May 5

This Day in History

Also on This Day

Lead Story
The first American in space, 1961
American Revolution
Clinton excludes Howe and Harnett from amnesty offer, 1776
Automotive
Driving pioneer Bertha Benz dies, 1944
Civil War
Grant and Lee clash in the Wilderness forest, 1864
Cold War
Allies end occupation of West Germany, 1955
Crime
Human remains found in suitcase near Virginia Beach, 2004
Disaster
Hail storm surprises Dallas residents, 1995
General Interest
Napoleon dies in exile, 1821
Cinco de Mayo, 1862
Six killed in Oregon by Japanese bomb, 1945
IRA militant Bobby Sands dies, 1981
Hollywood
Spider-Man is first movie to top $100 million in opening weekend, 2002
Literary
The Examiner publishes John Keats' first poem, 1816
Music
Peaches and Herb top the pop charts with "Reunited", 1979
Old West
Sitting Bull leads his people into Canada, 1877
Presidential
Reagan visits concentration camp and war cemetery, 1985
Sports
Cy Young throws perfect game, 1904
Vietnam War
U.S. forces capture Snoul, Cambodia, 1970
North Vietnamese turn back South Vietnamese relief column, 1972
World War I
Italian delegates return to Paris peace conference, 1919
World War II
Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie returns to his capital, 1941

Presidential

May 5, 1985:

Reagan visits concentration camp and war cemetery

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On this day in 1985, President Ronald Reagan angers Jewish leaders and Holocaust survivors by visiting the Bitburg war cemetery in Germany. Then-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who suggested the visit, accompanied Reagan to the cemetery, where 2,000 German troops are buried. Reagan laid a wreath at the base of a monument to fallen German soldiers. What he did not know was that the cemetery included the graves of 49 of Hitler's infamous SS (Schutzstaffel), the paramilitary organization that planned and carried out the massacre of approximately 6 million people in death camps during World War II.

Before going to Bitburg, Reagan had visited the site of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, in which victims of Nazi persecution, mostly Jews, were exterminated. At Bergen-Belsen, Reagan stood by a marker identifying a mass grave of 50,000 bodies and said solemnly, "here they lie. Never to hope. Never to pray. Never to love. Never to heal. Never to laugh. Never to cry."

Reagan chose to visit both Bergen-Belsen and Bitburg in an effort to honor all victims of World War II, including German soldiers. He also hoped the tour would acknowledge America's strong relationship with Germany since the end of the war, saying "we who were enemies are now friends." Reagan's visit to Bitburg angered not only Jewish leaders and families of Holocaust victims, but also political leaders and citizens in America, France, Britain, West Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

At an American airbase later that day, after having been told of the SS troops buried at Bitburg, Reagan shared his regret over the visit, saying it had "opened old wounds." Reagan's advisors later admitted that the Bitburg visit was a fiasco that had tarnished the president's image.

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This Week in History, May 5 - May 11

May 05, 1985
Reagan visits concentration camp and war cemetery
May 06, 1933
FDR creates the WPA
May 07, 1789
George Washington attends inaugural ball
May 08, 1884
Harry S. Truman is born
May 09, 1914
Woodrow Wilson proclaims the first Mother's Day holiday
May 10, 1877
Hayes has first phone installed in White House
May 11, 1977
President Carter puts in a long day at the office

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