Bomb war and perseverance

The end of the second world war will be on 8. May 2020 already 75 years behind us. However, many people still remember this time, be it because of the deaths in the family, or because of the loss of the ancestral habitat and the difficulties in integrating into the new home in what was then the district of hochstadt an der aisch.

It must have been clear to everyone how hopeless the situation already was, but also that it was going to get even worse. The countless air raid alarms and bombing raids were an unmistakable indication that the.

Officials, however, continued to encourage the will of the people to persevere. Reports on the treatment of the german people in the eastern territories served as motivation, but also the hope for the promised "miracle weapons" the "weapons of retribution" are the most important ones V-1 and V-2, as well as the new dusen aircraft.

Manual bazooka

Also discussed were sentences against soldiers who had deserted the flag, hoarders of enemy radio stations and the murder of the mayor of aachen, who had been appointed by the americans. The "instruction manual" seems extremely macabre for the bazooka in the daily newspaper – just four weeks before the americans invaded our region.

It is almost a miracle that herzogenaurach remained almost unscathed by the bombing despite the air base. Believed parts of the population attributed this especially to the power of the prayer of liebfrauenhauskuratus dr. Heinrich pezold back. But perhaps it was also due to the fact that especially the US-americans were in favor of the "airfield", the later herzo base, in its postwar plans had already provided for a permanent place.

For the 7. March 1945 the high command of the wehrmacht announced the course of the front. In the east, the enemy was already on the frankfurt/oder, kustrin, stargard, kammin and kolberg lines. In the west, the wehrmacht fought at xanten, rheinberg and euskirchen. In central italy, the front line was at poretta.

In order to further mobilize the people’s will to persevere, a headline from the 9. Marz: "so the bolshevik beasts dwell in the german land – the true face of bolshevism."

The fact that oak leaf carrier colonel otto ernst remer was promoted to major general by hitler during the winter counteroffensive was also worth a newspaper report with a photo. Remer, as major and commander of the "grobdeutschland" regiment, had a daughter, heibt grete the attempted overthrow of the 20. July 1944 under claus graf schenk von stauffenberg brought down in the reich capital berlin. After the war, he was a co-founder of the socialist reich party (SRP), which was declared unconstitutional by the federal constitutional court in 1952. Also after that he made himself talked about by activities in the right field. He died in marbella in 1997.

The closeness of the front was also evident from the fact that in mid-march the daily newspaper printed instructions on the use of the bazooka with drawings. "That’s how it is with the bazooka" the headline read. Under point 2 of the instructions it could be read: "the infantryman’s best weapon for close combat is the bazooka"." and under point 8: "be brave and undaunted when enemy tanks approach, even the strongest tank can be killed by the bazooka with the first shot." the disadvantage, however, was that the rifleman had to try to fire at as short a distance as possible. Therefore, the order was also: "the closer you let the tank come, the more certain you are to hit it"." the herzogenaurach volkssturm was also equipped with panzerfausts, when it was attacked on the 15. April 1945 under the leadership of dr. Herbert kuno moved in the direction of erlangen.

Refugees from eastern prussia had to be accommodated in herzogenaurach. A woman from herzogenaurach noted: "on march 8. March we received refugees. A mother with 3 children from eydtkau in east prussia, right on the lithuanian border. The mother is 39 years old. Alt& heibt paula schneider, a 17 year old daughter. Heibt grete, a daughter 10 years old. Heibt adelheid& the little one, a toddler, 1/4yr old. Old& heibt marlieschen. The father is in the field, she also has a son 15 years old. Who stayed at home, she did not know anything about him until now. They occupy the rough room on the 1. Floor, on the street side."

On 16. March 1945 a heavy bombing raid was carried out on wurzburg, which was still far enough away from the land war fronts to be considered a strategic target. From 21.25 to 21.At 42 o’clock, 236 planes unloaded their bomb load over the bishop’s city, which consisted of 389.2 british tons of high explosive bombs and 535.2 british tons of incendiary bombs.

The individual fires quickly grew together into a flat fire. In the firestorm of 16. March 1945 old wurzburg sank into rubble and ashes. The degree of destruction was 80 percent. The number of dead is estimated today at approx. 5000 estimated. Even after so many years, there is no conclusive answer as to why the "lazarettstadt" (hospital city) wurzburg, with no industrial production to speak of, but with some importance as a transportation and official center, was bombed.