He was known as the “Beast of Omaha Beach.” Heinrich Severloh, a German soldier with the 352nd Infantry Division, was one of the most notorious gunners on Omaha Beach during that fateful day of June 6, 1944.

Born in Metzingen (now Eldingen) in 1923, Severloh was drafted into the Wehrmacht (German Army) when he was still a teenager. His sharp tongue earned him hard physical labor, for which he ended up in the military hospital for six months. Once he was healed, he started junior officer training, but never got the chance to complete it due to heavy casualties in his unit.

Severloh was then stationed in Normandy with the 352nd Infantry Division. Positioned next to fellow gunner Franz Gockel, Severloh was in charge of defending Omaha Beach with his arsenal of deadly machine guns. He had an excellent tactical position to attack the waves of incoming American GIs that were attempting to storm the beach.

The soldiers didn’t have a chance as they tried to run across an uncovered stretch of sand. Severloh easily cut down hundreds of men with his rifles and MG42 from the safety of his foxhole. For nine tense hours, Severloh kept up a steady fire on his enemies. The gunners easily coordinated strategies with each other through visual cues and directions from their Lieutenant, Friedrich Frerking. A desperate thought kept running through his head as he took down man after man: “Them or me.”

Fortunately, the Americans were able to slip in between two resistance nests and attack the German soldiers. Severloh was only minimally injured in the face that day, and he somehow managed to flee to a nearby town with a comrade. While attempting to bring American GIs to a prison checkpoint the next day, he was captured by other soldiers and was sent to Boston as a prisoner. He was not released until 1947, at which point he traveled to England and got a job as a road construction worker.

Severloh’s father was the person who helped free the “Beast of Omaha.” He returned to his parent’s farm and tried to put aside the war memories, but could not. In an ironic twist of fate, he met and befriended an American GI that he had probably wounded on D-Day. The two remained close friends until Severloh’s death in 2006.