Obama's Uncle Liberated Auschwitz?

cnredd · #1 (**permalink**) 05-27-2008, 01:29 PM

Geesh!!!...When will the media confront Obama's lies like they did Hillary's sniper fire remarks?!?!...

Obama Talks of Family's Military Service

Quote:

Obama said he supports the new GI Bill because of his grandfather’s experience in the program after World War II. “We should make sure that today’s veterans get the same benefit that my grandfather got when he came back from World War II,” Obama said. “It was a good investment not only for him, but it was a good investment for the country, built our middle class. So we're going to make sure that that gets passed.”

He said President Bush may veto the bill, but he vowed to try and override it if it comes back to the House and Senate.

Obama also spoke about his uncle, who was part of the American brigade that helped to liberate Auschwitz. He said the family legend is that, upon returning from war, his uncle spent six months in an attic. “Now obviously, something had really affected him deeply, but at that time there just weren’t the kinds of facilities to help somebody work through that kind of pain,” Obama said. “That’s why this idea of making sure that every single veteran, when they are discharged, are screened for post-traumatic stress disorder and given the mental health services that they need – that’s why it’s so important.”

That would be highly honorable...if it were REAL...Or his uncle was a soldier in the Red Army...

Liberation of Auschwitz

Quote:

In mid-January 1945, as Soviet forces approached the Auschwitz camp complex, the SS began evacuating Auschwitz and its satellite camps. Nearly 60,000 prisoners were forced to march west from the Auschwitz camp system. Thousands had been killed in the camps in the days before these death marches began. Tens of thousands of prisoners, mostly Jews, were forced to march to the city of Wodzislaw in the western part of Upper Silesia. SS guards shot anyone who fell behind or could not continue. Prisoners also suffered from the cold weather, starvation, and exposure on these marches. More than 15,000 died during the death marches from Auschwitz. On January 27, 1945, the Soviet army entered Auschwitz and liberated more than 7,000 remaining prisoners, who were mostly ill and dying.

There were no US brigades involved...Let alone one having a bloodline to Barack Obama...

saltwn · #2 (**permalink**) 05-27-2008, 02:31 PM

I searched but did not find any reference to Americans at the liberation of Auschwitz. One thing is most articles about the death camp where Anne Frank once resided (before being shipped out to another camp only to die there of typhus), end with the Red Army's arrival. I do not know if Americans or other allies arrived to help with transport/health issues or not. Maybe someone else has that information?
If this story is completely fabricated it is indeed disturbing. I cannot fathom how a candidate in the public eye would think he could get away with that!
Perhaps it was another camp and the oral history got passed down wrong especially since Auschwitz is the more recognizable of all the names of WWII camps. Just MO.

saltwn · #3 (**permalink**) 05-28-2008, 03:18 AM

Quote:

The Barack Obama campaign said Tuesday the candidate mistakenly referred to the wrong Nazi death camp when relating the story of a great-uncle who helped liberate the camps in World War II. Obama mistaken on name of Nazi death camp - Yahoo! News

Quote:

Aides said Tuesday that his grandmother's brother, Charlie Payne, helped liberate a Buchenwald sub-camp in April 1945 as part of the 89th Infantry Division.

Many prisoners were sent from Auschwitz to Buchenwald. Buchenwald concentration camp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And it was a horrible place where one of the ladies who lived in hiding with Anne Frank's family was put in a brothel and then shipped to another one where I believe she died in route or shortly after arriving.
Some of the worst pictures that are often shown on PBS and other documentaries of the skeletal walking naked corpses were taken at this camp.

Quote:

Although Buchenwald technically was not an extermination camp, it was a site of an extraordinary number of deaths. Buchenwald concentration camp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

cnredd · #4 (**permalink**) 05-28-2008, 03:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltwn

Many prisoners were sent from Auschwitz to Buchenwald. Buchenwald concentration camp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And it was a horrible place where one of the ladies who lived in hiding with Anne Frank's family was put in a brothel and then shipped to another one where I believe she died in route or shortly after arriving.
Some of the worst pictures that are often shown on PBS and other documentaries of the skeletal walking naked corpses were taken at this camp.

So let me get this straight...

He got the relative wrong...the camp wrong...and the country wrong...

Other than that, he's perfect!...

PS - The source does not reference Obama's uncle's 89th liberating the camp...Maybe he was on mop-up duty (Not saying it was dishonable, but does negate Obama's contention that he was part of the "first troops in")...

saltwn · #5 (**permalink**) 05-28-2008, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Charlie Payne, helped liberate a Buchenwald sub-camp in April 1945

I gave you the wrong link.[BTW Thank you, because I just closed out all those tabs and it was on another browser that is hard to retrieve them on.

]

Quote:

What follows next is an eyewitness account from the 602nd Tank Destroyer Battalion stated to be "under control of the 4th Armored Division", yet with companies attached to each of the 89th Division regiments and another company, Company A in reserve on 3 April. Late in the afternoon of 3 April, two men in a jeep from Co A of the 602 TD Battalion while conducting a terrain reconnaissance just north of Ohrdruf city, and apparently in view of the high ground of the Ohrdruf Camp, came under fire and captured five German soldiers after returning the fire. They later determined that they had captured Ohrdruf Camp SS guards from a position outside of the camp. The next day, as the general attack continued, Company C of the 6O2nd TD Battalion entered Ohrdruf city while Company B and elements of the 89th Division Recon Troop "were to attack east but toward the north around the hill" (the hill is presumed to be the Ohrdruf Camp location). The author of this report was on reconnaissance again as had been the case on April 3rd. During the advance, he followed an M 18 TD tracked vehicle as it broke down the fence surrounding Ohrdruf Camp and followed the Ml8 into the camp compound. After examining the bodies of inmates and taking photographs, they departed the compound as they were observing soldiers of the 89th Division entering the compound. It is believed that the soldiers he saw were from the 3rd Bn of the 355th Inf which briefly entered the camp after elements of the 89th Div Recon Troop had entered the camp through the main gate following a brief fire fight to eliminate the presence of guards at the main gate.

The story now shifts to the 89th Recon Troop, a platoon leader of which sent me the following account. "My 2nd Platoon was reconnoitering ahead of the infantry regiment (355th) on that day and we came upon this complex and two German soldiers who were guarding the front gates. We shot and killed one, and the other ran off. Setting up a modest defense, we entered the compound and saw first hand the horror of life in a Nazi concentration camp. We radioed our troop headquarters for instructions and were told to remain there, keeping the inmates contained (this was hardly necessary, as most were in their bunks, hardly able to walk) while HQ contacted the infantry to relieve us. In less than three hours, the infantry (3rd Battalion, 355th Inf) arrived and we were sent on a new mission". Lastly, another member of our society who was in the 3rd Battalion of the 354th Infantry, advised me that shortly after the 355th Infantry took over the camp, the 3rd Battalion of the 354th replaced the 355th, also for only a short time. During these days, the 355th Infantry in its entirety had apparently been attached to the 4th Armored Division. All of this helps explain why both the 89th Division and the 4th Armored Division have been credited with liberation the Ohrdruf Concentration Camp. 89th Infantry Division of World War II: Ohrdruf Introduction

cnredd · #6 (**permalink**) 05-28-2008, 04:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltwn

I gave you the wrong link.[BTW Thank you, because I just closed out all those tabs and it was on another browser that is hard to retrieve them on.

]

Okie doke...Then I retract my "BTW"...

The rest of the post still stands...

Another NEW BTW - This is NOT the first time Obama peddled this story...

Let's look at Obama's speech on Iraq from 2002...

Quote:

My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton’s army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil, and he did not fight in vain.

Fellow soldiers who "first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka"?...

Nope...Not unless Patton was leading the Red Army...Because American troops didn't enter Auschwitz and Treblinka...It was (again) the Soviets...

[SARCASM]
But that's OK...I WANT a president that likes to make up things about their personal life and the lives of their relatives to prove a point...Makes me more confident in their judgement and character.

Like when he said he was born because his parents met at the Selma rally during the height of civil rights marches; which is kinda tough considering he was born 4 years BEFORE Selma...
[/SARCASM]

saltwn · #7 (**permalink**) 05-28-2008, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cnredd

Okie doke...Then I retract my "BTW"...

The rest of the post still stands...

Another NEW BTW - This is NOT the first time Obama peddled this story...

Let's look at Obama's speech on Iraq from 2002...

Fellow soldiers who "first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka"?...

Nope...Not unless Patton was leading the Red Army...Because American troops didn't enter Auschwitz and Treblinka...It was (again) the Soviets...

[SARCASM]
But that's OK...I WANT a president that likes to make up things about their personal life and the lives of their relatives to prove a point...Makes me more confident in their judgement and character.

Like when he said he was born because his parents met at the Selma rally during the height of civil rights marches; which is kinda tough considering he was born 4 years BEFORE Selma...
[/SARCASM]

I don't know about the Selma rally and his parents, but I do know WWII is a very complicated war -actually wars. One thing is there was an Auschwitz I, II, and III. Prisoners were transfered back and forth and many went to the one the 89th helped liberate and another baddy that starts with an "O" (can't think of it right now).
I also know the soldiers probably had a hard time with German names. And their relatives who heard the stories could easily have transfered the horror stories to the label "Auschwitz" because it is so connected in our minds to death of Jews in WWII. They probably saw a documentary on Auschwitz and said. "Hey! That looks like where Uncle so-and-so went in and freed the people!" Then they passed that on as legend to the rest of the family.
And I'm sure his staff has done thorough research on this by now. I know I'm satisfied it was an innocent mistake.

crazyflamingos · #8 (**permalink**) 05-28-2008, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cnredd

So let me get this straight...

He got the relative wrong...the camp wrong...and the country wrong...

Other than that, he's perfect!...

PS - The source does not reference Obama's uncle's 89th liberating the camp...Maybe he was on mop-up duty (Not saying it was dishonable, but does negate Obama's contention that he was part of the "first troops in")...

How did he get the relative wrong?

His grandmother's brother would be his uncle.

Michael1 · #9 (**permalink**) 05-28-2008, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazyflamingos

How did he get the relative wrong?

His grandmother's brother would be his uncle.

Err ... that would be great uncle, so yeah he's 0-3. I think if you're going to boast about your families accomplishments you ought to be sure of what you're talking about.

Don't know if it's a gaffe or just more Obama elitism on display. I suppose it sounded better to embellish than to just say 'I too had a relative that served in WWII'. If you're trying to look Presidential it doesn't pay to make yourself seem just like one of the rest us.

crazyflamingos · #10 (**permalink**) 05-28-2008, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael1

Err ... that would be great uncle,

err.. I don't think that I have ever referred to any of my great uncles as other than "my uncle" unless someone asks me to clarify the relationship. It is not a lie -- or even a misspeak. Great uncles are uncles.

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