WITNESS TO THE HOLOCAUST: WWII Veteran William Alexander Scott III at
Buchenwald
The Scott Exhibit is a photographic essay of one of Atlanta's leading African-American citizens, founder and editor of the Atlanta Daily World newspaper, tireless civil rights leader, WWII photojournalist and a witness to the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp. This exhibit was curated by the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust and is currently on display at the Anne Frank in the World exhibit in Sandy Springs.
Biography: William Alexander Scott, III (1923-1992) William Alexander Scott. III, A brilliant man of many talents, he continually surprised even those who knew him with the depth of his experience and wisdom, and the breadth of his intellectual interests. Businessman, and chess master, loving father and grandfather, film critic, radio show host, artist, poet and public servant, W A. Scott brought his intelligence, humor and integrity to all of his pursuits. He celebrated life.
In 1991 "W. A.", as he was known to family and friends, was honored for his "valiant service" with the Allied Forces in Liberating the Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and was appointed by President George Bush to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. It was an honor in which he took particular pride, along with his membership in the now legendary Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. In 1991, he was also included among the "Hidden Treasures: African-American Photographers in Atlanta. 1870-1970" at the APEX Museum. W, A. Scott's life began in Johnson City, Tennessee, where he was born on January 15, 1923. That year his family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where his father W, A. Scott, II, founded the Atlanta Daily World newspaper in 1928. He attended the Atlanta University Elementary (Oglethorpe) and Laboratory high schools. From childhood he worked at the Atlanta World in various capacities from paper-boy and clean-up person, to sports statistician, movie and play critic and photographer.
"W.A." was studying Business Administration and Mathematics at Morehouse College, and waiting to marry his childhood sweetheart Marian Willis, when he was called up for the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II. He served from 1943 to 1946. He and Marian married on August 28, 1944, just before he was shipped overseas. Scott served as a photographer with the 318th Airbase Squadron and the 183rd Engineer Combat Battalion, While with the 183rd in Germany. Scott was one of the first Allied soldiers to enter Buchenwald. After the war he returned to Atlanta, and completed his education at Morehouse. He began his married life with Marian. and in 1948 became Circulation Manager of the Atlanta Daily World. During the years Scott covered many events of historical significance occurring in this area, sometimes as the lone African-American walking into a

Southern hamlet to investigate a lynching. In 1984, he became Public Relations and Advertising Manager, a post he held until his death.
Throughout his years, "W. A." was active in the life of Atlanta and involved in many civic and professional associations. In 1986, Scott was appointed by Mayor Andrew Young to serve on the "Committee of 150" to plan the city's 150th anniversary, and by Governor Joe Frank Harris as a charter member of the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust. He served on a number of boards: the NAACP, the Educational Foundation of Metro Atlanta(Better Business Bureau); the Atlanta Council of International Visitors; the Educational Information and Referral Service, Inc.. (American Association of University Women), Grady Memorial Hospital Board of Visitors; the ZACHOR Committee of the Atlanta Jewish Federation and as Historian for the Tuskegee Airmen. Inc.
Photo: William A. Scott is shown holding a certificate awarded by the United States Memorial Council to those attending the gathering of International Liberators and survivors at the U.S. Department of State, October 26-28, 1981. Photo by Harmon Perry
Scott was a member of the First Congregational Church: the Georgia Council of Human Relations; the Greater Atlanta Council of Human Relations: the Committee to Celebrate the First Official National Holiday Commemorating the Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.; and was a charter member of the Atlanta Area UNICEF Advisory Board. In addition, he served as a member of the Advisory Committee of the Atlanta Housing Authority: a Community Advisor for the Atlanta Family Services Society, a member and exhibitor with the Atlanta Arts Festival and on the Public Affairs Advisory Council for the Headquarters, United States Army Command.
Well known in the area for his expertise in chess, and rated an expert by the United Chess Federation, Scott was President of the Atlanta Chess Association for three years. He was proud to have won the Georgia State Open Chess Championship in 1963, followed in 1967 by three distinct honors: Atlanta Chess Club Champion, Speed Champion, and Chairman of the host committee for the 68th Annual U.S. Open Chess Championship Tournament.
William Alexander Scott, III is survived by a family that will long celebrate his wonderful life; his wife, Marian; son, William A. Scott, IV; daughter, Alexis Scott Reeves; mother, Lucille McAllister Scott; son-in-law, David L. Reeves; grandchildren, Cinque Scott Reeves, David Leslie Reeves, Jr., Emily Zsarah Scott, William A. Scott V, and Kai Lawarren Scott; aunts, Mrs. Vashti Scott Ellis, Mr. and Mrs. J. Russell Simmons (Ruth Scott), and Dr. Joan M. Gordon, Savannah, Georgia; uncle. Mr. and Mrs. C. A, Scott; niece, Ms. Alicia L. Scott, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; nephew, Dr. Thomas M. Scott. Galesburg, Illinois:

grandnieces, Adia Nicole Scott and Adrienne Alicia Crawford; sister-in-law, Mrs. Portia Thomas Scott, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; many other relatives and friends.
World War II Veteran
Dr. Bass, a retired Philadelphia public school principal, has been lecturing on the Holocaust since 1968. Scott responded to a request in 1979 by Dr. Fred Crawford, an Emory University Professor in Atlanta, Georgia, that GI's who witnessed the death camps tell their stories. Scott began speaking on the Holocaust to students, synagogues and church groups. Both Bass and Scott participated in October of 1981 at a gathering of liberators and survivors at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. Bass was an official spokesperson during the 3-day event for the United States. Scott, along with John Blustrom, were the two GI's representing the state of Georgia, Scott was also appointed to the 31 member Georgia Commission on the Holocaust by Gov. Joe Frank Harris in May 1986.
William Alexander Scott III Remembers the Horror of the Holocaust When one explores the halls of memories, some moments cannot be forgotten or dimmed by the passage of time. I remember the day-clear and sunny-riding in a convoy into Eisenach, Germany, 11 April 1945, as World War II was ending; and, a Third Army courier delivering a message to us to continue on to a concentration camp (Buchenwald), 10 or more miles further east, near Weimar.
I was a reconnaissance sergeant, photographer, camoufleur and part-time historian in S-2 (Intelligence Section) of the 183rd Engineer Combat Battalion. We were in the: 8th Corps of General George S. Patton's 3rd Army. As we rode into Buchenwald, I can remember thinking--"there is no place as horrible as we have been told--no atrocities--we should turn around--stop wasting time--go back to Eisenach and establish our Battalion Headquarters."
But we continued and finally, arrived at a place that did not look so bad as we passed the main entrance--but, as we rolled around the front building, we saw the feeble mass of survivors milling around.
We got out of our vehicles and some began to beckon to us to follow and see what had been done in that place--they were walking skeletons. The sights were beyond description. What little we had been told in an orientation session in Northern France in early December, 1944, was nothing in comparison--and I had thought no place could be this bad.
I took out my camera and began to take some photos--but that only lasted for a few pictures. As the scenes became more gruesome, I put my camera in its case and walked in a daze with the survivors, as we viewed all forms of dismemberment of the human body. We learned that 31,000 of the 51,000 persons there had been killed in a two week period prior to our arrival. An SS trooper had remained until the day of our arrival and survivors had

captured him as he tried to flee over a fence. He was taken into a building where two men from my unit followed. They said he was trampled to death by the survivors. I began to realize why few, if any, persons would believe the atrocities I had seen. HOLOCAUST was the word used to describe it--but one has to witness it to even begin to believe it--and, finally after going through several buildings, with various displays--lamp shades of human skin, incinerators choked with human bones, dissected heads and bodies, testes in labeled bottles, so that they could be seen by the victims on a shelf by the door as they went in and out of the barracks (after two weeks of this procedure, they would be killed, but, we arrived before this ritual could be continued), my mind closed the door on this horror.
We eventually left after helping to remove some of the survivors for medical assistance. As we rode back to Eisenach in silence, I remembered that about 1,000 persons in an isolated area were in better shape than the others-- who were they?-Russians we were told. But, I asked myself, how could a country, classified during my high school days of the late 1930's as probably the world's most literate, allow this type of mass murder and psychotic behavior to take place? There were no answers, as many thoughts raced through my mind.
Even though my ancestors had arrived in our country (the United States of America) as slaves in chains from Africa, and subjected to torture and death during the long centuries of slavery, it all seemed to pale in comparison to the glaring impact of what I had witnessed at Buchenwald. I later learned about other death facilities-including the monstrous Auschwitz. My slave ancestors, despite the horrors they were subjected to, had value and were listed among the assets of a slave holder. Had the Nazi position prevailed in the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War, (my slave great grandfather and namesake-- William Alexander Scott fought with the Union Army in
Mississippi) I, or others similarly situated, would not exist in the world today--the earth would have literally become the "Forbidden Planet" where no humans would exist, only Robby the Robot and Hal the Computer would patrol the plains. My life, as I contemplate the impact of past events on it, has evolved into a character that exhibits an attitude to fellow humans that they have nothing to fear from me or my family. I am only one. But my wife, our children (a son and a daughter--their children, 2 boys, a girl and 2 boys, respectively) have the character and function that nothing should fear them--they have no designs on others or their families.
Last Updated 29 May 2001