In the 82nd's storied history, the liberation of the Nazi work camp is often overlooked. There is no mention of it in the division museum except a plaque given in thanks by one of the men rescued that day, May 2, 1945.
That's about to change in a new exhibit focusing on World War II, W÷bbelin - and what happened afterward. For the next two months, Fayetteville museums, universities and the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County will host exhibits on the themes of tolerance and diversity.
At the 82nd Airborne Division Museum, visitors will have an opportunity to see photos normally stored in the archives. They're of W÷bbelin, a Nazi sub-camp used as a dumping ground for Russian prisoners of war and Jews who had survived other concentration camps. It did not have gas chambers or crematoria - German soldiers planned to shoot the surviving inmates who did not succumb to starvation or cold. But before they had the chance, the German 21st Army surrendered, and an 82nd lieutenant stumbled upon W÷bbelin by accident. The Americans thought they had seen the worst of war, but what they found at W÷bbelin appalled them. They found bodies "stacked liked cordwood," one soldier said later. Hundreds more were discovered in mass graves in the woods outside the camp. It is estimated that 4,000 people were held prisoner at W÷bbelin just prior to its liberation.
The closest town was about four miles away, but the residents of Ludwigslust denied any knowledge of the work camp. The 82nd ordered residents to dig 200 graves in front of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg Castle and mark each one with a cross. Every fourth cross bore the star of David.
The bodies lay in view as every town resident and the command staff of the 21st German Army filed by. Chaplains George B. "Chappie" Wood, Philip Hannan and Henry Wall led a funeral for the victims. Wood would later be recognized as the only World War II chaplain to parachute into combat four times. Hannan would go on to become the leader of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, famous for delivering the eulogy at President John F. Kennedy's funeral.
In Ludwigslust, Wood spoke directly to the people of the town. "Within four miles of your comfortable homes, 4,000 men were forced to live like animals, deprived even of the food you would give to your dogs. These 200 who lie before us in these graves were found piled four and five feet high in one building and lying with the sick and dying in other buildings.
"Protestant, Catholic and Jewish prayers will be said ... for these victims as we lay them to rest and commit them into the hands of our heavenly father in the hope that the world will not again be faced with such barbarity."
The 82nd moved on just a few days after the funeral in Ludwigslust. But neither the soldiers nor the survivors ever forgot.
James Megellas wrote a book about his experiences at W÷bbelin. "I was not prepared mentally to deal with the horror of the camp," he said in "All the Way to Berlin: A Paratrooper at War in Europe."
Fifty years after his release, Rabbi Laszlo Berkowitz presented a plaque to the division.
"God sent us angels from the sky," Berkowitz said at a ceremony at the division chapel.
"We can never thank them enough. We can never, never repay them. We can never praise them enough. Their sacrifices turned back the age of enslavement." 82nd Airborne Division War Memorial Museum
The plaque, photos and information about W÷bbelin will be on display. Artifacts from the Dutch National Socialist movement and related artifacts captured by the division during World War II will also be included. Information: 910-432-3443 or 82ndAirborneDivisionMuseum.com