World War II Diaries:The Complete War Report
1945 April
E68 May 20, 2018
Fifty thousand U.S. troops land unopposed along thirteen kilometers of beach of the southwest coast near Hagushi. Casualties are so scarce that the Marines call today the day of love. Hitler has included Vienna in the category of an "especially important defensive zone," which means fighting with all available means until the last man alive. Also, according to the NERO decree, all infrastructures should be destroyed to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. Soldiers of the 89th U.S. Infantry Division arrive at Ohrdruf Concentration Camp, one of the sub-camps of Buchenwald. At the entrance they find thousands of corpses stacked one on top of another, each with a bullet in the neck. When he visits, General Eisenhower, is so affected that he sends photographs to Churchill with copies of movies that have been filmed. The British Prime Minister is so horrified that he circulates the material among members of the War Cabinet.