Cape Cod Community College Yom Hashoah service

Joseph C. Solarz was a Staff Sgt. Tank Commander of the 6th Armored Division 69th Tank Battalion B Company, a member of General George S. Patton’s 3rd Army. He landed on Utah Beach in France and raced across France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Battle of the Bulge and Germany to the Elbe River. He and his company were then assigned to security detail at Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Weimar. Solarz was fluent in Polish and was able to speak with inmates about their experiences in Buchenwald. He also befriended an American journalist who was composing a report on what had transpired at the Camp. The man gave Solarz a copy of his full report as well as several photographs and a copy of a letter he sent to his family.