David Dushman: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|German liberator of Auschwitz (1923–2021)}} |
{{Short description|German liberator of Auschwitz (1923–2021)}} |
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'''David Dushman''' (1 April 1923, [[ |
'''David Dushman''' (1 April 1923, [[Gdańsk|Danzig]]{{sndash}}4 June 2021, [[Munich]]) was a German [[Red Army]] soldier and a [[Fencing|fencing]] trainer of the Soviet Olympic team. He was the last surviving [[Liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp|liberator]] of the [[Auschwitz concentration camp]]. Dushman also fought in the [[Battle of Stalingrad]] and the [[Battle of Kursk]] during [[World War II]]. |
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== Second World War == |
== Second World War == |
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Dushman became a volunteer in the Red Army as a tank driver, and participated in the [[Battle of Stalingrad]] and the [[Battle of Kursk]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]].{{r|auto|dw}} He received more than forty decorations and distinctions, including the [[Order of the Patriotic War]].<ref name="auto"/> |
Dushman became a volunteer in the Red Army as a tank driver, and participated in the [[Battle of Stalingrad]] and the [[Battle of Kursk]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]].{{r|auto|dw}} He received more than forty decorations and distinctions, including the [[Order of the Patriotic War]].<ref name="auto"/> |
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In the early afternoon of 27 January 1945, Dushman drove his [[T-34]] tank over the electric fence of [[Auschwitz-Birkenau]] [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camp]] in [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|occupied Poland]], thereby initiating [[Liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp|the liberation of the camp]].{{ |
In the early afternoon of 27 January 1945, Dushman drove his [[T-34]] tank over the electric fence of [[Auschwitz-Birkenau]] [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camp]] in [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|occupied Poland]], thereby initiating [[Liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp|the liberation of the camp]].<ref name="juedische-allgemeine">{{Cite web|url=https://www.juedische-allgemeine.de/unsere-woche/eine-lebende-legende/|archiveurl=http://archive.today/20210607021805/https://www.juedische-allgemeine.de/unsere-woche/eine-lebende-legende/|deadurl=y|title=Eine lebende Legende|first=Helmut|last=Reister|date=April 15, 2021|website=Jüdische Allgemeine}}</ref><!-- <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.spiegel.de/geschichte/holocaust-a-949074.html |title="Wir trauten unseren Augen nicht" |author=<!--Not stated-/-> |date=26 January 2008 |website= |publisher=[[Der Spiegel]] |access-date=6 June 2021 |quote=}}</ref> -- nikolai politanov's account of entering auschwitz via tank in the morning, likely at auschwitz iii-monowitz with the 4th ukrainian front, while dushman was likely with the 1st ukrainian front --> In the camp, he witnessed starving people, piles of dead bodies, and later said "we threw them all our canned food and immediately went on to hunt down the fascists", but was not aware at the time of the real purpose of the camp or the scale of the atrocities.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="dw" /> |
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He suffered severe injuries three times as a result of the war, and was one of 69 soldiers in his Red Army division to survive the war out of 12,000.<ref name="AP"/><ref>{{Cite web|date=6 June 2021|title=David Dushman, last surviving Auschwitz liberator, dies aged 98|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2021/0606/1226352-dushman-auschwitz/|url-status=live|access-date=7 June 2021|website=[[RTÉ]]}}</ref><ref name="dw" /> |
He suffered severe injuries three times as a result of the war, and was one of 69 soldiers in his Red Army division to survive the war out of 12,000.<ref name="AP"/><ref>{{Cite web|date=6 June 2021|title=David Dushman, last surviving Auschwitz liberator, dies aged 98|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2021/0606/1226352-dushman-auschwitz/|url-status=live|access-date=7 June 2021|website=[[RTÉ]]}}</ref><ref name="dw" /> |
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Revision as of 07:54, 7 June 2021
David Dushman (1 April 1923, Danzig – 4 June 2021, Munich) was a German Red Army soldier and a fencing trainer of the Soviet Olympic team. He was the last surviving liberator of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Dushman also fought in the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Kursk during World War II.
Second World War
Dushman became a volunteer in the Red Army as a tank driver, and participated in the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Kursk during the Second World War.[1][2] He received more than forty decorations and distinctions, including the Order of the Patriotic War.[1]
In the early afternoon of 27 January 1945, Dushman drove his T-34 tank over the electric fence of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in occupied Poland, thereby initiating the liberation of the camp.[3] In the camp, he witnessed starving people, piles of dead bodies, and later said "we threw them all our canned food and immediately went on to hunt down the fascists", but was not aware at the time of the real purpose of the camp or the scale of the atrocities.[1][2]
He suffered severe injuries three times as a result of the war, and was one of 69 soldiers in his Red Army division to survive the war out of 12,000.[4][5][2]
Fencing career
After the war, Dushman became a professional fencer. He was the trainer of the national women's fencing team of the Soviet Union from 1952 to 1988. In his capacity as fencing trainer, he witnessed the Munich massacre during the 1972 Summer Olympics. He was staying right across from the Israeli athletes and described that he was "horrified" by the events, himself being very conscious of his Jewish background at that time.[1]
Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and former Olympic fencing champion representing West Germany, recalled that when he met Dushman in 1970, Dushman "immediately offered me friendship and counsel, despite [his] personal experience with World War II and Auschwitz, and he being a man of Jewish origin".[6][7] Bach added that the act was "such a deep human gesture that I will never ever forget it".[7][2]
Dushman continued to visit his local fencing club to give lessons nearly every day until he was 94, according to the IOC.[8]
Personal life
His father was a Jewish general, sports physician, and military doctor in the Red Army. His father was deported to a Gulag north of the Arctic Circle in 1938 during the Great Purge of Joseph Stalin, where he died ten years later.[4][1][2]
Dushman lived in Austria for a few years during the 1990s before moving to Munich.[7] From 1996 until his death on 4 June 2021, he lived in Munich-Neuperlach, along with his wife Zoja until her death several years prior.[4][2]
References
- ^ a b c d e Helmut Reister (30 March 2018). "Auschwitz-Befreier feiert 95. Geburtstag: Bewegtes Leben von David Dushman". Retrieved 6 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f "Last surviving Auschwitz liberator David Dushman dies". DW.COM. 6 June 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Reister, Helmut (April 15, 2021). "Eine lebende Legende". Jüdische Allgemeine.
{{cite web}}:|archive-url=requires|archive-date=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c "Last of Soviet soldiers who liberated Auschwitz dies at 98". AP News. 6 June 2021.
- ^ "David Dushman, last surviving Auschwitz liberator, dies aged 98". RTÉ. 6 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Olympics Site Closed | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". www.sports-reference.com.
{{cite web}}:|archive-url=requires|archive-date=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c "David Dushman, last surviving Auschwitz liberator, dies aged 98". www.timesofisrael.com.
{{cite web}}:|archive-url=requires|archive-date=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "David Dushman, dernier libérateur survivant du camp d'Auschwitz, est mort". June 6, 2021 – via Le Monde.
{{cite web}}:|archive-url=requires|archive-date=(help); Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help)
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