Allach porcelain figurine found by a US Army nurse in Dachau concentration camp post-liberation

Helen Bates Rickert (later Helen Simmons, 1915-2011) was born in Abington, Pennsylvania, to Charles (1885-1962) and Bessie (1885-1925) Bates. She had six siblings, Charles Jr. (1907-2003), Betty (1909-?), Edward (1911-1972), Doris (1916-?), William (1920-?), and Beatrice (1923-?). In the 1930s, Helen married Arthur Rickert (1914-1937), who soon died of scarlet fever.

Helen trained as a nurse at Abington Memorial Hospital, and in July 1941, enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps. She served domestically until late February 1943 when she was assigned to the Second Auxiliary Surgical Group as an Operating Room nurse (serial number N-724570). Auxiliary Surgical Groups consisted of approximately 25 general and specialty surgical teams, and were attached to Field Hospitals, General Hospitals, and Evacuation Hospitals as needed. Helen sailed with the main body of the Second Auxiliary from New York on February 28, 1943, landing at Casablanca, Morocco, on March 9. She also worked with the 11th Evacuation Hospital, and spent a year and a half serving in Africa, Italy, and France. On August 15, 1944, the Second Auxiliary split between the Fifth Army, which remained in the Mediterranean, and the Seventh Army, which went north into France and Germany. Helen’s team accompanied the Seventh Army.

On April 29, 1945, the 42nd Infantry Division, the 45th Infantry Division, and the 20th Armored Division liberated 32,000 prisoners at Dachau concentration camp, near Munich. Additionally, they found over 2,300 corpses and 816 survivors on a train outside the camp. The day after liberation, the U.S. Seventh Army took over administration of Dachau, and on May 7, Germany formally surrendered to the Allies. Medical personnel from the 59th, 116th, and 127th Evacuation Hospitals and auxiliary surgical teams aided as many sick and dying prisoners as they could. They also attempted to stop a typhus epidemic, which had spread throughout the camp. Despite the medical care, over 2,000 former prisoners of Dachau died by the end of May. Helen served with the Second Auxiliary Surgical Group until July 6, and remained in Europe until August. She returned to the U.S. on August 12, 1945, and remained in domestic service until February 28, 1946. Helen separated from the Army at the rank of first lieutenant and received a Bronze Star for her service.

As a civilian, Helen continued working as a Registered Nurse, and volunteered at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She married Harlan B. Simmons (1912-1966), who also served in the Army during the war, and the couple had two children.