Howard Haas, 90, of Glencoe, says that one of his bombing missions took him directly over Auschwitz, but at the time he didn't know about the extent of the atrocities taking place below him. "We flew over Auschwitz, but we didn't know Auschwitz was a death camp. We just thought it was a concentration camp." Mr. Haas is the former president and CEO of Sealy Mattress Company.
Even had they had the knowledge, they still wouldn't have attacked, "We couldn't have bombed Auschwitz from 22,000 feet. We would have killed more Jews than the Germans did."
Courtney Shanken, 89, of Highland Park was also at the University of Chicago and enlisted in the Army Air Corps with his twin brother Earl. He became a navigator and had 50 combat missions over Europe and was part of the Normandy diversionary force.
The Shankens bombed airplane factories, railroads and oil fields. Whenever the mission took them over German, Shanken removed his dog tags that identified him as a Jew, knowing that the Nazis would probably give him major mistreatment.
More to Come. --Cooter
Showing posts with label Auschwitz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Auschwitz. Show all posts
Friday, April 15, 2011
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Jewish WWII Vets Recall Fight Against Nazis-- Part 2
The veterans who spoke last Friday at Highland Park, Illinois' Congregation Solel were Courtney Shanken, Howard Haas, Jack Heiman and Marshall Domash.
Haas and Shanken were among six local WWII veterans who received the French Legion of Honor last week in Chicago for their roles in helping to liberate France.
Howard Haas dropped out of the University of Chicago in his freshman year in 1942 to join the Army Air Force where he was a bombardier stationed in Italy bombing strategic positions throughout southern Europe. He completed his required fifty missions from June to December 1944.
One of his missions took him directly over Auschwitz, but, at the time, he didn't know the extent to which the atrocities had occurred.
"We flew over Auschwitz, but we didn't know Auschwitz was a death camp. We just thought it was a concentration camp." Even had they known, "We couldn't have bombed Auschwitz from 22,000 feet. We would have killed more Jews than the Germans did," said Haas, the former president and CEO of Sealy Mattress Company.
More to Come.
The Greatest Generation. --Cooter
Haas and Shanken were among six local WWII veterans who received the French Legion of Honor last week in Chicago for their roles in helping to liberate France.
Howard Haas dropped out of the University of Chicago in his freshman year in 1942 to join the Army Air Force where he was a bombardier stationed in Italy bombing strategic positions throughout southern Europe. He completed his required fifty missions from June to December 1944.
One of his missions took him directly over Auschwitz, but, at the time, he didn't know the extent to which the atrocities had occurred.
"We flew over Auschwitz, but we didn't know Auschwitz was a death camp. We just thought it was a concentration camp." Even had they known, "We couldn't have bombed Auschwitz from 22,000 feet. We would have killed more Jews than the Germans did," said Haas, the former president and CEO of Sealy Mattress Company.
More to Come.
The Greatest Generation. --Cooter
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