Concentration camp uniform pants recovered from a concentration camp by an American administrator
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 27.750 inches (70.485 cm) | Width: 20.000 inches (50.8 cm)
Creator(s)
- Frederick C. Gratwick Jr. (Subject)
Biographical History
Frederick Coleman Gratwick, Jr. (1910-2004) was born in Buffalo, New York to Frederick (1873-1937) and Dotha (nee Dart) Gratwick. He had four siblings: Davies (1912-2009), twins Martha (later Knapp, 1913-2002) and Lisa (later Nagel, 1913-1997), and Stephen (1923-1992). His grandfather was a wealthy lumber baron, and his father was an attorney. Frederick Jr. attended high school at the Pomfret School in Connecticut, where he graduated in 1931. He went on to attend Yale University, and graduated in 1936. He worked as a salesman prior to the war. Frederick Jr. was likely in Japan when his father died in April 1937. He sailed back to the United States that June. From September 1940, to February 9, 1941, Frederick served in the New York National Guard (NYNG) as a Private in Battery B, 1st Battalion of the 209th Coast Artillery. He was wounded during his service. The unit was converted to the National Guard of the United States (NGUS), and incorporated into the Coast Artillery Corps (CAC), an administrative corps responsible for coastal, harbor, and anti-aircraft defense. Frederick was inducted into the Army as an Officer of the National Guard, commissioned at the grade of Second Lieutenant. He was promoted to First Lieutenant in March 1942, and the 209th deployed to Northern Ireland in May. Frederick was promoted to Captain at the end of August 1942. After a brief stay in England, the regiment arrived in North Africa in January 1943; they moved to Italy at the end of October. In March 1944, the 209th Coast Artillery was reorganized, and the 1st Battalion became the 72d Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion. The re-designated Battalion fought in both the Mediterranean and European theaters, and participated in campaigns through France and Germany. On April 29, 1945, the 42nd Infantry Division, the 45th Infantry Division, and the 20th Armored Division liberated 32,000 prisoners at Dachau concentration camp, near Munich. Additionally, they found over 2,300 corpses and 816 survivors on a train outside the camp. The day after liberation, the U.S. Seventh Army took over administration of Dachau, and on May 7, Germany formally surrendered to the Allies. Over the next month, approximately 2,000 more former prisoners died, while the survivors were slowly released or repatriated to their native countries. Frederick arrived at Dachau as an administrator approximately a month after liberation. Following his deployment in Europe, Frederick returned to Buffalo, where he worked as an estimator.
Archival History
The uniform pants were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2017 by the family of Frederick Gratwick, Jr., facilitated by his nephew and niece Davies Nagel and Marta Nagel Burrows.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the family of Frederick Gratwick, Jr.
Scope and Content
Striped, concentration camp uniform pants, recovered from Dachau concentration camp by American soldier and administrator, Frederick Gratwick, Jr. It was found in a camp warehouse among a stockpile of prisoner uniforms, which the former inmates refused to wear. Frederick was a member of the New York National Guard, which was converted to the National Guard of the United States in February 1941. He was inducted into the Army as an Officer of the National Guard, commissioned at the grade of Second Lieutenant, and was eventually promoted to Captain in August 1942. Frederick arrived at Dachau as an administrator approximately a month after the April 29, 1945 liberation. During liberation, the 42nd and 45th Infantry Divisions of the U.S. Army encountered around 32,000 survivors in the camp. Although the prisoners were given medical care, 2,000 were in such dire condition, they died the following month. The prisoners that recovered were slowly released or repatriated to their native countries. In July, Dachau was converted into an internment camp housing for those suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Blue and white, vertically striped, mediumweight, herringbone weave cloth pants. The stripes are woven into the cloth, and the seams and hems are machine-stitched with black thread. All of the buttons are circular and made of gray-colored metal, and all of the buttonholes are finished with green thread. The fishtail waistband is lower in the front than the back, where it rises into two points split by a V-shaped notch. There are two suspender buttons on the front of the waistband, one near each side seam, and one button and corresponding buttonhole centered above a hidden fly. Below, the fly consists of four buttons—one of which has remnants of a tan coating—and corresponding buttonholes sewn into a hidden placket lined with a gray satin weave cloth. At each hip, dark teal, twill weave cloth pockets are hidden by welted, in-seam openings. On the back of the waistband, there are two suspender buttons on each point of the fishtail. Below the waistband are two narrow, horizontal adjustment straps with pointed ends, in a discolored blue and gay herringbone weave cloth lined with a reddish, gray-brown satin weave cloth. On the end of one strap is a rectangular, black-colored, two-pronged, metal buckle. The waistband is faced with a reddish, gray-brown satin weave cloth, and a hanging loop made of a gray satin weave cloth is sewn to the center back. A large, faded, purple ink number is stamped on the interior waistband. The left side of the fly is faced with a discolored blue and gay herringbone weave cloth. Two of the buttons are covered in a red-brown corrosion, and the backs of the legs have some small, repaired holes.
Corporate Bodies
- United States. Army
- Dachau (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Concentration camps.
- Concentration camps--clothing and dress--uniforms.
- World War, 1939-1945--Veterans--United States.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Germany.
- Prisoner-of-war camps.
- Soldiers--American.
- Dachau (Germany)
- World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation.
Genre
- Clothing and Dress
- Prison uniforms.
- Object