Nazi Locomotive Eagle
Third Reich
1933-1945
Metal

On April 11, 1945, the US 4th Armored Division and the 80th Infantry Division liberated more than 21,000 prisoners at Buchenwald. Staff Sergeant Arthur M. Ferguson of Butler, PA arrived at the camp soon after liberation with the 1282nd Engineer Combat Battalion. He removed this eagle from a locomotive outside of the camp on April 27, 1945, and inscribed his initials and the date on the back.

A stylized eagle combined with the Nazi swastika was made the national emblem of Nazi Germany in 1935. 

Sergeant Ferguson’s removal of this emblem symbolized the dismantling of the Nazi regime. We display it upside-down to show his inscription and avoid glorifying the Nazi symbol.