Japanese-Americans with the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion pose outside the Kehlsteinhaus (also known as the Eagle's Nest).

Photograph | Digitized | Photograph Number: 45864

Overview

Caption: Japanese-Americans with the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion pose outside the Kehlsteinhaus (also known as the Eagle's Nest).
Date: May 1945
Locale: Berchtesgaden, [Bavaria] Germany
Photo Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Eric Saul
Event History: In the 1920s Adolf Hitler established a mountain retreat for himself on the Obersalzberg, above Berchtesgaden, in the southeast corner of Bavaria. It was known as the Berghof and consisted of a large chalet and estate. Later, the Nazi hierarchy turned the Obersalzberg into a huge complex, with homes for themselves, military barracks, tunnel and bunker complexes, and the Kehlsteinhaus, or "Eagles Nest." The Berghof was captured at the beginning of May 1945 by troops with the 101st U.S. Airborne Division.

The 522nd Field Artillery operated as an independant battalion in the southern German campaign in the spring of 1945. The enlisted men of the battalion were all Japanese Americans from the west coast and Hawaii. Units of this battalion liberated prisoners on one of the death marches from Dachau near the town of Waakirchen on May 2, 1945.

Photo Source: Eric Saul

Copyright: Agency Agreement (No Fees)

Provenance: Bob Ikeda

Keyword: BERGHOF (BERCHTESGADEN) JAPANESE-AMERICANS SOLDIERS/MILITARY (AMERICAN)
Photo Designation: LIBERATION -- Germany: General -- Liberators