NORMAN LOWENSTEIN
Age: 88
Born: June 9, 1921
Hometown: Amsterdam, N.Y.
Residence: Palm Desert
Military branch: U.S. Army; 13th Field Artillery Observation Battalion
Years served: April 1942 - March 1946
Rank: Staff sergeant
Family: Wife Muriel; two children, Beth Oringher of Century City and Marcia Podell of Winnetka; five grandchildren; two great-grandchildren.
About this series
Staff writer Denise Goolsby will profile desert veterans from World War II through the end of 2010 — the 65th anniversary of the end of the war. Contact her at (760) 778-4587 or via e-mail at denise.goolsby@thedesertsun.com
Coming tomorrow
U.S. Army veteran Dan M. Hauserman of Rancho Mirage.
LEARN MORE: Read about other Coachella Valley residents who served in World War II at www.mydesert.com/WWII
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Veteran Norman Lowenstein came across a ghastly scene during the U.S. Army's push through Germany in the spring of 1945.
It was the Mittelbau Dora Concentration Camp in Nordhausen, Germany — an extermination camp created by the SS for prisoners too ill or too weak to work in the tunnels of Dora while building Hitler's V1 and V2 rockets.
“It was a complete, complete surprise,” said Lowenstein, a member of the 13th Field Artillery Observation Battalion — attached to the VII Corps. “No one had even heard of Nordhausen.”
The camp was a huge complex of installations and hangars made of concrete. The prisoners, forced to live in unsanitary conditions, stayed in the hangars nights and days without any food, until they died, according to historical accounts.
The young soldier — who, along with the VII Corps, helped liberate the camp — was shocked by what he saw.
“I remember vividly taking pictures of the common graves where they were burying the unfortunate ones in the concentration camp. There were mothers holding babies,” he said, his voice trailing off.
“German soldiers we caught as prisoners — we used them to do this mass burial,” the Palm Desert resident said.
“One German soldier was carrying bodies and was laughing at what he was doing,” Lowenstein said.
“I remember going over to him, I was so mad. Why I didn't shoot him, I don't know. I pushed him into the grave. I don't know if he ever got out. He was screaming. I hope he got buried alive.
“I guess when I pushed him in the grave, a lot of my being Jewish was part of my reason for doing it. Being Jewish affected me to a point, but the real effect — these were human beings,” he said.
Landing on Utah Beach
Lowenstein landed on Utah Beach on June 7, 1944 — one day after D-Day — the day of the massive Allied invasion of Normandy, France.
“We were on an LST (Landing Ship Tank) and in the English Channel,” he said. “There were so many ships in the water, you could almost walk from ship to ship to get on the beach. You've never seen so many different ships.
“I remember, vividly, landing on the beach and there was only one (enemy) plane in the air. They didn't think we were going to land on that beach.”
The Germans thought the inclement weather would keep the Allied forces from invading in that area, Lowenstein said.
“Landing was easy, with the exception of that one airplane — it strafed us pretty good.”
Later, ducking from enemy fire, he jumped into the hedgerows and landed on a body of a U.S. soldier — a lieutenant, who was alive and well. Lowenstein had inadvertently covered up an officer, protecting him from gunfire.
“He was very happy I landed on top of him,” Lowenstein said. “All I was doing was praying at that time. I was 20 years old. I wanted to at least live to see my 21st birthday.
“There was so much going on. The war was just heating up. It was just beginning for us. You don't know if you're scared or frightened. All you knew is you wanted to kill Germans because you wanted to stay alive.
“It was hell.”
Taking out the enemy
Lowenstein's group pinpointed enemy artillery positions — by observing gun flash-points and using surveying equipment to calculate the enemy's position.
“We called it in to our artillery. They would in turn fire artillery (at the position) and call the Air Force in to bomb these areas,” he said.
Lowenstein, who had a good working knowledge of mathematics, directed a survey crew during combat.
“We had to go where the divisions needed us to help locate the enemy artillery,” he said. “We were basically on the front lines.”
At the end of the war, the crew found out just how accurate they were in surveying the enemy's position.
“We were commended for knocking out a lot of artillery,” he said.
Lowenstein, who participated in five battles, including the Battle of the Bulge, had few breaks during his tour of duty.
“We were in the war for one whole year with only a 10-day rest” at the end of January 1945. “You don't get tired. All you want to do is live until the next day.
“During the Battle of the Bulge, there was an incident I'll never forget,” he said.
“Gen. George Patton was going through in his jeep and he spotted me with my boots not laced. He said, ‘Sergeant, get those (expletive) boots laced up.' It was snowing and cold and he didn't want me to have frostbite. He was so alert, he found time to yell at me to prevent my frostbite.”
