Dachau: The Harrowing of Hell

FOREWORD

FOREWORD At the end of April 1944, in Germany, Marcus Smith (then 26 years old) underwent one of the formative experiences of his life. A Lieutenant who had completed medical school and a oneyear internship before joining the U.S. Army, Marcus was the sole medical officer attached to a small displaced person (DP) team that was sent to the Dachau concentration camp the day after it was liberated by Allied troops and several days before the shocking conditions of the camp were publicized throughout the world. Until additional Allied units and Red Cross personnel arrived at Dachau a few days later to assist with repatriation, the ten members of the team, with Marcus as the only doctor, were on their own to do what they could for nearly 32,000 starved and seriously ill camp surVlvors. In a notebook and in detailed daily letters to his wife, Carol, Marcus recorded what he witnessed, his activities and those of his colleagues, the progress and setbacks in the rehabilitation process, the troubles and joys of the survivors, and his own reactions. In May 1945, Marcus was awarded the Bronze Star for his work at Dachau; a month later, he was promoted to Captain. His final European assignment was to work with a Russian repatriation center. Marcus then returned to the U.S., completed a residency in radiology, and in 1948 settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he practiced medicine and raised a family. He also served on the editorial board of the Rocky Mountain Medical Journal (19591981 ) and its successor, the Western Journal of Medicine (19811984 ); wrote Error and Variation in Diagnostic Radiology (published by Charles C. Thomas in 1967), researched and wrote about the history of medicine in New Mexico, and participated in arts and other community organizations. lX Twenty-five years after his experiences at Dachau, Marcus unearthed his Dachau notes and letters and used them as source materials for this book, which was first published by the University of New Mexico Press in 1972 under the title The Harrowing of Hell: Dachau. From the perspective of a young physician, Marcus describes his experiences, shedding light on the immense difficulties and complexities of the large-scale tasks DP Team 115 completed, against great odds, to combat epidemic diseases and starvation and to repatriate the former prisoners. Marcus also describes some of the people the team tried to help-men, women, and children from all walks of life, of many nationalities and religions . Believing that we must never forget what happened, Marcus tells his moving story with simplicity and grace. In a letter written in 1972, Marcus explained, "I have written the book for the postWorld War II generation; it is dedicated to my children with the hope that they will remember the events that have shown how thin the veneer of civilization really is." Just before he was transferred out of Dachau, some survivors gave Marcus several drawings that bore the signature "Music." Only after The Harrowing of Hell: Dachau was published in 1972 did Marcus learn the identity of the artist-Zoran Music, an acclaimed artist who maintained studios in Venice and Paris and whose paintings, drawings, and other works had been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout Europe. Marcus learned Music was born in 1909 in Gorizia, an Austrian-dominated town in Slovenia that became part of Italy after World War I. In the 1930s, Music studied at the art academy in Zagreb and traveled to Spain, where he copied the works of Goya and El Greco. In 1943, he settled in Venice; in 1944, he was arrested by the Gestapo. Accused of complicity with anti-Nazi factions, he was deported to Dachau.,~ Memories of Dachau continued to haunt both Marcus Smith and Zoran Music over the ensuing decades. While Marcus wrote about his experiences, Music incorporated images of Dachau in many of his later works. * Giuseppe Mazzariol, Music (Milano, Gruppo Editoriale Electa, 1980) Centre Georges Pompidou, Music, L'oeuvre Graphique (Paris, Editions de Centre Georges Pompidou, 1988) x Foreword From the late-seventies until his death in 1986, Marcus enjoyed a warm correspondence with Music; he particularly treasured some additional works of art and books about Music that the artist sent him. We are very grateful to the State University of New York Press for recognizing the importance of The Harrowing of Hell: Dachau. We feel this touching story of the efforts of DP Team 115 to accomplish its mission in the aftermath of a...