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An American soldier inspects a V-I or V-II rocket discovered in the Dora Mittelbau concentration camp following liberation.

Photograph | Photograph Number: 54670
An American soldier inspects a V-I or V-II rocket discovered in the Dora Mittelbau concentration camp following liberation.

An American soldier inspects a V-I or V-II rocket discovered in the Dora Mittelbau concentration camp following liberation.

Photographer
William B. Curtis
Date
April 1945
Locale
Dora-Mittelbau, Germany
Photo Designation
MAJOR CONCENTRATION CAMPS 1940-45 -- Dora-Mittelbau -- LIBERATION -- V-2 Rocket Factory
Photo Credit
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Diane Kathryn Lavett

About This Photograph

Biography
William Bostwick Curtis III was in the OSS, the forerunner of the CIA, during the Second World War. He had been a spy behind enemy lines earlier in the war and his specialty was ordinance. Bill was the official army photographer as the first wave of US Army entered Nordhausen and, earlier, possibly Buchenwald. His rank was 1st Lieutenant at that time, but he remained in the army and eventually retired as a full colonel. He was ordered to hand over all photographs and negatives but obviously did not comply. Bill never discussed his experiences during the Second World War, but he was haunted the rest of his life by them.

Keywords and Subjects

Rights and Restrictions

Photo Source
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Provenance: Diane Kathryn Lavett
Source Record ID: Collections: 2010.186.1
 
Record last modified: 2018-04-18 00:00:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1174213