Photograph of a mass grave at Gardelegen

Harold Earl Rossiter, Sr. was born on 7 August 1915 in Rochester, New York. During World War II he served with the United States Army and was among the soldiers who landed at the beach in Normandy. Additionally, he was among the soldiers that discovered the mass grave of prisoners executed at Gardelegen. Harold received five bronze star medals and was discharged with the rank of Corporal. After the war he worked for General Motors and lived in Rochester with his wife Catherine. They had five children. The collection consists of a photograph depicting a mass grave of prisoners executed by being burned alive in a barn near Gardelegen, Germany. The bodies were exhumed by German civilians and reburied. The verso includes an original inscription by Harold Earl Rossiter, Sr. (1915-1984), reflecting on the sights he witnessed and the forced confrontation of local Germans tasked to inter the bodies of victims.