In the early morning of Maundy Thursday 1945, on March 29, 1945, the US troops reached Wetzlar and issued an ultimatum. Although the surrender was made a death penalty, the city was surrendered without a fight. All videos from the series here:    • 1945 und Ich  

00:00 The film footage shows the advance of the US Army near Dillenburg, German prisoners of war at
03:21 am the capture of Wetzlar at the end of March
04:12 am and a camp with liberated Allied prisoners of war near Wetzlar
14:19
Here is the playlist with all the videos for "1945 and I":

The Lahn-Dill area had also experienced heavy air raids shortly before the end of the war. In Wetzlar alone there were over 300 air alarms between the beginning of 1944 and March 1945. The most severely affected place in the region was Niederscheld. The strategic importance of the railway bridge there was fatal for the residents. Their number fell from 1800 in 1944 to 83 at the end of the war. 80% of the houses were destroyed here.

In the Biedenkopf, Dillenburg and Wetzlar region there were numerous armaments factories in which thousands of forced laborers had to work under inhumane conditions. In 1943 there were over 90 camps for prisoners of war and forced labor in the region.

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the end of the war, we researched archive material for all regions of Hesse - in our hr archive and in the National Archives in Washington. There we also found many previously unpublished images that the US Army took during their invasion and shortly afterwards in Hesse. We have sorted this film material according to the information in the archive according to Hessian regions and districts. Since there was often no information about where exactly the recordings were made: Do you have more information about what is in this clip or who exactly can be seen? Then contact [email protected].

All other clips on the topic of “1945 and I” can be found here in the playlist: https://bit.ly/1945undich_Alle_Videos
The film "1945 and Me - 75 Years of Peace in Hesse" can also be seen here, in which the younger generation meets contemporary witnesses.

In case you're wondering what has this got to do with me? There is a report on the topic What does a scholarship have to do with forced labor during the Nazi era?    • Wie Zwangsarbeiter dein Studium finan...  

There is also a lot more multimedia on the topic: https://www.daserste.de/kinder-des-kr...
https://www.daserste.de/geschichte

https://www.hr-inforadio.de/programm/...

1945undich #Hesse #History