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19. The Burial Detail
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19 THE BURIAL DETAIL Many of the big guns of the Medical Corps are loaded, and on May 3, seventy-two hours after our arrival in the camp, the barrage begins that will bring victory against the body lice, the misanthropic, parasitic insects responsible for the transmission of typhus fever from person to person. The Army has contributed enough DDT so that dusting of all the inmates at Dachau and Allach can start. By a superhuman effort the task is completed in five days. In addition to the inmates, the official quarantine calls for the dusting of all other individuals-Army personnel, guards, visitors, Allied officials-when they leave the inner camp for the outer area. Furthermore, these persons are required to show their immunization records and be given typhus vaccine, unless they have received the vaccine during the previous thirty days. We would like to inoculate the inmates at this time, but such action will have to wait. Despite the mighty resources of the Army, there is insufficient vaccine on hand. The order for the quarantine is issued by the commanding general of 7th Army. But it is awkward to manage the camp from a distance, and the Army establishes a permanent camp administration here, temporarily headed by Colonel Barrett. His General Order, No. I announces the appointment of Colonel Bradford, CO of the 12 7th Evacuation Hospital and highestranking medical officer in the camp, to the position of Camp Surgeon of the Dachau and Allach concentration camps. Decisions about health and sanitation can now be made on the spot. The Team's relation to the new organization is hazy. There is another high-ranking officer here, Colonel Myron P. Rudolph, Surgeon of 7th Army; I have talked with him several times. I think I am to work under Colonel Hathaway, who is at Corps I 131 level, even though he is not in the G-S section. But the Team remains responsible to the G-S representative here, Colonel Kenneth Worthing of Fond-du-Lac, Wisconsin. Even though the chain of command has some weak links and authority is divided, the medical job is being done, and quickly. Many other military units are here for different purposes; they, too, are semi-independent. So far, I have not heard any grumbling about the looseness ot the organization. I am glad that the new medical units are headed by full colonels . It is important to cut through red tape, and chicken colonels carry sharper scissors than do first lieutenants. After Colonel Bradford moves into his new office, a loud explosion resounds in his building, and the occupants exit rapidly . Sabotage? Later I hear that an American soldier accidentally nudged a German "potato-masher" grenade in the cellar of this building. In another room used by an investigating unit, an inmate being questioned is suddenly revealed as a Gestapo agent and tries to escape. He is shot four times. "Is there a doctor in the house?" The old cry echoes, and a soldier dashes into my office and tells me that the German is dying. Can I come over and try to save him-for questioning ? When I reach him, I find that one bullet has passed into the right side of his chest. I give him first aid and ship him to one of the American hospitals for surgical management: the surgeons there could use a clean, fresh gunshot wound for a change. This man should recover, I think, and I reassure the interrogators. Almost daily SS men and collaborators are flushed out of buildings and hiding places in or near the camp. Yesterday one was discovered and impaled on the front gate. Some are believed to be in the inner compound, dressed as prisoners, but they should be easy to detect: their healthy appearance will give them away. This morning, on my way to see the burgomaster, my driver and I stop a short distance from the camp in order to see what interests a crowd of American soldiers. They have formed a circle around and are watching three blue-striped inmates beat and kick two screaming green-clad prison guards-collaborators . We observe for a few minutes, then continue to our destination. About four hours later we return; the act of 132 I Dachau: The First Week vengeance is continuing. The swollen, bruised victims are still alive, but no longer screaming because they need their breath to gasp feebly. The inmates still curse and kick. The American soldiers...