Regis Gignoux papers

The Regis Gignoux papers include a three-page typed letter and three photographs documenting Buchenwald concentration camp immediately following liberation. The letter was written by Gignoux’s commanding officer, a pilot who flew reporter Percy Knauth and photographers Marguerite Higgins, Margaret Bourke-White, and Lee Miller to the Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1945. The letter describes their arrival at the camp and the conditions they found there. The photographs depict victims in Buchenwald. Regis Gignoux (1923-2005) was born in France on March 10, 1923 to Gerard Gignoux and Claudine Huffer. He served as a pilot in the U.S. military during World War II. On one mission, he was supposed to fly reporter Percy Knauth and photographers Marguerite Higgins, Margaret Bourke-White, and Lee Miller to the Buchenwald concentration camp, but his commanding officer chose to fly them himself. Gignoux died in France on January 21, 2005.