A Fort Myers resident and World II War veteran 35 years ago donated a priceless piece of history to the local American Legion post.
Now, after sustaining damage from Hurricane Ian in 2022, the Nordhausen flag ― which concentration camp survivors made as the war was ending ― will call the Naples Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center its home indefinitely.
On Monday, July 1, the museum will hold a special presentation from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. to welcome the flag to its collection on permanent loan.
History of the flag
U.S. troops April 11, 1945, from the Army’s 3rd Armored Division, the 104th Infantry Division, liberated the Mittelbau-Dora (Nordhausen-Dora) concentration camp in central Germany. The camp subjected its prisoners to slave labor, manufacturing Nazi Germany’s V-2 rockets and V-1 flying bombs.
Thousands of prisoners died from disease, starvation, and harsh working conditions.
First Lt. John Spain Sr. was a member of 750th Tank Battalion’s Company B, which was also present during the liberation of Nordhausen. Surviving Jewish Polish prisoners approached Spain Sr. and presented him the flag, which they made from materials around the camp, as a thank you to American soldiers for liberating them.