Author to speak of American soldiers who librated Nazi concentration camps

Author and military historian John C. McManus visits Cantigny Park to discuss "Hell Before Their Very Eyes," his book about the American soldiers who liberated the Nazi concentration camps of World War II.

The free program begins at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 6, at the Cantigny Park Visitors Center, 1S151 Winfield Road, Wheaton. Parking also is free.

In his book, published in 2015, McManus sheds new light on this often-overlooked aspect of the Holocaust. Drawing on archival sources and thousands of firsthand accounts - including unit journals, interviews, oral histories, memoirs, diaries, letters and published recollections - "Hell Before Their Very Eyes" examines the horrific experience of entering the confines of Germany's Ohrdruf, Buchenwald and Dachau camps in April, 1945.

McManus visited Cantigny in 2014 to discuss "The Dead and Those About to Die," his volume about the 1st Infantry Division's heroic actions on D-Day. He is an author and professor of military history at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. McManus earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Missouri and a doctorate in American and military history from the University of Tennessee.

Copies of "Hell Before Their Very Eyes" will be for sale in the Cantigny Shop the evening of July 6. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

This event is part of the First Division Museum's Date with History, a monthly series featuring discussions with authors, panelists, historians and special guests. Information about upcoming programs is online at firstdivisionmuseum.org.