Photo: Members of the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion—the Wereth 11’s military unit
The Wereth 11 Massacre, involving 11 black GIs from the segregated 333rd Field Artillery Battalion was a story that might never have been told except for the efforts of Hermann Langers, whose family provided temporary shelter to the 11 GIs.
The 333rd Field Artillery Battalion had gained a reputation as a reliable, accurate, and deadly unit. They were the first African American combat unit to face off with the Germans in battle, starting on the beaches of Normandy. Their reputation grew to the point that many infantry units wanted the 333rd backing them. The 333rd Field Artillery Battalion was located only 11 miles behind what was to be the front line of the initial assault wave of the Battle of the Bulge. The battalion was situated on the east side of the Our River at the small village of Schoenberg in support of the 106th Infantry Division.
The 106th Infantry Division lacked experience, and quickly crumbled under the German attack, leaving the 333rd without infantry cover. Most of the 333rd were captured in the early hours of the Battle of the Bulge. 11 men were able to avoid capture and escape into the forest. Seeking cover while carrying only two rifles between them and traversing through deep snow, the 11 men were welcomed into the home of Mathias and Maria Langer. The Langers resided in the little hamlet of Wereth with their six children The Langers fed and cared for the tired GIs for only an hour before SS soldiers arrived at the Langers’ home after being alerted to the presence of the American GIs from a pro-German neighbor.
Exactly what happened to the 11 GIs after they were removed from the Langers’ home will never be known. Their remains were first discovered by Hermann Langers in February 1945 in a snow-covered field not far from the Langers’ home. There was an abundance of evidence of torture and mutilation – fingers cut off, an extensive number of broken bones, skulls crushed in, teeth knocked out, and signs of bayonet wounds to their eye sockets. It was never determined if the torture occurred alive or following death.
Seven of the victims were buried in the American Cemetery at Henri-Chapelle, Belgium, while the other four were returned to their families for burial in the United States after the war.
The massacre of the Wereth 11 was investigated by the US Army, but the investigation was closed in February 1946 without determining who committed the murders. The story of these eleven soldiers was omitted from the final Congressional War Crimes Report of 1949 due to the War Crimes Investigation unit being unable to positively identify the murderers. The tragedy went largely unknown to all except the victim’s families until 1994.
Herman Langers, who was only 12 at the time of his family sheltering the Wereth 11, constructed a small cross memorial on the 50th anniversary of their killings. Even this memorial, however, remained obscure as it was not listed on any road signs, maps, or tour guides and was nestled away in a small, German speaking town.This was rectified in 2004 with the dedication ceremony of a larger memorial, funded through a grassroots campaign begun by Herman Langers.
The US Wereth Memorial is still maintained by the Langer family, with the goal of bringing visibility to the ultimate sacrifice the Wereth 11 made while in service to their country. The site is dedicated not only to the Wereth 11, but to all black soldiers of World War II.
The 11 soldiers massacred, known as the Wereth 11, were: Curtis Adams of South Carolina; Mager Bradley of Mississippi, George Davis Jr. of Alabama; Thomas Forte of Mississippi; Robert Green of Georgia; James Leatherwood of Mississippi; Nathaniel Moss of Texas; George Motten of Texas; William Pritchett of Alabama; James Stewart of West Virginia; and Due Turner of Arkansas.
Sources:
- US Embassy in Belgium, Remembering the Sacrifices of the Wereth 11
- Lawrence Blyden, Monument in small Belgian village serves as remembrance of ‘Wereth 11’
- American Battle Monuments Commission, The American Battle Monuments Commission commemorates the “Wereth 11”
- Wereth, Memory Of Invisible Soldiers Of The Battle Of The Bulge https://wereth.org/en/history/)
- American War Memorials Overseas Inc., Wereth 11 Memorial