From the S&S archives:
Survivors of death camp guests at D-Day events

ARROMANCHES, France — Frenchman Henry Lauth and his friends were invited to participate in celebrations of the 40th anniversary of D-Day even though they did not take part in the invasion.

They are all survivors of Camp Dora, a little-known part of the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald.

"You may never have heard of Camp Dora, but it vas the extermination camp of Buchenwald. The inmates were worked to death, executed or beaten to death on the whim of the SS or their capos (inmates) who ran the camp within," Lauth said.

Lauth and his friends belong to an organization called "The Deportees of Camp Dora," which has members throughout France.

"We meet once a year with the main purpose of seeing old friends and reminding the world not to forget what happened," he said.

The D-Day celebration is a good chance for the group to meet, and the organizers invited them to participate.

Lauth said, "I was 20 years old when I was deported to Camp Dora for working with the Resistance. Camp Dora at first was just a tunnel in the earth where we worked on the V-I rockets. After the British bombed the V-1 factory in Peenemuende, the prisoners working there were transferred to Camp Dora to continue this work."

He was caught sabotaging a rocket, he said, and was severely punished.

"After being beaten, I was sentenced to death on Nov. 11, 1944, but the Germans had a problem at that time — they didn't have the fuel to spare to burn our bodies if they killed us," Lauth said.

He recalled that the Nazis marched the inmates of Camp Dora to Bergen-Belsen, where they planned to kill them. But that camp was liberated by the 2nd British Army before they could carry out their plan.

Lauth said he was one of 47 survivors from a shipment of 21,000 to Camp Dora in 1943.

"I know the original number so well because you had to repeat it when you reported to the capo or you received 25 lashes with a whip,' he said.

After being released from prison, Lauth taught school and also studied at the University of Colorado 25 years ago.

"I wanted to learn about American civilization, and I traveled extensively in the United States and enjoyed it immensely," he said.

Now retired, he sees fighting for a decent society as his goal in life.

"My family dates back to the 16th century, and I am the last in the line," Lauth said. "I have no wife or children, so I cannot be intimidated by any person or government that doesn't like my opinion. I see it as my duty to give people the guts to stand up for their rights and opinions.

"I want Camp Dora to be remembered,' he said.

Lauth said he and all the deportees in Europe will always be grateful to the British and Americans, who finally freed them from slavery and the threat of death.

"Without the Allies," he said, "we would be a part of Nazi Germany today."