Stories by author "Hilbert Margol": 14
Stories
Settling in Georgia
"On Saturdays and Sundays, I would go door to door, selling housewares: linens, bed linens, blankets, silverware, pots and pans, aluminum pots and pans, credit, etc. So, by the time we graduated college, I dreamed of going to Wharton School of…
Returning Home
“Well, we were in the Army of Occupation in Austria for about nine months. We left there in March, middle of March 1946, and we were on a liberty ship called the SS Madagascar. And we—I guess it was a seven-day trip. And of course, when we saw the…
Army of Occupation
“Well, it just so happened after the war ended, the last concentration camp that was liberated was in Ebensee, Austria, which is a sub camp of Mauthausen. They were liberated two days before the end of the war. Our division was ordered 150 army…
VE Day
“Yes! A few days before the war was actually declared over, we knew the war was over, because my particular unit bypassed Munich. Because there was no real combat in Munich. Germans did very little, and then they retreated out of Munich. So now…
Liberation of Dachau
Content Warning: This story includes descriptions of dead bodies and other disturbing sensory details encountered during the liberation of Dachau."Okay. You know, we had captured a number of cities and towns such as Wurzburg, Schweinfurt, Nuremberg,…
Passover in Nazi Germany
“Well, we crossed over the river into Germany. And the first town of any consequence was called Dahn, Germany. And that was towards late March 1945. I had an interesting experience there. Once Dahn was under control and the German soldiers had…
Off to Europe
“Well, I, we were very fortunate for a number of reasons. When the Battle of the Bulge broke out in Belgium, our infantry companies, three infantry regiments, were immediately rushed over as fast as they could to get them involved. They left the…
Brothers Divided
“Well, they sent my brother Howard to the 104th Timberwolf Division in training in the Mojave Desert in California for the North African campaign. They sent me to the 42nd Infantry Division in Oklahoma, Camp Gruber, Oklahoma. In my case, after…
Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP)
“They said, well, the Army just started a new program called Army Specialized Training Program, ASTP. And if you prefer that, we'll send you to some college to take courses in engineering. So, I said, 'well, going back to some college, that sounds…
Training at Fort Bragg
“First of all, we went to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for basic training. Again, being trained as gunners on 105-millimeter howitzers. But these were mechanized, no horses. After 13 weeks, we were interviewed, offered the opportunity to go to…