. In answer to your request for
info about Eric Saul: I met him in the early ninties
after he had set up a sushi and bagel breakfast in SF
for"survivors of the Dachau concentration camp and their
Liberators, members of the Japanese=American 522nd
Rct". Articles were printed up in the
SF Chronicle, the Asian News and any number of Jewish
publications which were happy to give the story all the
publicity Eric Saul craved. I had been stationed, as an
American GI in Dachau for one year. I had never heard of
any Japanese troops being involved in the liberation of
the camp. I was also in the process of writing a book
about the liberation of Dachau, which I am now
completing. I took it upon myself to visit Eric Saul at
his Picture framing business in SF. We went out for a
three hour lunch and conversation. At that time I had no
idea how untruthful a man he was. After meeting the Historian for
the 522nd in Los Altos, Ca. and being impressed with his
honesty, integrity and sincerity in telling me the truth
about what he knew, and also incidentally in wanting to
find out what really happened at Dachu, I got many leads
about the men of the 522nd and in later years attended
their reunion in LA when the Japanese American museum was
dedicated there. Rather than give you a long
involved escape of who I met and interviewed and where, I
think it best if I give you the sources I tracked down
and let you contact them directly. Be assured that any
names I give you will be well worth your time... and in
all probability will be pleased to cooperate with you...
For my part, after 15 years
of research I can tell you without any doubt that no
Japanese American troops were involved in the liberation
of the main Dachau concentration camp on April 29,
1945. I can also tell you
that the men of the 522nd were fierce fighters for out
side and they did make contact with Jewish concentration
camp survivors on Death marches south of Dachau near the
Austrian border and that they well may have come across
some smaller subsidiary camps along this march
route. Sus Ito of 16 Stearns Rd.
Wellesley, Mass 02181 received a battlefield commission
for heroics. He is now a professor at Boston College.
Anything he tells you can be taken as gospel. George Oiye
53 Alma Los Altos, Ca. 94022 tel.415 941 4850... was the
historian and photographer for the 522nd. (Eric Saul used
Oiye's pictures for a historical display which he took
around the United States saying the pictures were his
own). Prior to this bit of fraud Eric Saul arranged a
trip for the members of the 522 to Israel and Germany...
Saul's parents live in Jerusalem and were instrumental in
getting him write-ups and publicity about his liberators,
all of which were false. George Oiye, as I recall went on
this trip as did the secretary of the Pacific Jewish
organization and about 20 others. The Hawaii Herald March
19 1993 had a 25 page section on the522nd Regiment...
which was part of the 442nd Battalion made up at the
beginning exclusively of Hawaiian=Japanese. Linda K. Menton of the Univ. of
Hawaii was for a time head of the Holocaust studies dept
for the University. She is a knowledgeable woman. She
wrote up a Research Report for the Holocaust and Genocide
Studies publication V8 N2 Fall 1994 pp258-274 entitled
Nisei Soldiers at Dachau Spring 1945. Then of course is
the volume of material Joan Derman has
collected. However for your purposes I
believe contacting the men still alive who were members
of the 522 is your best bet. These guys are all in the
age range of 75-85 but I assure you... at least the ones
I refer you to are still able to remember what they have
to and you can mention my name freely... but not in the
same sentence with Eric Saul. My interest is only in
Dachau.... if you have members who have first hand
knowledge of the camp... or are children of survivors I
would be pleased to contact them. I am in the last stages
of my book but could easily add in some new information
if it is reliable. I hope I have been of help to
you... if not... feel free to contact me again or if you
would like to speak to me my telephone is
531-857-6050 Sincerely, David l. israel 1200 mira mar suite 1001
Envelope-to:
Contact@isurvived.org
From: "david l. israel" <disrael@charter.net>
To: "Holocaust Survivors' Network"
<Contact@Isurvived.org>
Subject: Re: In pursuit of Eric Saul
Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2003 16:06:27 -0700
The man is as phony as a three dollar bill.
medford, oregon 97504
RCT... regimental combat team
