Looking back. Looking ahead. 2020-2025

194   SPEECHES | INSTITUTIONS Institutions ©Dachau Memorial / T. Hase Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends and Partners in Remembrance, It is an honor – and a profound responsibility – to stand with you today, exactly 80 years after American soldiers entered the gates of Dachau concentration camp and brought freedom to those who had lost nearly all hope. On behalf of the United States of America, I would like to express heartfelt appreciation to the active-duty military rep- resentatives, as well as the veterans and the leaders of veteran organizations who are here with us – your presence is a living bridge to the heroism that we honor today. I extend my deepest thanks also to Director Karl Freller and the Bavarian Memorial Foundation, to Director Dr. Gabriele Ham- mermann and the team of the Dachau Memorial Site, and to President Dominique Boueilh and the Comité International de Dachau. Your stewardship of memory ensures that we do not forget – because forgetting is never an option. Eighty years ago today – on April 29, 1945 – it was cold, despite the bright spring sun. Snow had fallen the night before. Soldiers from the 42nd “Rainbow” Infantry Division, the 45th “Thunderbird” Infantry Division and the 20th Armored Division approached this place. What they found was beyond comprehension: On the access road, they encountered a deserted death train from Buchen- wald – 39 wagons filled with the corpses of over 2,300 people. Inside the camp, they discovered 32,000 survivors – emaciated, gravely ill, many beyond help. The sheer horror of what the soldiers saw inside these fences stood in stark contrast to the picturesque town of Dachau, just beyond them – a town that could have graced a postcard. That contrast still shocks the conscience. Naturally, the soldiers came unprepared for what they would witness here. Young men barely out of high school. From Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona. Sent to fight a war, Dr James Miller U.S. Consul General, Munich Dedication of a memorial plaque in honour of the  45th Division of the 7th U.S. Army at the Dachau Memorial  29 April 2025 not to confront the machinery of mass murder.What they saw left enduring scars. Some would carry the trauma silently for decades. Some never spoke of Dachau again. And still, in the midst of the horror that they encountered, a sudden sense of relief erupted. They witnessed the first sprouts of the joy of freedom from those among the liberat- ed who were strong enough to express it. That joy, that deep appreciation of the gift of life, gave meaning to the soldiers’ ordeals and sacrifices. In a war that had claimed over 400,000 American lives and left more than 700,000 wounded, the   liberation of Dachau gave purpose to pain. It reminded them – and reminds us – what they were fighting for. They had brought to prisoners aid, comfort and freedom’s promise. But there was also a great feeling of helplessness. Because   for 41,500 who had perished here, all help came too late.   And in the days that followed liberation, hundreds more died – of starvation, of disease, of wounds too deep to heal. While the 42nd and 20th Armored Divisions have been formal- ly recognized at this site with memorial plaques, the 45th Infantry Division of the 7th U.S. Army – and in particular the 157th Infantry Regiment – had not yet received this ac- knowledgement. Today will complete the picture.We recognize the 45th Infantry Division’s heroism, and their vital role in liberating Dachau.We also owe a debt of gratitude to those who documented the truth. Embedded war correspondents like Marguerite Higgins and Lee Miller ensured that the world would bear witness. And thanks to the U.S. Army’s initiative, justice followed. The Dachau Trials held perpetrators accounta- ble and established a vital precedent for international justice. To the active-duty military representatives, General Carpenter and General Mancino, to the veterans who are here with us, and to the families of those who are not, we say “thank you”. Your legacy is not only carved in stone, but carried forward in every act of remembrance. To this day, we as Americans contin-