"Dancing with Death"
Dublin Core
Title
"Dancing with Death"
Subject
Nurses and the Liberation of Dachau
Description
Like Dorothy Baggett, a nurse mentioned in the item entitled "Dachau" in this collection, seventy-nine other nurses were present with the 116th and 127th Evacuation Hospital crews to treat the survivors of Dachau Concentration Camp. The photo here is of the typhus ward set up in the camp by the 116th.
When they arrived at the camp, nurses were required to provide proof of previous typhus immunization, and they found out why when they started treating patients. A typhus epidemic was killing almost 400 former prisoners in the camp each day. Jumping to work, medical personnel cleaned out barracks and created hospitals from them, and began admitting patients 36 hours after arrival. Both makeshift hospitals contained 450 beds each, but they had to expand drastically because of the overwhelming needs of the survivors.
US Army Nurse Lt. Charlotte Johnson Treadwell said this about the experience of treating patients at Dachau; "We did anything we could to help them. We tried to give them vitamin shots, but they were still so scared, after all the Germans had done to them, that they fought us." (Army Nurse Corps Association Website: "Army Nurses in Dachau, 1945," by ANC Colonel Constance J. Moore)
However, many patients saw these nurses as saviors, and were immediately attached to them. The survivors of these conditions sought any help and comfort that they could get. Even in the face of tragedy, these women knew that they were needed by their patience, and they tried to serve them as calmly and efficiently as they could. Yet, many patients died under their care due to the traumatic conditions they had lived under for so long, which had ultimately wrecked their health.
Captain Wahlstrom said of the experience; "We felt we were dancing with death. We couldn't get away from it and wondered if it would ever stop." (Army Nurse Corps Association Website: "Army Nurses in Dachau, 1945," by ANC Colonel Constance J. Moore)
When they arrived at the camp, nurses were required to provide proof of previous typhus immunization, and they found out why when they started treating patients. A typhus epidemic was killing almost 400 former prisoners in the camp each day. Jumping to work, medical personnel cleaned out barracks and created hospitals from them, and began admitting patients 36 hours after arrival. Both makeshift hospitals contained 450 beds each, but they had to expand drastically because of the overwhelming needs of the survivors.
US Army Nurse Lt. Charlotte Johnson Treadwell said this about the experience of treating patients at Dachau; "We did anything we could to help them. We tried to give them vitamin shots, but they were still so scared, after all the Germans had done to them, that they fought us." (Army Nurse Corps Association Website: "Army Nurses in Dachau, 1945," by ANC Colonel Constance J. Moore)
However, many patients saw these nurses as saviors, and were immediately attached to them. The survivors of these conditions sought any help and comfort that they could get. Even in the face of tragedy, these women knew that they were needed by their patience, and they tried to serve them as calmly and efficiently as they could. Yet, many patients died under their care due to the traumatic conditions they had lived under for so long, which had ultimately wrecked their health.
Captain Wahlstrom said of the experience; "We felt we were dancing with death. We couldn't get away from it and wondered if it would ever stop." (Army Nurse Corps Association Website: "Army Nurses in Dachau, 1945," by ANC Colonel Constance J. Moore)
Creator
Unknown
Source
Moore, Constance J. “Army Nurses in Dachau.” Army Nurse Corps Association. Accessed April 25, 2020. https://e-anca.org/History/Topics-in-ANC-History/Army-Nurses-in-Dachau.
Publisher
Army Nurse Corps Association
Date
Accessed April 25, 2020
Format
Photograph (jpg)
Language
English
Type
Still Image
Identifier
WWII US Army Nurses and the Liberation of Dachau
Coverage
Dachau Liberation WWII, US Army Nurses of WWII
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
black and white photograph
Collection
Citation
Unknown, “"Dancing with Death",” US Nurses in World War II, accessed April 24, 2024, https://usnursesww2.omeka.net/items/show/30.