The Untold Story of Anthony Acevedo: The Mexican American POW Who Survived a Nazi Concentration Camp
BY:
Catalina Calves
When we think of Holocaust survivors, we often imagine European Jews who endured the horrors of concentration camps. But among the many stories, one name remains largely overlooked: Anthony Acevedo. He was a Mexican American soldier captured by the Nazis and imprisoned in a concentration camp.
Acevedo was one of 350 American soldiers taken to the Berga concentration camp—part of the larger Buchenwald system—where he endured forced labor, starvation, and unimaginable cruelty. But what happened after his liberation in April 1945 is just as shocking as his time in captivity.
Why haven’t we heard more about the Mexican American soldier who survived a Nazi concentration camp? And why did the United States government silence him upon his return?
Captured and Classified as “Racially Undesirable”
Anthony “Tony” Acevedo was serving as a medic when he was captured by German forces during the Battle of the Bulge.
“When the Germans took us, they forced us to get our boots off and walk down the slope barefooted in the snow. It was up to our waists, … and march for about almost a mile, to the trucks,” he explained in an interview.
Unlike other American prisoners of war (POWs), Acevedo and his fellow captives were sent to Berga because they were Jewish or, in his case, considered “racially undesirable” by the Nazis.
Acevedo did what he could to help his fellow prisoners, documenting their suffering and deaths in a secret diary—an act of defiance that would later become a crucial historical record. His notes, now part of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, detailed the atrocities he witnessed: the starvation, the brutal forced labor, and the slow deaths of his fellow POWs.
He later recalled the moment of his liberation:
“When we heard our tanks, the 11th Armored Division, and the tankers started strolling by, I remember the young fellow picked me up like a feather; put me up on top of the tank. I felt weak. I had lost from 145 down to 87 pounds. I was about 19 ½ years old.”
Anthony Acevedo Betrayed by His Own Country
But Acevedo’s struggles didn’t end when he was freed. Returning to the U.S. should have been a moment of triumph, but instead, he was met with silence and stigma. Acevedo later talked about his father dismissing his suffering, calling him a coward for being captured. According to The National WWII Museum, Acevedo was so devastated that he didn’t speak to his father for seven years.
Then his country betrayed him as well. The U.S. government forced Acevedo and his fellow Berga POWs to sign a gag order, threatening them with imprisonment if they ever spoke publicly about their experiences. The country they had fought for refused to acknowledge their suffering.
It wasn’t until 2009—more than 60 years later—that the U.S. government officially recognized Acevedo and the other Berga POWs as both prisoners of war and victims of Nazi slave labor. In another historic moment, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum honored Acevedo.
The museum “recognized Anthony Acevedo as the first Mexican American on their Benjamin and Vladka Meed Registry of Holocaust Survivors.”
Why His Story Matters
Acevedo’s resilience and dedication to telling the truth ensured that history would not forget the men who suffered in Berga. His diary, interviews, and public testimonies have become critical records of the Holocaust, ensuring that future generations understand the full scope of Nazi war crimes.
“Acevedo’s documentation and the oral testimonies he has shared with The National WWII Museum, the United States Holocaust Museum, and other are important records of the war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated during the Holocaust” the museum writes.
But his story raises an important question: How many other untold stories of Latino soldiers remain hidden in history?
Anthony Acevedo passed away on February 11, 2018. But his story of bravery – both in surviving Berga and in breaking the silence that was forced upon him – serves as a reminder that history is shaped by those who refuse to be forgotten.
