My name is Frederic H Martini, and I am the son of one of the Buchenwald airmen. None of the surviving American airmen ever received support or recognition from the US government on their return. The reasons for this were complex, and anyone interested can consult my book on the subject, Betrayed.  In collecting archival materials for the book, I obtained scans and original documentation at considerable cost in time and money. My goal here is to make those original source materials accessible for history buffs and for the families of these brave servicemen. Anyone who has additional documents to contribute, please let me know and we can work out a way to include them.

 

The official US government position, published in August 1945 and never revisited, is that there were no US military personnel held in concentration camps. Three unsuccessful attempts have been made to have Congress acknowledge these airmen and their sacrifices. A fourth attempt is planned. Anyone interested in assisting can get involved through the CONTACT page.

 

Finding accurate information about events 75 years in the past can be difficult and frustrating. I've had a lot of help. The individuals who helped me accumulate materials for Betrayed are detailed in the Acknowledgment section of that book. Getting additional data about each individual airman for this website has been a complex effort, and both David Champion and Frank Signorile have been generously contributing their help to fill in as many of the gaps as possible. Without his assistance, the airman data files would have taken years, rather than months, to assemble. Marilyn Walton, of the Stalag Luft III association, provided information on the distribution of the airmen after their evacuation from Buchenwald.