A slain camp guard lies in the grass surrounded by what are probably his personal papers and documents.

Photograph | Photograph Number: 57805

Photographer: Paul Averitt
Date: 1945 April 29
Locale: Dachau, [Bavaria] Germany
Photo Designation: MAJOR CONCENTRATION CAMPS 1940-45 -- Dachau -- LIBERATION -- Summary Justice/Revenge
Photo Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Angie Averitt Womack

Biography: Paul Richard Averitt, the son of Henry Clark and Bessie Baker Averitt was born in Nashville, Tennessee on August 7, 1923. Enlisting on January 30, 1943 at the age of 18, he was assigned to the U.S. Army 92nd Signal Battalion Company A. As a telephone/telegraph lineman, his duties included setting up the communications prior to the movement of troops. After spending over a year in England and Ireland, his company arrived at Normandy on July 13, 1944, joined Patton’s 3rd Army and traveled through Northern France, the Rhineland and Central Europe. Often the first to arrive in an area, Paul took hundreds of pictures to document his tour of duty. On April 29th 1945, only hours after its liberation he arrived at Dachau, came upon the horrific scenes, and captured them on film. He returned to the states and was released from duty on December 2, 1945.
Keyword: CLOSE-UPS
CONCENTRATION CAMPS
CORPSES
DACHAU
DOCUMENTS
SS (SCHUTZSTAFFELN)
SUMMARY PUNISHMENT/REVENGE
Photo Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Provenance: Angie Averitt Womack
: Record last modified: 2008-08-19 00:00:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1143480

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