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Bob Mamlin

Robert (Bob) Mamlin grew up in New York, where he was already more aware than most American soldiers of reports about Jews being persecuted in Europe. Drafted during his first year of college, he served as a 57mm A9 anti-tank gunner, fighting in four major European battles including the Battle of the Bulge. His unit worked closely with the infantry, destroying German tanks and pillboxes whenever called upon.

Mamlin entered Dachau in mid-April 1945 and immediately witnessed atrocities he had only heard rumors about back home. He saw mass graves, starving survivors, crematoriums, gas chambers, piles of shoes and clothing, and, in one of the most disturbing sights, lampshades made of human skin.For Mamlin, being Jewish made the liberation deeply personal; he understood that had he lived in Europe rather than New York, he could easily have shared the fate of the victims he found in the camp.

After Dachau, Mamlin returned to the United States on emergency furlough after the death of his mother, eventually meeting his future wife in Nashville. For decades he rarely spoke about the war or the camp, saying the country itself was largely silent about the Holocaust. Only around the 50th anniversary of D-Day did he begin to open up about what he had witnessed, sharing his experiences with students and community groups.

Interviewer: All right sir, here is what we're going to do. We're going to talk for just a few minutes about your military background. I noticed on here you said that you were actually told that Dachau was a camp where Jews were being held captive.

Robert Mamlin: Well, I already knew it because being brought up in New York, that's where I was born, so the Jews in New York knew what was going on.

Interviewer: OK. I definitely want to talk about that because so far you're the only liberator that had any information. I would like to talk to you about that. Initially, I'd like to just talk to you about a little about your family—where you grew up, your military, were you drafted, did you join, a little bit what you did in the military—and then we'll go into Dachau.

Robert Mamlin: Sure. Now, originally when I was a boy, 17 or 18 years old, I wanted to be a history teacher because I'm very interested in history. But of course that was not to be because my first year in college, I was drafted into the United States Army. I was drafted—I did not enlist. And I was sent to Southern Army camps for my basic training. After basic training, I was sent to Europe to join the United States Third Army under George Patton. Under Patton, I fought in four major battles in the European theater including the Battle of the Bulge. And of course, as you know I was one of the liberators of Dachau concentration camp. I was there maybe a day and a half because the war was still on. We liberated Dachau in the middle of April 1945. The war in Europe was over on May 8, 1945.

Interviewer: Tell me a little bit about your military service. What did you do?

Robert Mamlin: I was an A9 tank gunner. A 57 A9 tank gun—it’s like a small artillery piece. Its purpose was to destroy German tanks and pillboxes. Actually, I was an infantryman, but not really an infantryman—we were attached to the infantry. Whenever the infantry got into trouble or saw German tanks, we were with them at all times. Wherever the infantry went, we went. We also had bazookas, but the A9 tank gun destroyed the tanks and pillboxes.

Robert Mamlin: Now, I can tell you a little story if you're interested. After the war was over—May 8, 1945—my knowledge of Yiddish, taught to me by my grandmother, saved my life. After the war I was made an interpreter because the Army needed them. I knew Yiddish and a little German from high school, so I could make myself known to the Germans. One particular morning in Linz, Austria, the lieutenant colonel needed me to help speak with the mayor. Ten men from my unit had gone down to the river to wash our artillery piece. Someone left a round in the chamber and it went off—eight men were killed instantly, and one lost an arm and a leg. I would have been there if not for being pulled aside as an interpreter. So I consider myself lucky.

Interviewer: Tell me about Dachau. You said you knew growing up in New York.

Robert Mamlin: Yes, of course I didn't know that much, but the Jews in New York were very worried about the concentration camps and what was heard about it. When I went into service, I didn't expect to liberate Dachau.

Interviewer: What had you heard?

Robert Mamlin: Oh, the horrible things going on. Actually, we didn't know about the crematoriums and gas chambers exactly, but that's what we heard. And of course, I actually saw it. I saw women holding their children, half-buried in dirt, dead. I saw the crematoriums and gas chambers. They had left behind their pitiful shoes and rags, believing they were going to be cleaned. And one of the worst things I saw—I don't think many people saw—I actually saw lampshades made out of Jewish skin. And the one who did it was Ilse Koch. She was in charge of picking out the Jews whose skin would be used. She was still there when we captured the camp. Most of the soldiers had fled because they were afraid of Patton. Survivors told me the SS were saying, “Patton is coming.” They knew the Third Army could destroy them, so they left.

Interviewer: What was the date of liberation?

Robert Mamlin: I can't remember the exact date. I’d say sometime in the middle of April—maybe April 12 or 15. I didn’t keep the date; I didn't think I’d be interviewed 57 years later.

Interviewer: A survivor yesterday told me April 11 is his second birthday.

Robert Mamlin: I was pretty close.

Interviewer: How do you feel about comments like that?

Robert Mamlin: It makes me feel good. It makes me feel good that I could liberate other Jews. I talked to a young man in the camp—a survivor whose family had been killed. He said he never imagined there were Jewish soldiers in the U.S. Army. It was beyond his comprehension that Jewish soldiers would liberate him.

Interviewer: Did being Jewish make the experience different for you?

Robert Mamlin: I felt deep feelings being a Jew liberating other Jews. I always heard in New York how Jews were being destroyed by Hitler. It gave me satisfaction that I was one of the first ones there. And that stays with me.

Interviewer: Was there anything you remember most? Any one inmate?

Robert Mamlin: It's been so long, but I remember that young boy—14 or 15. I was only 20. I think how much better his life must have been because he survived.

Interviewer: You came home after all this—what happened then?

Robert Mamlin: I went on to Camp Campbell in Kentucky. My mother had died while I was overseas, and I came back on emergency furlough. I met my wife in Nashville at the YMHA. Her family has been in Nashville since 1861.

Interviewer: When you look back, what do you remember most?

Robert Mamlin: How people can be so vicious to other human beings. I understand war—but what they did to the Jews? I cannot understand. And when German people told me they “didn’t know,” I knew it was a lie. Dachau was only 14 miles from Munich. There is no way civilians didn’t know.

Interviewer: Do you talk about it now?

Robert Mamlin: Yes. I talk to school kids—12 to 15 years old. They ask very good questions. I cannot stand the people who deny the Holocaust. I want them to look me in the eye and tell me there was no Holocaust. I’d call them a liar.

Interviewer: What do the kids ask?

Robert Mamlin: They want to know how people were killed. They can't understand mothers being killed, people put in ovens. They ask how long I was in the Army, when we liberated Dachau—good questions.

Interviewer: Why do you think there was silence for so many years?

Robert Mamlin: I don’t know. It was a dead issue. Only survivors talked about it. I didn’t speak until the 50th anniversary of D-Day in 1994. Then everything came back, and I told my daughters and my wife.

Interviewer: Is there anything else you want to add?

Robert Mamlin: No, except that people should know what happened. My wife and I have traveled the world since I retired, but now we stay closer to home. It’s been a long life.

Interviewer: This has been a pleasure. Thank you.

Robert Mamlin: OK. It’s a joy talking with you.