Nazi Concentration Camp Liberation Solider Recalls Ohrdruf

Michele DeMarco, PhD
10 min readMay 28, 2022

“We Trudged Through an Unknown, Unexperienced Evil — Unaware How That Evil Took Hold in Us”

Joe Simboli holds a photo of himself in a WWII tank.
Joe Simboli holds a photo of himself in a WWII tank. | Photo courtesy of Andrew Simboli, son of Joe.

The following essay was written by Joseph Simboli Jr., (my partner’s father) one of the members of the 89th Infantry Division who liberated Ohrdruf, the first Nazi concentration camp to be discovered by American

Michele DeMarco, PhD

Award-winning writer, therapist, clinical ethicist, and researcher specializing in moral injury. I talk about the stuff many won’t. micheledemarco.com