65th anniversary of the liberation of Dachau

Entrance to the SS training camp and garrison 
west of the Dachau prison compound.

Felix A. Cizewski penciled on the back : "Dachau Germany Prison Camp."

The original has been donated to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center
(Copyright: Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center)

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65 years ago today, "Task Force Sparks" of the 45th Infantry Division was fighting its way into Dachau. My father, PFC Felix A. Cizewski, was in the 45th Signal Company which was moving from Schrobenhausen, Germany, about 39 miles (63 kilometers) by road north of Dachau to Haimhausen, about 8 miles (13 kilometers) by road northeast of Dachau.

The Signal Company provided support for other units of the 45th such as "Task Force Sparks".

Felix and the Signal Company arrived at Dachau a few days later. Details of his experience and a copy of the 45th Division News with the story of the liberation of Dachau are at my family history web site:

Dachau 1945

The liberation of Dachau may have been one of the most powerful and traumatic experiences of my father's life.

A Disabled Veteran?

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The Rock of Anzio includes a well researched and detailed account of the 45th's liberation of Dachau.

Chicago's Polish-American community in mourning

Polish flag with mourning ribbon on the front of Polish-American grocery store Shop & Save at 5829 South Archer Avenue, Chicago.(Photo by Leonard H. Cizewski.)

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Garfield Ridge, a southwest Chicago neighborhood just  west of Midway Airport, is home to recent immigrants from Poland and descendants of previous ones. I lived there in the 1960s and 70s and relatives still do.

I visited this week and saw homes, businesses, and cars displayed the flag of Poland with mourning ribbons for the deaths in the tragic plane crash near Smolensk, Belarus. Poles, including one from Chicago, were traveling to a 70th anniversary memorial service at Katyn where Soviets massacred captured Poles in the early days of World War II.

Confederate History Month: Celebrate This, Virginia

145 years ago today, my great-great-grandfather-in-law, Anson Croman, was serving under General Grant when Grant dealt the final death blow to the Confederacy by accepting Lee's surrender,

Southeast of Appomattox Anson's unit, the 20th Michigan Infantry Regiment, was protecting Grant's flank and rebuilding the railroad to keep Grant supplied

Not only did today's events permanently answer the questions of secession and slavery, they were the beginning of the the civil rights movement that culminated in the election of President Obama.

To find Anson's approximate location, click on the at the image and link below to the West Point Atlas map of today's events. In the lower right corner find "IX Parke" That's Anson's and the 20th's corps and commander. A note on the map states they were stretched along the railroad from Petersburg to Farmville.

The Defeat of Lee, 3-9 April 1865
(Public Domain Image/U.S. Military Academy)

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West Point Atlas of the American Civil War.

Best one volume history of the American Civil War.