KLB Club

Last updated
KLB Club pin designed by the airmen while detained in Buchenwald KLB Club.JPG
KLB Club pin designed by the airmen while detained in Buchenwald

The KLB Club (initials for Konzentrationslager Buchenwald) was formed on 12 October 1944, and included the 168 allied airmen who were held prisoner at Buchenwald concentration camp between 20 August and 19 October 1944. [1] [ page needed ] [2] 166 airmen survived Buchenwald, while two died of sickness at the camp. [3] [4]

Allies of World War II Grouping of the victorious countries of World War II

The Allies of World War II, called the United Nations from the 1 January 1942 declaration, were the countries that together opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War (1939–1945). The Allies promoted the alliance as a means to control German, Japanese and Italian aggression.

Buchenwald concentration camp nazi concentration camp

Buchenwald was a Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or suspected communists were among the first internees.

Contents

Background

As allied air forces took control of the skies over Europe in the summer of 1944, Adolf Hitler ordered the immediate execution of allied flyers accused of committing certain acts. [4] The most common act was to be captured in civilian clothing and/or without their dog tags by the Gestapo or Secret Police. [5] [ page needed ] These airmen had been shot down mainly over France, but also over Belgium and the Netherlands and were turned over to the Gestapo and Secret Police – by traitors within the French Resistance – while attempting to reach England along escape routes such as the Comet and Pat Line. [6] A notable traitor within the French Resistance was Jacques Desoubrie, who was responsible for betraying a significant number of allied airmen to the German authorities. [3] [ page needed ] [5] [ page needed ] [7]

Adolf Hitler Leader of Germany from 1934 to 1945

Adolf Hitler was a German politician and leader of the Nazi Party. He rose to power as Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and later Führer in 1934. During his dictatorship from 1933 to 1945, he initiated World War II in Europe by invading Poland in September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust.

Gestapo official secret police of Nazi Germany

The Geheime Staatspolizei, abbreviated Gestapo, was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe.

Belgium Federal constitutional monarchy in Western Europe

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,688 square kilometres (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.4 million. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège.

These captured airmen were given the name "Terrorflieger" (terror flyers), and were not given a trial. [4] [8] The German Foreign Office however, expressed concern about shooting prisoners of war (POWs) and suggested that enemy airmen suspected of such offenses not be given the legal status of POWs. Following this advice, the Gestapo and Security Police informed these captured allied airmen that they were criminals and spies. [2] [4] Using this justification, 168 allied airmen from Great Britain, United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Jamaica were taken by train – in overcrowded cattle boxcars – from Fresnes Prison outside Paris, to Buchenwald concentration camp. [9] [ page needed ] After five days in the boxcars, they arrived at Buchenwald on 20 August 1944. [1] [3] [ page needed ] [8] [ page needed ]

Prisoner of war Person who is held in custody by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict

A prisoner of war (POW) is a person, whether a combatant or a non-combatant, who is held in custody by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1660.

Great Britain island in the North Atlantic off the north-west coast of continental Europe

Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of 209,331 km2 (80,823 sq mi), it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island, and the ninth-largest island in the world. In 2011, Great Britain had a population of about 61 million people, making it the world's third-most populous island after Java in Indonesia and Honshu in Japan. The island of Ireland is situated to the west of Great Britain, and together these islands, along with over 1,000 smaller surrounding islands, form the British Isles archipelago.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

Buchenwald

Nationalities of the 168 airmen [1] [10] [11]
Flag of the United States.svg 82 American
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg 48 British
Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg 26 Canadian
Flag of Australia.svg 9 Australian
Flag of New Zealand.svg 2 New Zealander
Flag of Jamaica (1906-1957).svg 1 Jamaican

Buchenwald was a forced labour camp of about 60,000 inmates of mainly Russian POWs, but also common criminals, religious prisoners (including Jews), and various political prisoners from Germany, France, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. [12] For the first three weeks at Buchenwald, the prisoners were totally shaven, denied shoes and forced to sleep outside without shelter in one of Buchenwald's sub-camps, known as 'Little Camp'. [12] Most airmen doubted they would ever get out of Buchenwald because their documents were stamped with the acronym "DIKAL" (Darf in kein anderes Lager), or "not to be transferred to another camp". [13] [ page needed ] After the war some of the airmen recounted that officers of the German Air Force had visited Buchenwald a few days after an Allied air raid on Weimar in late August 1944 to assess the damage inflicted upon the armament factory adjacent to the camp. According to these recollections the German officers talked to the airmen and saw after it that they were transferred to the POW camp. [14] Years later veterans identified Johannes Trautloft from photos as one of the officers and credited him with saving their lives. [15] Until now it was not possible to verify this story with archival records. In his war diary Trautloft does not mention the events. [15] The Gedenkstätte Buchenwald stated that a visit by Trautloft or other officers might have happened and that this might have influenced the decision making process what to do with the airmen. On the other hand, there might have been no connection whatsoever, because the decisions were not made by a single officer like Trautloft. [15]

Weimar Place in Thuringia, Germany

Weimar is a city in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately 80 kilometres southwest of Leipzig, 170 kilometres north of Nuremberg and 170 kilometres west of Dresden. Together with the neighbour-cities Erfurt and Jena it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, whereas the city itself counts a population of 65,000. Weimar is well known because of its large cultural heritage and its importance in German history.

To address the constant stress, long appells (roll calls), boredom, insecurity and apprehension, it was decided amongst the 168 airmen to hold formal meetings to give them a sense of purpose and order. [3] Thus, the exclusive KLB Club came into existence with several chapters; Canada, United States, Great Britain, and Australia/New Zealand. [2] Elected representatives of each nationality held separate meetings to collate the previously scattered efforts of those who had proposed address lists, meetings after the war and other pursuits. The meetings at Buchenwald displayed the 168 airmen's militariness and solidarity, forming a bond that brings them together more than 60 years after the liberation of Buchenwald. [2] [3]

Appellplatz location for the daily roll calls in Nazi concentration camps.

Appellplatz is a compound German word meaning "roll call" (Appell) and "area" or "place" (Platz). In English, the word is generally used to describe the location for the daily roll calls in Nazi concentration camps.

At one meeting, it was agreed to design a club pin. The winning design, put forward by Bob Taylor from Great Britain, showed a naked, winged foot, symbolising the airmen's barefoot condition while in the concentration camp. The foot is chained to a ball bearing the letters KLB, with the whole mounted on a white star, which was the crest of the Allied invasion forces. [3] Canadian airman, Willie Walderam, also wrote the poem titled, A Reflection, about Buchenwald [1] (see below). On the night of 19 October, 156 of the 168 airmen were transferred from Buchenwald to Stalag Luft III by the Luftwaffe. Two airmen died from sickness at Buchenwald, while the remaining 10 were transported in small groups, over a period of several weeks. [1]

Stalag Luft III World War II Luftwaffe prisoner of war camp

Stalag Luft III was a Luftwaffe-run prisoner of war (POW) camp during the Second World War, which held captured Western Allied air force personnel.

<i>Luftwaffe</i> Aerial warfare branch of the German military forces during World War II

The Luftwaffe was the aerial warfare branch of the combined German Wehrmacht military forces during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the Luftstreitkräfte of the Army and the Marine-Fliegerabteilung of the Navy, had been disbanded in May 1920 as a result of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles which stated that Germany was forbidden to have any air force.

In the book 168 Jump Into Hell, the purpose of the KLB Club was described as being to perpetuate the comradeship already shown by the flying personnel of Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, United States and Canada, by the interchanging of pamphlets, ideas and visits. [1] More than 30 years later, in 1979, 4 Canadian KLB members made the first serious attempt to trace all club members. [7] Of the original 168 members, only 28 have not been located or accounted for. [1]

Members

Poem

Walderam, Willie, A Reflection  [1] R.C.A.F. KLB 78402

I'll think of you dear KLB
Again some future day,
When the world is gay and free
And I am so far away.

Of those long appells in pouring rain
With neither boots nor shoes,
And the SS guards who counted us
Hitting whom they choose.

When I bounce my children on my knee
I'll think of the Gypsy kids,
Who, instead of wearing ball and chain,
Should have been wearing bibs.

When I Lay in my cosy bed at night
I'll think of your hard boards,
With a single blanket to cover us,
And fleas and lice in hordes.

Ironically, I'll think of how
You took our dog-tags from us,
'Nix soldat-civil' you said,
Smiling fanatically at us.

Yes, you gave us soup and enough black bread
To etch out a mere existence,
Enough to keep us wanting more
And weaken our resistance

How two of our number lost their lives
For lack of medical aid;
You wouldn't even give them food
To help save them from the grave

And then: after eight weeks spent in your filthy soul,
Which seemed to me like years,
The Luftwaffe came, took us away,
I felt like shedding tears

And so to all you Konzentrators,
A toast I offer thee;
Here's wishing you a happy life,
And to Hell with KLB

Related Research Articles

Karl-Otto Koch SS commander and first commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp

Karl-Otto Koch was a mid-ranking commander in the SS of Nazi Germany who was the first commandant of the Nazi concentration camps at Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen. From September 1941 until August 1942, he served as the first commandant of the Majdanek concentration camp in occupied Poland, stealing vast amounts of valuables and money from murdered Jews. His wife, Ilse Koch, also took part in the notorious crimes at Buchenwald and Majdanek.

<i>Hogans Heroes</i> American comedy television series (1965-71)

Hogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom set in a German prisoner of war (POW) camp during World War II. It ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to April 4, 1971, on the CBS network. Bob Crane starred as Colonel Robert E. Hogan, coordinating an international crew of Allied prisoners running a special operations group from the camp. Werner Klemperer played Colonel Wilhelm Klink, the incompetent commandant of the camp, and John Banner played the bungling sergeant-of-the-guard, Sergeant Hans Schultz.

F. F. E. Yeo-Thomas Special operations executive personnel

Wing Commander Forest Frederick Edward "Tommy" Yeo-Thomas was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent in the Second World War. Codenamed "SEAHORSE" and "SHELLEY" in the SOE, Yeo-Thomas was known by the Gestapo as "The White Rabbit". His particular sphere of operations was Occupied and Vichy France.

Nazi concentration camps concentration camp operated by Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled before and during the Second World War. The first Nazi camps were erected in Germany in March 1933 immediately after Hitler became Chancellor and his Nazi Party was given control of the police by Reich Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick and Prussian Acting Interior Minister Hermann Göring. Used to hold and torture political opponents and union organizers, the camps initially held around 45,000 prisoners. In 1933–1939, before the onset of war, most prisoners consisted of German Communists, Socialists, Social Democrats, Roma, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, and persons accused of 'asocial' or socially 'deviant' behavior by the Germans.

Roy Allen (1918–1991) was an American, born in the north Philadelphia neighborhood of Olney. He was a bomber pilot during World War II shot down over France and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp.

Prisoner-of-war camp Site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war

A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of enemy combatants captured by a belligerent power in time of war.

Robert Clary French-American holocaust survivor and actor

Robert Clary is a French-American actor, published author, artist and lecturer. He is known for his role in the television sitcom Hogan's Heroes as Corporal Louis LeBeau.

Hannes Trautloft German flying ace

Johannes "Hannes" Trautloft was a German general and Deputy Inspector of the Air Force of West Germany. During World War II, he was a fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe of Nazi Germany.

Jacques Desoubrie was a double agent who worked for the Gestapo during the German occupation of France during World War II.

The number of deaths in the Buchenwald concentration camp is estimated to have been 56,545, a mortality rate of 24% averaged over all prisoners transferred to the camp between its founding in 1937 and its liberation in 1945. Deaths were due both to the harsh conditions of life in the camp and also to the executions carried out by camp overseers.

German mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war

During World War II, Nazi Germany engaged in a policy of deliberate maltreatment of Soviet prisoners of war (POWs), in contrast to their treatment of British and American POWs. This resulted in some 3.3 to 3.5 million deaths.

Stalag Luft VI

Stalag Luft VI was a German prisoner-of-war camp during World War II located near the town of Heydekrug, Memelland. It was the northernmost POW camp within the confines of the German Reich.

Comet line

The Comet line was a resistance group in Belgium and France that helped Allied soldiers and airmen return to Britain during the Second World War. The line started in Brussels where the men were fed, clothed and given false identity papers, before being hidden in attics or cellars. A network of people then guided them south through occupied France into neutral Spain and home via British-controlled Gibraltar.

Phil Lamason World War II pilot from New Zealand, Buchenwald concentration camp survivor

Phillip John Lamason DFC & Bar was a pilot in the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) during the Second World War, who rose to prominence as the senior officer in charge of 168 Allied airmen taken to Buchenwald concentration camp, Germany, in August 1944. Raised in Napier, he joined the RNZAF in September 1940, and by April 1942 was a pilot officer serving with the Royal Air Force in Europe. On 8 June 1944, Lamason was in command of a Lancaster heavy bomber that was shot down during a raid on railway marshalling yards near Paris. Bailing out, he was picked up by members of the French Resistance and hidden at various locations for seven weeks. While attempting to reach Spain along the Comet line, Lamason was double-crossed by a traitor within the Resistance and handed over to the Gestapo.

Japanese prisoners of war in World War II

During World War II, it has been estimated that between 19,500 and 50,000 members of the Imperial Japanese military surrendered to Western Allied combatants prior to the end of the Pacific War in August 1945. Soviet troops seized and imprisoned more than half a million Japanese troops and civilians in China and other places. The number of Japanese soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen who surrendered was limited by the Japanese military indoctrinating its personnel to fight to the death, Allied combat personnel often being unwilling to take prisoners, and many Japanese soldiers believing that those who surrendered would be killed by their captors.

Death marches (Holocaust)

Death marches refers to the forcible movements of prisoners of Nazi Germany between Nazi camps during World War II. They occurred at various points during the Holocaust, including 1939 in the Lublin province of Poland, in 1942 in Reichskommissariat Ukraine and across the General Government, and between Autumn 1944 and late April 1945 near the Soviet front, from the Nazi concentration camps and prisoner of war camps situated in the new Reichsgaue, to camps inside Germany proper, away from reach of the Allied forces. The purpose was to remove evidence of crimes against humanity committed inside the camps and to prevent the liberation of German-held prisoners of war.

Berga concentration camp

Berga an der Elster was a subcamp of Buchenwald concentration camp. Workers were supplied by Buchenwald concentration camp and from a POW camp, Stalag IX-B; the latter contravened the provisions of the Third Geneva Convention and the Hague Treaties. Many prisoners died as a result of malnutrition, sickness, and beatings, including 73 American POWs. The labor camp formed part of Germany's secret plan to transform, via hydrogenation, brown coal into usable fuel for tanks, planes, and other military machinery. However, the camp's additional purpose was Vernichtung durch Arbeit, and prisoners were intentionally worked to death under inhumane working and living conditions, and they suffered from starvation as a result. This secondary purpose of extermination was carried out until the war's end, when the prisoners were subjected to a forced death march in order to keep ahead of the advancing allied forces.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kinnis & Booker 1999.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 McDonald, Joanne (2005), "POW survives horrors of Buchenwald concentration camp", The Flamborough Review, retrieved 2010-08-18.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Burgess 1995.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Army Air Forces Victims of the Holocaust, National Museum of the US Air Force, archived from the original on 15 October 2012, retrieved 29 July 2010.
  5. 1 2 Childers, Thomas (2004), In the Shadows of War, New York: Henry Holt & Co, ISBN   0-8050-5752-8, OCLC   50559805 .
  6. ↑ Prisoners of War in the Second World War, Veterans Affairs Canada, retrieved 2010-07-29.
  7. 1 2 Harvie, John (1995), Missing in Action, Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, ISBN   0-7735-1350-7, OCLC   34558799 .
  8. 1 2 Moser, Joe (2008). Buchenwald Flyboy: Chapter 8. Retrieved on 2010-07-24.
  9. ↑ Moser & Baron 2009.
  10. ↑ Recognizing and commending American airmen held as political prisoners at the Buchenwald concentration camp (PDF), 105th Congress, 1997, archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2010, retrieved 11 January 2009.
  11. ↑ Stein, Harry (2004), Buchenwald Concentration Camp 1937–1945, Wallstein, p. 171, ISBN   3-89244-695-4, OCLC   61263627 .
  12. 1 2 Marshall, Bruce (2000), The White Rabbit, London: Cassell, pp. 193–94, ISBN   0-304-35697-2, OCLC   59575058 .
  13. ↑ Bard, Mitchell (2004), The Complete Idiot's Guide to World War II, Alpha, pp. 259–60, ISBN   1-59257-204-9, OCLC   43803305 .
  14. ↑ Burgess, Colin (1995, p. 133). Destination Buchenwald. Published by Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst NSW. OCLC   35019954. ISBN   0-86417-733-X; Moser, Joseph and Baron, Gerald (2009, p. 122). A fighter pilot in Buchenwald. Published by Edens Veil Media, Bellingham, WA. OCLC   311551716. ISBN   978-0-615-22111-3; Kinnis, Arthur and Booker, Stanley (1999, p. 176). 168 Jump Into Hell. Published by Victoria B.C. OCLC   43390724. ISBN   0-9684198-0-1
  15. 1 2 3 Biskup, Harald (2014-03-12). "US-Piloten im KZ Buchenwald: Letzter Kampf für den Retter" [US-Airmen in Buchenwald Cconcentration Camp: Last Fight for the Rescuer]. Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. Cologne. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  16. ↑ "A flier is remembered", News, RNZAF (93), June–July 2008, retrieved 2010-09-26.
  17. 1 2 Lancaster LM575, UK: Lost Bombers During World War II, retrieved 2010-10-17.
  18. 1 2 Halifax LV880 Information. Lost Bombers During World War II. Retrieved 2010-10-16
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Part 5, Chapter 7: Anzac POW sent to Buchenwald", ANZAC Prisoners of War, retrieved 2010-09-26.
  20. ↑ "Keith Cyril Mills", The Daily Mercury (obituary), Legacy, retrieved 2012-02-27.
  21. 1 2 3 Lancaster ND424 Information. Lost Bombers During World War II. Retrieved 2010-10-16
  22. ↑ "Leslie Faircloth – Evasion from France 1944", History: WW2 People's War, BBC, retrieved 2010-09-29.
  23. ↑ Redpath, Laura, "Air Jamaica celebrates for the last time", The Jamaica Gleaner, retrieved 2010-09-29.
  24. 1 2 Halifax LK866 Information. Lost Bombers During World War II. Retrieved 2010-10-17
  25. ↑ Harold Bastable, The Memory Project Digital Archive, retrieved 2012-02-27.
  26. ↑ Crawford, John, AOC. Together We Served. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  27. ↑ CARTER-EDWARDS, Edward 'Ed' Carter-Edwards Obituary. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
  28. 1 2 Lancaster LM621 Information. Lost Bombers During World War II. Retrieved 2010-10-17
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 Lancaster KB727 Information. Lost Bombers During World War II. Retrieved 2010-10-17
  30. 1 2 3 4 Halifax LW120 Information. Lost Bomber During World War II. Retrieved 2010-10-16
  31. ↑ Halifax LW123 Information. Lost Bombers During World War II. Retrieved 2010-10-17
  32. 1 2 Halifax LW582 Information. Lost Bombers During World War II. Retrieved 2010-10-17
  33. ↑ Lancaster ME668 Information. Lost Bombers During World War II. Retrieved 2010-10-16
  34. ↑ "Canadian war hero Arthur Kinnis spent life fighting for veterans", iPolitics News, February 6, 2011, retrieved 2011-12-02.
  35. 1 2 3 4 Halifax LW143 Information. Lost Bombers During World War II. Retrieved 2010-10-16
  36. ↑ Crew of Lancaster KB727. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  37. 1 2 Lancaster ME805 Information. Lost Bombers During World War II. Retrieved 2010-10-17
  38. ↑ Lancaster LM480 Information. Lost Bombers during World War II. Retrieved 2010-10-16
  39. ↑ "TH Blackham", Obituaries, Central Flying School Association, retrieved 2010-09-26.
  40. 1 2 3 Halifax MZ630 Information. Lost Bombers During World War II. Retrieved 2010-10-17
  41. 1 2 Halifax LV790 Information. Lost Bombers During World War II. Retrieved 2010-10-16
  42. ↑ Lancaster ND533 Information. Lost Bombers During World War II. Retrieved 2010-10-16
  43. ↑ Blundell, Nigel (November 7, 2011). Sacrafice[sic] of Britain's Bomber Boys. The Daily Express. Retrieved 2011-11-10
  44. ↑ Blundell, Nigel (November 11, 2011). Sacrafice of Britain's bomber boys. The Express. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  45. ↑ Robb, Ian (16 May 2009), Own Story, QMUL, retrieved 2011-12-03.
  46. ↑ Lancaster ND921 Information (2009). Lost Bombers During World War II. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
  47. ↑ Splinter Adolphe Spierenburg (PDF) (in Dutch), NL: Planet, pp. 5–8, retrieved 2010-09-25.
  48. ↑ "Bill to compel rail firms to admit Holocaust role advances", The Los Angeles Times , retrieved 2011-06-05.
  49. ↑ Elmer C. Freeman (obituary), Tributes, retrieved 2013-01-06.
  50. ↑ Oppmann, Patrick (2009). World War II vet honored 60-plus years later for bombing mission CNN International. January 30, 2009. Retrieved 2010-10-16
  51. ↑ Michael R. Petrich Obituary. Legacy.com. Retrieved 2015-01-19
  52. ↑ Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 119. Retrieved 2015-01-19.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.