Critical Thinking/Discussion Questions - Robert Ray, Jr.

1. Robert Ray told of the reaction of the soldiers in his unit when they discovered what lay behind the walls of the concentration camp they encountered in Nordhausen: “The men in my outfit were so mad now that there was no way we could lose the war.” The soldiers and tanks in his outfit quickly moved on to the next battle. How do you think their stop at Nordhausen changed their motivation and outlook on that battle?

2. In his transcript, Robert and the interviewer discussed the liberation of Dachau by the American troops. Robert said, “And he [Patton] called the higher officers in there [Dachau] to look at it and the news media, because he knew nobody would believe him, probably.” Why do you think American soldiers felt it was important to document the horrors of the camps?