Bigalke, Vernon (1917-2007)

Cote

id57764

Nom et localisation du dépôt

Niveau de description

Folder

Titre

Bigalke, Vernon (1917-2007)

Date(s)

  • December 8, 1990 (Création/Production)

Importance matérielle

Portée et contenu

https://reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/stc:8633#/kaltura_audio

Biographical Information: Vernon A. Bigalke was born in Little Falls, Minnesota, on February 18, 1917. Before the war, he served in the Minnesota National Guard and then was drafted into the Army in 1941. For the first years of the war, Bigalke was part of an anti-aircraft artillery unit that guarded American shores. He was reassigned to the 259th Infantry in Mississippi and sent to Le Harve, France in December 1944 as part of the 65th Infantry Division. While at the Seigfried Line, he was captured by the Germans in January 1945 and held as a prisoner until the end of the war. After the war, Mr. Bigalke became a farmer and raised a family. He died in Little Falls, Minnesota, on November 22, 2007.

Transcript Summary: Vernon A. Bigalke was born in Little Falls, Minnesota, on February 18, 1917. Before the war, he served in the Minnesota National Guard and then was drafted into the Army in 1941. For the first years of the war, Bigalke was part of an anti-aircraft artillery unit that guarded American shores. He was reassigned to the 259th Infantry in Mississippi and sent to Le Harve, France in December of 1944 as part of the 65th Infantry Division. He described the defensive nature of his European service and the circumstances of his capture near the southern portion of the Seigfried Line in January 1945. Instead of being taken to a prison camp, Bigalke and twenty other Americans were marched across southern German from the Siegfried Line to Frankfurt to Munich. He described his treatment by the Germans, his survival mechanisms, and his experiences as a POW until liberation, which included a brief stop at Dachau concentration camp. He also discussed postwar medical treatment by the military and his impressions of the area on a return visit 45 years later.

Interview by David Overy

Includes archival material

Mode de classement

Conditions d'accès

Accès physique

Accès technique

Conditions de reproduction

Langue des documents

    Écriture des documents

      Notes de langue et graphie

      Instruments de recherche

      Historique de la conservation

      Source immédiate d'acquisition

      Évaluation, élimination et calendrier de conservation

      Accroissements

      Existence et lieu de conservation des originaux

      Existence et lieu de conservation des copies

      Sources complémentaires

      Descriptions associées

      Notes spécialisées

      Identifiant(s) alternatif(s)

      Règles ou conventions

      Sources utilisées

      Mots-clés - Sujets

      Mots-clés - Lieux

      Mots-clés - Noms

      Mots-clés - Genre

      Zone des entrées