News-Info-Alerts

Re: Liberation

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: January 19, 2003

"WWII liberator recalls story for Austrian archives

By Dave Parro
STAFF WRITER

Documentary project: Boulder Hill man was one of first to enter camp

  BOULDER HILL — When he talks about his time as a medic during World War II, LeRoy "Pete" Petersohn's gaze drifts slightly downward. His hands fidget mindlessly with whatever small item might be nearby.

  During normal conversation, his eye contact is constant, his smile ever-present. The 80-year-old Boulder Hill man is a warm and friendly widower who has lived a long and joyful life, most of it in the Aurora area.

  His demeanor changes dramatically when he talks about the war, especially when the topic shifts to the five days he spent at Mauthausen, an Austrian extermination camp the Army veteran's 11th Armored Division helped liberate from the Nazis.

  His face drops with his eyes; his words are calculated. He's 23 years old again, and the images are right in front of him.

  They've stayed with Petersohn for more than half a century, these people he runs into in his mind over and over again.

  The starving masses who smiled at their American liberators despite being nothing but skin and bones. The two prisoners who threw themselves on the electrified barbed-wire fence right in front of him, choosing to end their misery even in the face of freedom. The Nazi SS soldier who tried to pass himself off as a prisoner, only to be recognized and killed by a vengeful mob.

  The only thing that can bring Petersohn out of May 1945 are the tears that choke his words.

  "That is pretty much my story," Petersohn said after recalling his experiences Monday during a five-hour interview with a documentarian for the Austrian government.

  "Something I lived with many days and many nights, as I have flashbacks to the places and feelings I had for these people.

  "When I talk about it, I can see it."

  Petersohn's story is one of 800 being gathered in 16 countries for the Mauthausen Survivors Documentation Project, an audio and video collection being put together by the Austrian Ministry of the Interior for the country's national archives.

  The words of survivors and liberators will be included in exhibits at the renovated camp museum and available for research at the University of Vienna.

  Elisabeth Pozzi-Thanner, an independent oral historian working on the project, said Petersohn provided a unique perspective because he got to the camp on May 5, 1945, a few days before most of the troops arrived.

  "Mr. Petersohn's testimony was special in so far that he was a liberator who was among the first three cars that arrived," she said. "He entered where no one else had entered before."

  Before the audio interview began, Petersohn showed Pozzi-Thanner the dozens of artifacts and photographs he has saved for almost six decades. The memories are neatly kept in albums, preserving his journey through Europe and what he saw at Mauthausen, the mother camp in Austria where an estimated 120,000 people were killed.

  Pozzi-Thanner, the regional coordinator for the project in the United States and Canada, was in the Chicago region interviewing one other liberator and two survivors. After six months of interviews, there are only six weeks to go.

  Petersohn wants his story to be told, and he'll tell it to anyone who will listen. His children have told him for years he should record his experiences on tape before he takes them to the grave like so many other soldiers already have. The Austrian government gave him the chance to finally do it.

  "There are husbands who never talked about it," said Petersohn, who worked for more than 40 years as a printer technician at The Beacon News until 1984. "They're gone now. They took all of their experiences with them."

  Even after talking to Pozzi-Thanner through the afternoon and into the evening, Petersohn didn't cover everything. There's just no way to fit it all onto a few tapes.

  Pozzi-Thanner has heard more than 300 stories, yet each stands on its own, telling a different tale about the cruelties of Nazi Germany. She knows each person's perspective is shaped by his or her own life experience before and after the war.

  She comes prepared to deal with the emotion she's sure to encounter. At one point, Petersohn asked her to stop the tape so he could regain his composure. As he began to weep softly, Pozzi-Thanner pulled out a packet of tissues.

  "You carry those with you," Petersohn said. "You must have a reason."

  With that, his sniffles gave way to sobs. Pozzi-Thanner, without a word, reached over and gently touched the soldier's arm.

  The tears eventually passed, and the tape started rolling again. Petersohn picked up right where he left off.

Contact Dave Parro at (630) 801-5495 or dparro@scn1.com."