World War II Army Captain, David Mark Olds (1920–2009), was my father. He told me that he could never erase from his mind what he and his driver, Shady had seen in Dachau. WWII had just ended and the Dachau prisoners had been freed.

Here is the chilling description in my father’s words:

Dad Describes Dachau

We came to the town of Dachau first, a pretty little farming village, green grass, a church spire, neat little houses—a German Currier and Ives. From the village you could see the smokestacks of the ovens, just a few miles away. As we drove to the camp, up to the tall, barbed wire-topped fence, a peculiar smell filled the air, like food gone bad, mixed with body odor and smoke.

The Dachau Gates Were Open

A few MP vehicles and tanks were parked near the gates. Shady parked alongside. The gates were wide open, and we just walked into the concentration camp. It was a madhouse. Pitiful stick figures in striped pajamas, obviously the camp uniform, were milling about, limping and shuffling around, apparently unable to grasp that they were really liberated. A team of American MP’s were trying to restore some order, setting up a mess line, and a delousing tent. It was heartbreaking to look at the ex-prisoners.

WWII Prisoners Freed

All were emaciated, unshaven. Up close, they smelled nauseatingly of sickness and dirt and decay. But the worst was their eyes—hollow, staring dark circles in their pasty faces. As we walked in, we saw a commotion going on in one corner of the large open area. A bunch of the stick figures had surrounded a guard, who hadn’t left with the retreating German soldiers. He was an older man, in his fifties I judged, in a gray uniform. The Nazis had run out of younger, able-bodied men, and had scraped the bottom of the barrel to find any camp guards.

Prisoners Beat Up Nazi Guards

The inmates were screaming, faces contorted in rage, their open mouths displaying ragged, discolored stumps of teeth. They were holding pieces of wood they had picked up, iron bars, stones, whatever came to hand, as they closed in on the guard, who was on his knees, terror in his face, pleading for his life.

See Also: My WWII Army Captain Dad, Donald Trump, and Veteran’s Day

The crowd began to beat him, their terrible anger lending strength to their pipestem arms. The MP’s stood by, watching, making no effort to intervene, as he was beaten to death. Then the crazed stick figures darted away, shouting, shaking their fists, looking for more of the hated guards. Shady and I walked across the forbidding, graveled square to the crematoriums. The brick ovens were cold, their doors open, the chimneys looming over them.

Bones and Ashes

It was obvious that the camp authorities had tried to rake out all the bones and ashes, but enough remained as mute witness. The ovens gave off the sickly sweet, dreadful smell of burned human flesh. Around the corner, behind a shed, we saw a pile of corpses, twenty-five or thirty, in the striped ticking uniforms, pitifully thin, like skeletons, most with mouths open in ghastly rictus, stacked up one on top of the other. The cliché came to life for me: they really did resemble piles of cordwood, ready for the fireplace. Shady turned away and threw up. I was close to it myself.

Liberation

A terrible rage shook me. I wanted to find a German, any German, and kill him. Shady and I stood there, pulling ourselves together, then we walked back to the jeep. We took out all the cigarettes and candy and food we had, and came back in, distributing them to all to the outstretched hands that encircled us. Many of the liberated prisoners were crying, sobbing, holding each other, staggering about. Others, overcome by their liberation, and their hunger and fatigue, sat or lay on the ground, staring, mumbling, trying to comprehend it all.

I wanted to stay, I wanted to go, I wanted to drive back to that pretty little town and ask the people how in God’s name they could have lived their lives next door to that horror, and remained sane. There was no way they couldn’t have known what was going on those few kilometers away. I wanted to destroy the town, and all its stone-faced, stone-hearted inhabitants. But there was nothing we could do. We drove off.

The post WWII Army Captain Describes Horrors at Dachau appeared first on Award-Winning Writer and Graphic Designer.

I interviewed director Peter Sattler on Wed., Oct. 8, 2014 to talk about his first feature film, “Camp X-Ray” and what it was like working with actress Kristen Stewart.

Camp X-Ray is the locale of the movie. It’s based on the real-life temporary detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Stewart plays a small town girl named Amy Cole who enlisted in the army to find a purpose to her life. She is stationed as a military guard at Camp X-Ray. Her job is to patrol the cellblocks that house post-9/11 prisoners. (It’s interesting that the U.S. army refers to these prisoners as detainees.)

While on guard Cole is drawn into conversations with detainee Ali Amir (Peyman Moaadi) and a relationship develops. It’s a complex situation for both guard and prisoner. These supposed enemies surprisingly find a commonality despite being from opposite sides.

Sattler was very candid about his feelings for Stewart and the movie during our exclusive interview.

Dorri Olds: How did you know Kristen Stewart was right for this role?
Peter Sattler: When I started thinking about her I immediately realized the reason she is perfect for the film is she has a perfect mix of toughness and vulnerability. That’s at the heart of this character.
Is Kristen similar to Cole?
In some ways, yes. We talked about this a lot. We would find things from our own past we could relate to. Kristen seeks out roles that can explore a part of her. She definitely has a toughness to her and she’s kind of a tomboy but she also has a very sensitive side that is an intrinsic part of her.
Does she joke around on set?
If you can get her unguarded and at the right moment she can be super talkative and jokey. She’s actually a very funny person and she’ll talk a mile a minute if she’s got something to say. She has a lot of different sides to her. I’ve been in the same room with Kristen when the paparazzi are chasing her. She throws her guard up and doesn’t say anything. But, when she feels safe she’s a lot of fun. She has more talkative roles in the works and I’m really looking forward to her upcoming comedy.
Can you talk about the instant chemistry between Peyman Moaadi and Kristen Stewart?
It happened in a heartbeat. We cast Kristen first. Her casting director suggested Peyman. We did a video chat with the two of them and they fell right into their characters.

Read more about Kristen Stewart

The post ‘Camp X-Ray’ director tells what it’s really like to work with Kristen Stewart appeared first on Award-Winning Writer and Graphic Designer.