Anthony Acevedo

Anthony Acevedo

Anthony Acevedo was a Mexican American who served as a US Army Medic during World War II. He was captured by German Troops during the Battle of the Bulge and held as a Prisoner of War (POW) in the Berga Forced Labor Camp, a subcamp of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. While there, he kept a secret diary of his experiences, including a record of his fellow American Soldiers’ deaths.

Anthony Acevedo was born in San Bernardino, California, on July 21, 1924, and lived in Pasadena as a child. His mother died when he was two years old. He liked California, but as a Mexican American he was subjected to prejudice and segregation. Anthony, who went by Tony, was not allowed to play with white children, attend the same classes, or swim in the same pools. The environment made him feel unwanted.

In 1937, Tony, his parents, and five siblings relocated from California to Durango, Mexico. In 1942, he left Mexico to return to the United States after he received his Draft Notice to serve in the US Military (as he was born in the United States.)

After undergoing Infantry Training and cramming a year of Medical Training into four-and-a-half months, he was sent to Europe in the fall of 1944 as a Corporal (an Army Medic) and joined Company B of the 275th Infantry Regiment, 70th Infantry Division.

 Acevedo’s company fought in Belgium and France during the Battle of the Bulge, one of the last offensive campaigns by the German Military, which lasted for six weeks between December 1944 and January 1945. The battle was particularly brutal for the 600,000 Americans who fought, and tens of thousands of Americans were killed or wounded. It was Tony’s first combat experience, and he bravely tended to the wounded amid machine gun fire.

A devout Roman Catholic, Acevedo carried a prayer missal with him on the battlefield. When Soldiers shared their fears with him, he taught them prayers to comfort them. Acevedo later recalled that his faith encouraged him to not be afraid.

In a particularly brutal day of battle in early January 1945, the 70th Infantry suffered many casualties and Acevedo was struck in the leg by shrapnel. German Soldiers surrounded and captured the surviving Americans near Philippsbourg, France, forcing them to remove their boots so they could not escape. The Germans forced the new American Prisoners of War (POWs), including Tony, to march through the snow and to board boxcars. The POWs’ destination was Stalag IX-B, a camp for Political Prisoners in Bad Orb, Germany.

At Stalag IX-B, Acevedo became Prisoner 27016. Violating the Geneva Convention that established rules for treating POWs, the German Captors tortured and starved the Prisoners, subjecting them to horrific conditions. Tony was subjected to extreme physical and sexual violence. Still, he continued his duties as a Medic, making use of the few supplies he had to treat the other American POWs.

One month after Tony’s arrival, German Soldiers lined up the American POWs and selected those they believed to be “undesirable.” The Nazis asked Jewish American Soldiers to identify themselves and also singled out men they believed to be Jewish. They also selected men of other backgrounds, including Tony and other Mexican American Soldiers.

Six days later, the group that had been selected arrived at Berga an der Elster, a Forced Labor subcamp of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Many of the Prisoners, including the American POWs, were forced to work excavating tunnels to clear the way for an underground factory. Nazi Officials hoped the site would not be detected by Allied bombers. Acevedo mainly worked as a Medic for other POWs. 

Throughout his ordeal as a Forced Laborer, Acevedo maintained a secret diary of his experiences and recorded the dates and causes of his fellow Soldiers’ deaths. He knew he would be punished if he was caught keeping the record, but he later explained that it was his “moral obligation” to document the names of those who had died. Tony’s fountain pen lasted throughout his imprisonment, and he later remarked, “God gave me that ink to last.”

When the Nazi Guards realized that American and Soviet Troops were closing in, they evacuated the POWs from Berga. Acevedo and the other Prisoners were sent on a Forced March that began in early April and continued until they were liberated by Allied Troops on April 23,1945. Approximately 70 of the 350 American Prisoners at Berga died from dysentery, pneumonia, malnutrition, and exhaustion, or were shot by Nazi guards. Tony managed to survive.

In 2009, the US Government recognized that the former Berga POWs had been Forced Laborers as well as Prisoners of War. Anthony Acevedo became the first Mexican American to register on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Benjamin and Vladka Meed Registry of Holocaust Survivors.

He passed away on February 11, 2018.