by John McCormick
For much of his 84 years, Charles Payne has lived in Chicago in relative obscurity and watched his sister's grandson rise to the presidency.
But now it appears possible that a painful part of Payne's own story will be brought to the forefront, based on German news reports that President Barack Obama is considering a visit to the concentration camp that his great uncle helped liberate in April 1945.
Payne, who spent much of his career working in library science at the University of Chicago, was a private first class in the 89th Infantry Division during World War II when he participated in the liberation of Ohrdruf, a forced-labor camp that was a satellite of the Buchenwald concentration camp.
"I remember seeing a lot of really emaciated people in rags at the point of starvation. People were clutching tin cups for food," he said Thursday in a Tribune interview. "I saw sheds where dead bodies had been stacked up."
But Payne said he had thought little in recent years about the horrors he saw, until German reporters started calling to ask about a possible presidential visit.
A German government spokesman told reporters in Berlin that Obama may visit Buchenwald while in Europe this summer. The president is expected to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France on June 6, and a Group of Eight summit will be in Italy in July.
Read the rest of the story in Friday's Chicago Tribune.
Comments
That will go over big with the Germans.
While he's in the neighborhood he might want to some of the POW camps from WW II, most infamous of which was Stalagluft III.
Posted by: ornery | May 7, 2009 10:45 PM
"That will go over big with the Germans."
You may be surprised to learn that this is, on the contrary, quite expected from foreign visitors. In fact, the fact that Obama has through his grand-uncle a personal history to this painful part of German history will make the visit all the more poignant. Germany does a great deal to make sure the history is not forgotten or swept under the rug.
Posted by: Candia | May 8, 2009 9:06 AM
My brother was a prisoner in Stalag Luft III in WW II, and at the end moved in a forced march to another camp as the Allies advanced to liberate it.
And I've enjoyed visiting Germany over the years.
However, I have the impression there is under the surface a sentiment in Germany that does not find the visits to some of the camps as happy events.
Reagan's handlers tryed to tap into this with his visit to Bitberg.
Backfired when the US press dug deeper into who all is buried there.
Stalag Luft III holds a camp reunion every 5 years on the anniversary in April 1945 when the camp was liberated.
Maybe Obama should drop in on the next one, next April.
A few survivors of the camp will still be around and in attendance.
He might pay some respect to them.
Posted by: ornery | May 8, 2009 10:15 AM
Interesting how in the Trib story, the uncle says he hasn't talked to Obama since the election. It seems he's (prez, I mean) not close with any relatives, except on Michelle's side.
Posted by: Lizzie | May 8, 2009 3:19 PM