Yes, I believe it happened. Dad was an army soldier in a troop that was sent in to one of the Munchhausen concentration camps in Austria in order to liberate the prisoners. He never talked about it to me until over 40 years after the experience. We went to see a Holocaust exhibit in Chicago. After the tour, he told me tidbits of witnessing the aftermath of what the Nazis had done there.
Dad passed away 20 years ago. If my family is a reliable source, then I can share that this strong man would wake up screaming from nightmares about what he saw there for several years, even after he married Mom. An older sister took photos that he had of the carnage of the camp into school for show and tell, only to have them stolen out of her desk. Mom has been compiling information on WWII based upon my father’s experiences. His censored letters to his mother at the time, the information he shared with her, and the fill-in-the-gaps input from a fellow troop member that is still alive has painted a vivid picture of what the Holocaust looked like from an American soldier’s perspective that was there to witness aspects of it.
What’s surprising is that such a fact-filled event could be questioned so early in history. There is still so much evidence in existence to prove it. Last year, I toured the Dachau “work” camp and Nuremberg. Trust me…Germany is not proud of the Nazi regime that is part of the country’s history. Yet even they recognize it as a realistic event.
While there is a certain respect level granted to those who question information, to form opinion opposing something that is so accurately documented, such as the Holocaust, it puts them in the bottom ranks of respect. It makes me wonder where their influence for this opinion came from.