March 31 to April 20, 1945. The division landed in France in December 1944, crossed the German border in March 1945, and liberated Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945. Romeo Fagiolo, age 22, was assigned to an anti-tank unit. He was one of the first soldiers to enter Dachau on the day of liberation. The next day, his division continued on to Munich and after the war ended on May 7, 1945, served as an occupying force in Austria. This map is part of a series with 2010.130.1, .3, and .4 illustrating the campaign from Wingen, France, to Austria, north of Salzburg.
Copy of hand drawn map, Rainbow Division advance into southern Germany by division member
Object
Illustrated map of the combat route of the 42nd Infantry Division, the Rainbow Division, given to Romeo Fagiolo, a soldier in the Division, not long after the war. It was created by R.E. Gustafson, a colonel in the Division. This map depicts troop movements through Furth, Germany, to the crossing of the Danube from April 20 to April 26, 1945. The division landed in France in December 1944, crossed the German border in March 1945, and liberated Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945. Romeo Fagiolo, age 22, was assigned to an anti-tank unit. He was one of the first soldiers to enter Dachau on the day of liberation. The next day, his division continued on to Munich and after the war ended on May 7, 1945, served as an occupying force in Austria. This map is part of a series with 2010.130.1, .2, and .4 illustrating the campaign from Wingen, France, to Austria, north of Salzburg.
