NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID
RG4551.AM: Frederick W. Carstens, 1910-1999
Reminiscences: 1989
Adams and Beatrice, Gage County, Neb.: Lawyer, WWII soldier
Size: 1 item
BACKGROUND NOTE
F. W. Carstens was born near Adams, Nebraska on January 29, 1910. He graduated from the University of Nebraska with a law degree in 1939 and afterwards began a law practice in Beatrice. He married Anne Pickett in 1940. He and wife shared a law office for many years.
Carstens was called into military service just prior to the declaration of war in December of 1941. He helped organize the 5th, 6th, and 12th Armored Divisions. During most of his time in the European theatre, Carstens served as Battalion Executive Officer of the 494th Armored Field Artillery, 12th Armored Division with the rank of Major. He received the Purple Heart, two bronze stars, and various unit awards. Upon cessation of hostilities in Europe, he served in the Investigation Section of the War Crimes Branch.
Carstens returned to Beatrice in 1946 and resumed his law practice. His practice consisted of personal injury cases and various types of litigation, with emphasis on probate and real estate law and taxation. He passed away at Beatrice on January 10, 1999.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
This collection consists of one manuscript item, a reminiscence dating from 1989. This reminiscence, in typescript form, was written by F. W. Carsten for the editorial page of the Lincoln Journal. Carsten’s memoir describes his experiences at and reactions to a German concentration camp at the end of World War II. Carstens was the first allied soldier to arrive at the camp for Hungarian Jews on April 25, 1945 and his reminiscence details the condition of the inmates and the camp. An accompanying letter by Carstens explains that his experiences at the camp and in the War Crimes Branch have “remained a blight and a dark spot upon my memory.”
DESCRIPTION
Reminiscence, 1989
ADDED ENTRIES:
Carstens, Frederick W., 1910-1999
Concentration camps — Germany
Jews — Germany
Lawyers — Nebraska — Beatrice
Reminiscences
War crimes — Germany
World War, 1939-1945 — Concentration camps
World War, 1939-1945 — Personal narratives
AIP/ksa 02-1992
11-06-2009 Revised TMM/tmm
