Posted on 05/06/2015 5:05:40 PM PDT by WhiskeyX
That's how it looked like just after the Second World War in Berlin!
Fascinating moving pictures in color show the situation of the city in summer 1945, just after the Second World War and the capitulation of Germany. Daily life after years of war.
Pictures from the destroyed city, the Reichstag, Brandenburger Tor, Adlon, Führerbunker, Unter den Linden, rubble women working in the streets, the tram is running again.
A collage of archive material produced by: Kronos Media
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
I have hundreds of still B&W photos of many of these same scenes. They were taken by my Father and other members of his combat engineers battalion.
The most obvious difference and I am not sure why, is there are far fewer people in Daddy’s photos.
Footage just before 5 minute mark looks to be the top of “The Bunker.” I understand it is now the site of a tennis court. Never been there, but wish to someday. Thanks for posting this.
Berlin 1945
Detroit 1995
Baltimore 2015
Thanks for sharing. I sent the link to my oldest son. He goes to Germany every year, and is leaving on Sunday for his next trip.
The film dates to July, was your father there before then?
I was told that the area was under stricter control (they were looking for Hitler’s body from May on to June, as well as those of this government in the bunker complex, etc., and so cordoned this region off until things were “all clear.”) Plus, the Russians had control of the bunker area, if I was told correctly, so there were access issues too.
Noticed the site of the Führerbunker too.
Thanks for the post. I was stationed in Berlin 1973-75. It’s amazing that this was filmed two months after the end of the war and already the streets were clear of rubble and demolition and reconstruction had started.
By contrast, I lived in Verdun, France in the mid 1960’s and our house we rented had a 3 story bombed out building in the back yard with a tree growing out the 3ed floor. Driving across the border from Germany to France, you could see a stark contrast between the industrious Germans and the French.
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1:44 shows Brian Williams on a bicycle, riding through the rubble.
Are you sure? Brian was the lead on the team that stormed the bunker. He’d have at least an APC or (on off days) a Jeep. No way a bike.
I am not sure when Daddy’s battalion arrived in Berlin. It must have been soon after the war but they stayed until November when the Battalion was mustered out.
I do have some of their first meeting with the Russians outside Berlin.
There are civilians in some of his photos so I don’t think it was cordoned off.
They were busy clearing and also building. They hired German civilians to do some work and Daddy described them as extremely hard working.
They constructed two mess halls for the Potsdam Conference in only two days. The Americans were hard workers too.
Ping for tomorrow
Found a good movie on Netflix about that time, called “A Woman in Berlin.”
DRUG DEAL AT 2:50
DRUG DEAL AT 2:50
He was undercover at the time, working for the OSS, the NKVD, and MI6, MI7, and MI135. The guy had a license to kill, maim, and highly irritate. He didn't even need a parachute, they just pushed him out of the plane.
Between 4:18 until 4:53 you can see what was left of the actuall Nazi government building(Reichstag), outside Hitler’s actual bunker and possibly the gas cans that were used to burn his body.
Interesting film to actually see it in color. It’s surreal to see these monsters. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks to your dad for what he and others did.
I was told that that section of Berlin was on lockdown until the Soviets found the dental assistant for Hitler’s dentist and other higher rank NAZIs. Lockdown meant nobody went anywhere without questioning (or worse). The dental assistant knew the dental history of Hitler’s jaw, information that would help identify his corpse (if he was indeed dead).
The Soviets (due to this extraordinary control) found the dental assistant and got a thorough picture of the Hitler’s dentition, which matched very closely a skull they had.
Only after all this information was collected (May and June) were other nation’s military personnel allowed nearby and civilians allowed to enter certain areas.
I was also told that even though Stalin knew he had Hitler’s body, he would not confirm it publicly. He used the “Hitler is somewhere in the capitalist west being sheltered” as a propaganda weapon.
This is just what I was told; perhaps it sheds further light on your photos.
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