I tried some of the Turkish cigarettes and they were so
strong it would knock your socks off. British and Italian cigarettes
were also quite plentiful so I had plenty as I didn't smoke much.
We were only thirty miles from the concentration camp at Dachau, but
we knew nothing about it at this time. After we had been here two
weeks we began to hear the big guns to the west of us and knew that
the American front was-getting closer and that we would soon be free.
The rumors began again that we might be moved again to the east, but
the Germans must have realized that there were too many of us to move
and that the war would soon be over anyway. To the west of us was a
hill with trees on the top and open fields on the slopes facing us.
We began watching those fields waiting for the American troops to
come. On Sunday morning April 29 the guns were a lot closer and we
were very excited. The German guards had about all disappeared so we
knew it wouldn't be long.
We were watching the top of the hill and saw the little L4 spotter
planes flying low and directing the artillery fire. Bullets from
rifle fire began hitting the camp and next to my bunk one guy was
sitting against the center tent pole writing a letter when a bullet
hit the tent pole and dropped into his lap. He put the bullet in his
pocket and we headed for the trenches which were about six feet deep
and ran throughout the camp. We looked up at the hill and the tanks
were just coming out of the woods toward us.
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