American troops captured by the Nazis in the Ardennes in Dec 1944

[irisblue]

1. https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/captured-in-the-bulge/


snip-"In the middle of December 1944, the Allies held a 400-mile front—from Nijmegen, Holland, in the north to the French-Swiss border at Basel, in the south. Occupying the northern end of the front were the British and Canadian Armies of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s 21st Army Group, while General Omar Bradley’s 12th U.S. Army Group were emplaced along the southern end.

Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges’s First U.S. Army, to which the 106th Infantry Division was now attached, had the broadest sector to cover—from Aachen to the southern border of Luxembourg, a distance of 120 miles. To the north was the Ninth U.S. Army (Simpson) while to the south was the Third (Patton)."


snip-"The 106th Division was inserted into the line near St. Vith, along the Belgian-German border, with the 99th Infantry Division on its left flank and the 28th on its right. Because this was a “quiet” sector where little or no enemy action was expected, the Army felt that this would be the perfect place to position the division so that the inexperienced lions could become gradually accustomed to life on the front lines."


snip-"The roads were packed with thousands of U.S. servicemen (some 8,000 Americans had been taken prisoner) being marched into Germany, many of them toward Prüm, a small city on the German side of the border."

This article speaks about how the Nazis separated Jewish troops from Gentile troops



Source 2-https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/december-16/battle-of-the-bulge

snip-"The battle raged for three weeks, resulting in a massive loss of American and civilian life. Nazi atrocities abounded, including the murder of 72 American soldiers by SS soldiers in the Ardennes town of Malmedy. Historian Stephen Ambrose estimated that by war’s end, “Of the 600,000 GIs involved, almost 20,000 were killed, another 20,000 were captured, and 40,000 were wounded.”


The United States also suffered its second-largest surrender of troops of the war: More than 7,500 members of the 106th Infantry Division capitulated at one time at Schnee Eifel. The devastating ferocity of the conflict also made desertion an issue for the American troops; General Eisenhower was forced to make an example of Private Eddie Slovik, the first American executed for desertion since the Civil War."

More there

[irisblue]

1. This is from the first source- separate post b/c of the 4 paragraph c&p limit

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/captured-in-the-bulge/


He said, “Major Clyde Collins said that the Jewish soldiers should throw their dog tags into the potbelly stove in the center of the room because we were surrounded by SS troops.”Shapiro complied with the order, but was puzzled. “I do not recall any thoughts about what this action meant, or even related the fact that I was Jewish and these were SS troops. I had not known of any incident in which Jewish soldiers had been shot.”

[3Hotdogs]

2. The Private Slovik episode was a disgrace to the Army and the United States.

[irisblue]

3. About Private Slovik

About the 1954 book & movie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Execution_of_Private_Slovik


I saw this in March 1974, first time seeing Martin Sheen in a role.

He came from a Dertoit Polish Catholic family, in the neighborhood where my Moms family lived. Mom's parents knew through church Slovik family & told Mom & her 1 yr younger brother Peter to stay away from him. Mom watched that movie with me and said her parents were right.