Revising history: Obama's uncle liberated Auschwitz.

Obama, speaking with 'deep humility' on Memorial Day, told us about an interesting bit of his family's history.

CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic fawningly writes:

Obama also spoke about his uncle, who was part of the American brigade that helped to liberate Auschwitz. He said the family legend is that, upon returning from war, his uncle spent six months in an attic. "Now obviously, something had really affected him deeply, but at that time there just weren’t the kinds of facilities to help somebody work through that kind of pain," Obama said.

And, The Washington Post reports:

Obama said he suspects that one of the reasons his grandfather seldom spoke of his wartime experience was the trauma he had witnessed.

"In World War Two we didn't have the concept of post traumatic stress syndrome. People had to basically handle it on their own," he said. Referring to an uncle who had been one of the first U.S. troops into Auschwitz, the concentration camp, Obama said: "The story in the family is he came home and just went up in the attic."

Afterward, Paul Weinbaum, 66, beamed his approval of a candidate who had captured both his frustrations and his desire.

"There is hope for America," he said. "The sincerity comes through."

The 'sincerity' comes through. The truth? Not so much.

For those of you (like Obama) who might not be aware of history or geography, Auschwitz isn't in Germany. It's in Poland. On most maps, Poland is generally placed to the east of Germany, placing it on the opposite side of Germany from the direction the Allies were approaching.

Auschwitz was liberated by Russia's Red Army on January 27th, 1945. The Allies were, at that time, still wrapping up the Battle of the Bulge and attempting to cross the Rhine. During the war, American troops never entered Auschwitz.

Beyond that, the liberation of Auschwitz wasn't the humanitarian effort that the American and British liberations of camps in Germany was. Binjamin Wilkomirski, a child survivor of Auschwitz wrote that there was no liberation, "We just ran away without permission. No joyous celebration. I never heard the word 'liberation' back then, I didn't even know there was such a word."

Otto Frank, father of Anne Frank, was also held at the camp. He said that the prisoners were given a choice between staying in the camps until more Soviet troops arrived, or being 'death marched' through two feet of snow to the old German Reich where they'd be put on trains and taken back to camps in Germany. Stragglers were shot and left alongside the road. More died on the trains taking them to Dachau, Buchenwald, Bergen-Belsen, and Mauthausen. Otto chose to stay at Auschwitz and survived.

The full history -- and, accordng to Barack's weekend revelations, the apparently false history -- can be read HERE.

Finally, the truth has come out: Obama's uncle was part of a secret mission, sent deep into Soviet territory more than 300 miles ahead of his own army's lines, to liberate Auschwitz. And, for more than 60 years, the Red Army has been claiming credit.

No wonder he came home and went up to the attic.