Faces of the Holocaust: Richard Seibel, Liberator

Colonel Seibel arrived at Mauthausen in Austria shortly after its liberation and was put in charge of the camp ? the highest-ranking American officer to command a concentration camp. This was one of the most brutal camps, and contained inmates from twenty-one different nations who did not get along and sometimes could not even talk to one another. The potential for trouble was high, and Col. Seibel remained there for three months to maintain order and arrange for the repatriation of the 18,000 survivors. He describes his efforts to bring in food and medical supplies and to begin the process of sending the prisoners home. Colonel Seibel now resides in Defiance, Ohio. This narrative is graphic.