Tuesday, 13 March 1945

(TRANSLATION) 145
NEWS FROM
THE HOME COUNTRY
Frontpost Supplement No. 37. 13th March 1945
All news from Germany given here is taken -
without further guarantee - from the best available
news sources in Germany and adjacent countries.
Warning signal against air landings
Berlin. It is officially announced that an « air
landing alarm » consisting of a 5 minute siren blast
or bell-ringing is planned in various regions of the
Reich against the possibility of large scale Allied
landings. When this occurs, all men capable of bearing
arms are to get ready to repel the enemy airborne
troops while the remainder of the population must
retire to their shelters.
Women in Front-line
Danzig. The official German newsagency D. N. B.
issued on February 22 a front-line correspondent's
report on the remnants of the German garrison who
fought their way out of Elbing: « I saw members of
the Women's Auxiliary Corps of the Wehrmacht with
steel helmets on their blond heads and armed with
automatics. » In contrast with the Wehrmacht, the
Party had already foreseen the use of women in
combat operations. The Gauleiter of South Hanover
* Brunswick, at a conference on precautionary mea-
sures against possible Allied air landings, declared
recently: « We must rely chiefly on bazookas. In an
emergency even women and children must know how
to handle this weapon ».
Berlin. Two German girls, Leni Stalineck, from
Alsen, near Bielsko and the staff assistant Hildegard
Wolnin, from Hindenburg, Upper Silesia, received
the Iron Cross, 2nd Class. Leni Stalineck fought in
an infantry battalion against Russian onslaughts and
got through with a message after three other runners
had been shot down. Hildegard Wonin helped to
storm a farmhouse occupied by the enemy and brought
up bazookas in the battle for Gleiwitz.
If....
« If the Oder Line in the East and the West
Wall in the West can be held and a Southern
Front capable of resistance can be established
along the Po and we can protect ourselves
against a possible invasion from the North, then
all is not yet lost. »
(Transocean, March 1.)
OCCUPIED WESTERN ZONES
Krefeld: Industry partly functioning
Allied front-line correspondents report from
Krefeld, where about 120,000 out of 170,000 inhabi-
tants remained behind, that the chimneys never ceased
smoking in some factories. In the municipal power-
houses printed notices were posted, instructing
employees to keep the plant in running order and to
obey the orders of the Allied authorities. Shops and
offices on the other hand remain closed.
In München-Gladbach a number of industrial con-
cerns were intact. A large printing works with rotary
presses and all equipment was found to be completely
undamaged.
The population remains calm. There are no signs
of German partisan activity anywhere nor has any
attempt been made to carry out Hitler's « Scorched
Earth » orders. All remaining weapons have been
voluntarily surrendered. Many people indeed wanted
to hand over their radio sets but these were refused,
because under the Allied occupation everybody can
listen to any station.
Cologne's ordeal ended
An Allied report from the front stated: it is difficult
to conceive the ordeal which the Cologne population
has had to undergo. For more than three months the
water works had not functioned. Till the end of
January the power stations had been out of action
and then they only functioned for a fortnight.
Frank Gillard B.B.C. front-line correspondent,
reported « It is difficult to find a single, really
habitable house. Of the 800,000 inhabitants, according
to provisional estimates, from 100,000 to 150,000 have
remained behind, including many evidently of military
age. Numerous parts of German uniforms were thrown
away ».
John Graham found after long search through the
ruins of shattered streets the villa of the former
Gauleiter of Cologne, Josef Grohé. « The house
consists of 25 rooms which had barely withstood the
NEWS FROM THE HOME COUNTRY No. 37. 13th March 1945
blast. In the upper stories there were thick carpets,
a large piano and above it a picture of Hitler with
personal dedication. In the cellar I saw cases of
cognac, shelves laden with personal linen and stores
packed with food supplies. From the cellar the way
led to the Gauleiter's air raid shelter, which was
equipped with chairs, tables, beds and a first-class
ventilation plant. »
The Allied Military Government is already at work
in all the newly occupied German towns. American
bulldozers are clearing the main streets of Cologne
of rubble. The food situation is difficult because the
German Army and Police had transported all the
supplies away before they left. It is anticipated that
ordered conditions will soon be restored in Cologne,
Krefeld and München-Gladbach.
From Berlin: « Do you speak German? »
Zurich. A Swiss, who returned from Berlin at the
beginning of February, told the « Neue Züricher
Zeitung »: In the through train from Western Germany
to Berlin a man said to me: « Russian is the language
most spoken in Berlin today ». The following day I
tried to find a certain office in the Reich capital. It
is not easy nowadays to find one's way about Berlin.
I asked a uniformed woman employee of the German
Railways who had just come out of an improvised
public canteen, « Don't know » she replied and dis-
appeared round the corner where once a well known
department store used to stand. Other people passing
were conversing loudly in Italian, Dutch, French and
particularly, Russian. An Army N.C.O. came along.
« He, at any rate, will understand German ». I thought
and stopped him. « Excuse me, please . . . I began,
in German, but got no further, for with the reply « I
no spik German » he brushed me aside.
In the evening at the hotel an Army officer asked
for a room in very broken German, ordered coffee
and left the room saying « Geil Gitler. » (The Rus-
sians pronounce « H » as « G ») « General Vlasov's
Army » said a man near me. « Berlin is full of these
White Russian troops. I often have the unpleasant
feeling as though Berlin was already occupied by the
Russians. »
Film star Karl Ludwig Diehl arrested
Stockholm. The Swedish Telegraph Agency issued
on March 5 a report from Berlin that the German
film actor Karl Ludwig Diehl had been arrested and
sentenced to death on grounds of a letter he wrote
to Field Marshal von Witzleben, executed in connec-
tion with the events of July 20. The death penalty
had also been passed on Paul Hörbiger but a petition
on his behalf was submitted by his brother Attila
Hörbiger and the latter's wife, Paula Wessely. It is
stated that the Reich authorities contemplate repriev-
ing Paul Hörbiger.
Eastern Germany under
Russian administration
Moscow. The correspondent here of « The Times »
of London, reported that in East Prussia and Branden-
burg a large part of the German population was cut
off by the rapid Russian advance. In Upper Silesia,
on the other hand, it was chiefly the foreign workers
who stayed behind. Curious situations frequently
occurred, as in the town of Friedeberg which was
still being supplied with electrical current from
Berlin 2 days after its occupation by the Russians.
Industries and public services are being kept going
in so far as they are essential to the conduct of the
war. Property is being protected against plundering.
The local population is assessed by number and all
residents fit to work do an 8-hour day. Curfew is
enforced for the hours of night. The schools are
closed for the present but the hospitals carry on.
The Russian troops are strictly forbidden any
fraternization with the German population.
News in Brief
According to the German Overseas Wireless trans-
mission of March 9, a number of machine-producing
factories have been transformed into repairing shops
on the instructions of Albert Speer, Reich Minister
of War Production.
The German Soldiers News Service reported on
March 9 that a new « fluid bandage material » has
been used in treatment of the wounded. Smeared
with a brush on a wound it forms an excellent cover-
ing for 10 to 12 days, especially with amputated
stumps.
The Munich edition, « Völkischer Beobachter »,
reported on February 12, that the huts of the « Alpine
Association » remain open, because the personnel
employed there are not suited for service in the
Armed Forces or the munitions industry.
THE WAR THIS WEEK
(March 4-11)
Americans cross the Rhine at Remagen.
Cologne and Bonn taken. Break-through
West Wall at various points. In Rhine-
land approx. 23,000 Germans surrounded.
— Russians reach Stettin Lagoon. In Po-
merania: Köslin, Stargard and Stolp
taken. Danzig cut off.
Handwritten Marginalia / Stamps:
* Reference Header: The National Archives' reference AIR 27/271/3 (Printed, Top Center).
* Reference Stamp:
(TRANSLATION) 146
Frontpost
AUSGABE SÜD
No. 113 Newspaper for German troops March 6th, 1945
Pomerania overrun
Russians advance 150 km in a week
Troops of two Russian Army
Groups — those of Marshal Rokos-
sovsky and Zhukov — have overrun
the greater part of Pomerania. The
Army Group Rokossovsky, which
at the end of February had broken
through north of Schneidemühl,
took Rummelsburg and Pollnow
on March 3rd, and on March 4th
took Köslin and reached the Bal-
tic coast — an advance of 150 kilo-
metres in a week. Farther west the
Army Group Zhukov, after a four
day offensive, had on March 4th
taken Bärwalde, Tempelburg, Fal-
kenburg, Dramburg, Wangerin,
Labes, Freienwalde, Schivelbein,
Pyritz, Regenswalde and Körlin,
and had reached the coast east of
Kolberg. On the following day this
Army Group took Stargard and
Naugard, near Stettin.
German forces along the Baltic
are now isolated in three pockets:
in Lithuania, where the Army
Group North, originally consisting
of 30 divisions of the 16th and 18th
Armies, has been cut off since the
beginning of October of last year
and has been exposed to repeated
and heavy Russian offensives; in
the area of Königsberg, where units
of the 3rd Panzer Army, after an
unsuccessful attempt to break out
to the port of Pillau, are being
gradually wiped out; and in the
Danzig area, where it is estimated
that a further 100,000 Germans are
cut off.
Behind the main front the battles
for the annihilation of the en-
circled German garrisons of Grud-
ziadz and Breslau continue. On
March 2nd Moscow reported that
half of Grudziadz was in Russian
hands. In Breslau, which has been
encircled since February 18th,
100,000 German soldiers and
150,000 civilians are suffering from
lack of food.
Americans in Cologne
The Allied offensive in the
Rhineland against the big indu-
strial cities of Western Germany
has increased in intensity. The
pressure of the American 9th Army
advancing from München-Gladbach
to Krefeld compelled Field Marshal
Rundstedt to withdraw his infantry
and armoured forces — the same
as had previously been disengaged
from the battle of the Ardennes —
to three bridgeheads on the Rhine:
from Wesel to Homberg; from
Uerdingen to south of Düsseldorf; and in front of Cologne.
These bridgeheads were isolated
from one another by assault wedges
[Map of Eastern Front showing major cities: STETTIN, KOLBERG, DANZIG, KÖNIGSBERG, INSTERBURG, MARIENBURG, ALLENSTEIN, SCHNEIDEMÜHL, DEUTSCH-KRONE, BERLIN, WITTEMBERG, FRANKFURT a.O., POSEN, GLOGAU, BRESLAU, OPPELN, PLOCK, WARSCHAU]
SOUTHERN FRONT: On
the 8th Army sector Italian
infantry captured German po-
sitions at Torre di Primaro in
the dunes south of Porto Ga-
ribaldi on the Adriatic coast
and took 200 prisoners.
On the 5th Army sector
American troops have oc-
cupied Monte della Croce,
south-west of Bologna.
Nr. 113 FRONTPOST, Southern Edition March 6th, 1945
of the 1st Canadian, 2nd British
and 9th and 1st American Armies.
On March 2nd troops of the Ame-
rican 9th Army took Krefeld, a
town of 170,000 inhabitants, a cen-
tre of the German textile and
chemical industries, with important
air-ports. On the 3rd Uerdingen
was taken, and Rheydt, Dülken
and Viersen were overrun. On the
4th armoured forces of the Ame-
rican 1st Army broke through to
the Rhine near Düsseldorf-Neuss.
On the 5th there was a German
withdrawal across the river along
the whole Rhineland front. All
bridges have been blown. The
British entered Geldern, the Ca-
nadians Xanten. Homberg, Duis-
burg and Hamborn came under
artillery fire of the American 9th
Army. At the same time troops of
the American 3rd Army in the
Moselle country took Trier.
On the night of the 5th troops
of the American 1st Army entered
the outlying parts of Cologne from
three directions. Allied armoured
forces encountered only weak
German resistance.
On March 3rd alone 9769 German
prisoners-of-war were brought in.
Targets
in Germany
(exclusive of front)
During the last few days forces
of up to 1100 Allied heavy bombers
attacked railway installations, fuel
plants and other targets in the
following cities:
2/3: Brunswick, Magdeburg,
Ruhland, Misburg, Chemnitz,
Dresden, Berlin, Cologne, Bohlen,
Rositz. In Austria: Linz, Brenner.
3/3: Kamen, near Dortmund,
Dortmund-Ems Canal, Würzburg,
Berlin.
4/3: Ulm, Wanne-Eickel, Mu-
nich. In Austria: Wiener-Neustadt,
Bruck, Graz.
5/3: Chemnitz, Harburg, Gelsen-
kirchen, Berlin, Essen.
[Map of the Lower Rhine region showing cities: Nijmegen, Kleve, Emmerich, Herzogenbusch, Goch, Bocholt, Wesel, Xanten, Geldern, GELSENKIRCHEN, Venloo, HAMBORN, OBERHAUSEN, DUISBURG, ESSEN, KREFELD, BOCHUM, Roermond, M. GLADBACH, WUPPERTAL, Rheydt, Neuss, SOLINGEN, DÜSSELDORF, Lüdenscheid, REMSCHEID, Hasselt, KÖLN, Waldbröl, Erft, Maastricht, AACHEN, Düren, Sieg, Stolberg, LÜTTICH, Zülpich, Altenkirchen]
C.-in-C. Himmler
Major-General Ernst Mattern,
commander of the German garrison
of Poznan, who surrendered after
a month's siege with 23,000 of his
troops, has bitterly reproached
Heinrich Himmler for refusing him
permission to break out of the
city.
« Twice I signalled to Army
Group, » said Mattern, « that the
position of the garrison was
hopeless. Twice the signal came
back from Himmler: 'Poznan to
be held at all costs.'
« On the 22nd I again signalled:
'Further holding out impossible.
Continual Russian air-bombard-
ment. Our positions day and night
under heavy artillery, mortar and
machine-gun fire. Heavy losses.
Request order to break out with
the garrison.' In the evening
Himmler signalled back: 'Hold
out despite all. Break-out sense-
less. Refer to bitter experience at
Schneidemühl, where garrison
tried break-out, nevertheless de-
stroyed.' »
After this last signal from
Himmler the senior officers of the
garrison discussed the situation.
The discussion was interrupted by
the news that the Russians had
broken into the citadel.
Amongst the Germans in Poznan
was the former Gauleiter of the
Warta Country, Artur Greiser.
After unsuccessfully attempting on
February 7th to escape in a tank
to Küstrin, Greiser applied to
Major-General Mattern for a spe-
cial aircraft to take him to Berlin.
This application was rejected.
Greiser is noted for a statement
made in a speech before a meeting
of Germans in Wielun, Poland, on
May 5th, 1941: « Only the Ger-
mans will be the lords and masters.
The Poles shall be our serfs for
all time. »
8th Army Radio
Music and latest news in
German. Midday from 1200 to
1400 hours and every evening
at 1945 and 2230 hours, on
medium wave 241.9.
(TRANSLATION) 147
NEWS FROM
THE HOME COUNTRY
Frontpost Supplement No. 35. 6th March 1945
All news from Germany given here is taken - -
without further guarantee - from the best available
news sources in Germany and adjacent countries.
Hitler and his Gauleiters meet
Stockholm. The German-controlled Scandinavian
Telegraph Agency reported on February 27 that on
the 24th the Führer had held at an undis-
closed location a conference attended by Gauleiters,
Reich Defence Commissioners and other leading
Party officials to discuss « measures for continuing
the war. » Absent from the conference were Artur
Greiser, Gauleiter of the « Warthe » region, who
fell into Russian hands at Poznan, after the garrison
commander had refused to place aircraft at his
disposal, and the Gauleiters of East Prussia, and
Upper and Lower Silesia, Koch, Bracht and Hanke,
whose whereabouts are unknown.
7 Party leaders killed in Austria
Seven leading Party figures were assassinated in
the Danube and Austrian Alpine regions during
January and the first half of February. Men wearing
Waffen SS. uniform broke into the Vienna residence
of the former deputy Police President and Lieut-
General of the W/SS. Josef Fitzthum and over-
powered his bodyguard before shooting him down.
The task of tracing the culprits has been rendered
more difficult by the fact that two C.I.D. specialists,
SS Sturmbannführer in the Security Service Hans
Bloch, of the Vienna Gestapo office, and SS. Haupt-
scharführer in the SD. Alois Fasching have also
succumbed to attacks.
The other four victims of assassination were:
the director of the Racial Political Office for Styria,
Dr. Walter Walluschek-Wallfeld, the Mayor of
Windisch-Landsberg, Party member Konrad Dietner,
the administrative chief of the Party office at
Ankenstein, Party member Josef Stainschek, and
SS. Unterscharführer and old-timer medallist Fritz
Woischel. Police investigations are still being con-
ducted in the endeavour to trace those concerned in
the assassination of SS. Oberscharführer Rudolf
Albrecht, C.I.D. legal specialist from Leipzig, whose
body was recovered from the Danube near Linz.
3 more German industrial towns lost
Since the beginning of the big Allied February
offensive in the West the following larger Ger-
man towns have been occupied: Krefeld, centre
of the German textile industry in the West, popu-
lation 170,000; München-Gladbach, with numerous
engineering and metallurgical industries, population
115,000; Rheydt, with important textile industry,
pop. 80,000; and Trier, capital of the administrative
region of the same name, famous for its vineyards
and seat of various industrial concerns, pop. 76,000.
In the first 14 days of the new Allied offensive
more than 50,000 German prisoners were taken.
Gen. Eisenhower
to Cologne inhabitants
With the approach of the Allied armies to
Cologne questions of compulsory evacuation
and « scorched earth » have become acute for
the population. The Allied C-in-C has therefore
issued the following instructions:
* Resist the order to evacuate. For him who
remains behind, the war is at an end. Whoever
lets himself be evacuated cannot escape the
war.
* Get to safety away from artillery fire,
either in strong cellars or outside the town.
* Provide yourselves with a small supply of
food and drink so that you do not have to
leave your hiding place.
* Remain in your hiding place until the
noise of battle has completely ceased. Then re-
port to the Allied authorities and await further
instructions.
* Farmers, do all you can to prevent your
cattle from being driven away and your barns
from being plundered. Give civilians from the
towns accommodation and food.
NEWS FROM
Frontpost Supplement THE HOME COUNTRY 6th March 1945
TRANSPORT FRONT
Sabotage by Austrian Partisans
Munich. On February 13 an incoming express
train ran into a stationary goods train outside
Munich central station because the 63-year-old
signalman suddenly collapsed on duty and his girl
assistant could not operate the signal lever in time.
Basle. The « Nationalzeitung » of February 22
reported grave dislocation of the Austrian transport
system as the result of sabotage in addition to
Allied air attacks on railway communications and
fuel plants. Austrian Partisans, including soldiers
equipped with Yugoslav explosives, have cut railway
lines at various points in Carinthia and Styria.
Sabotage is also reported from the Tyrol and the
Salzburg region. A journey from Vienna to Zürich
at the beginning of February took three days.
Official permits are required for any journey of
more than 30 km.
More Rail centres lost to Reich
The German railways have lost so far the follow-
ing repair shops as a result of the advance of the
Allies in the East and the West: Under Berlin
railway administration: Ostrowo, Poznan, Schnei-
demühl, Stargard; under Breslau administration:
Breslau, Gleiwitz, Oels, Oppeln, Lauban, Schweid-
nitz; under Königsberg administration: Bialystock,
Bromberg, Danzig, Lapy, Osterode, Königsberg;
under Cologne administration: Jülich.
Repair shops in Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig,
Hanover and Magdeburg have been badly damaged
by air attacks.
The transport trade journal reports that more
than 90,000 units of rolling stock have been lost,
partly in the East, partly on secondary lines, where
they are inaccessible for use by the railway system.
The « Trek » Organisation
Berlin. The word « trek » is coming into use to
describe the columns of refugee caravans fleeing
before the great Russian advance. The director of
the « Advisory Office for Treks », Dr. Schweitzer,
described in the « Mirror of our Time » programme
on the German wireless on February 22 how
provision is made, as far as possible, for these
columns: « The treks are confined to roads given
free for this purpose by the Army. At the welfare
stations established along the route the refugees
receive on their arrival the necessities for a meal,
milk for the children and supplementary supplies
to last the travellers till the next stop. In many
instances the supply of fodder is used up en route
and then the refugees are confronted with the
problem: how can we get fodder for the horses?
Many of the transport columns have to be broken
up because the folk don't want to be stranded on
the highroad. We try to hand over the horses and
waggons, which they leave behind, to other refugee
columns which have arrived during the snowed-up
periods with toboggans. Often we find women who
have become separated from the column during the
journey and have left their children in the waggon.
There are men who have lost their wives. It is
difficult to help there because the « treks » do not
always hold together and generally we can only
indicate the principal route of transport. »
Berlin has concerts again
The German newsagency "Transocean" reported
on February 21 that after a short interruption con-
certs have been resumed in Berlin. In undamaged
theatres concerts are being held at 1 pm. every
afternoon with well known conductors and soloists
taking part. Various cinemas are also being re-opened.
News in Brief
The German Postal Service has prepared a number
of mobile post-offices with counters for letters, par-
cels and payments and trunk telephone call boxes.
It is officially announced that as the result of the
evacuation of frontier regions the supply of available
labour has grown so big as to ease considerably the
manpower problem in the inner regions of the Reich
Ottilie Stephan, the 16-year old girl from Lutter-
bach, who for 5 days long rescued wounded German
soldiers under persistent enemy fire from their com-
pany's combat position in a house and brought them
to the nearest casualty dressing station, received the
Iron Cross from the local Gauleiter with an expres-
sion of good wishes from the SS. Reich Führer.
The Berlin « Nachtausgabe » reported on Februa-
ry 13 that all Hitler Youth rallies in March have been
abolished on account of constant war duties.
THE WAR THIS WEEK
(Feb. 26-March 4)
In the West, München-Gladbach, Krefeld,
Rheydt, Neuss-on-Rhine, and Trier taken
by Allies. General German retreat over
Rhine from Cologne to Wesel. — In Po-
merania, two Russian Army Groups break
through to Baltic coast. Köslin taken. —
Continued air offensive against German
fuel and transport targets.
(TRANSLATION) 148
Frontpost
AUSGABE SÜD
No. 112 Newspaper for German troops March 2nd, 1945
München-Gladbach falls. Fight for Trier
Troops of the American 1st and 9th Armies continued their offensive in the area east of Aachen. On the night of Feb. 28th to March 1st advanced units of the 9th Army entered and completely occupied the big west German town of München-Gladbach. On March 1st troops of the 1st Army were 10 km from Cologne.
At the same time troops of the American 3rd Army in the area between the Sauer and the Moselle launched a concentric offensive from west, south and east, which led to the clearing of the belt of mine-fields, two km wide, around Trier. On the same day there was street-fighting in Trier.
On the northern flank of the Westwall Canadian and British troops of the Canadian 1st Army continued their offensive on a front of 30 kilometres from south of Emmerich to the Uedem marshes. Uedem was taken on the 27th. On the 28th the Canadians advanced in the direction of Sonsbeck.
Break-through in Pomerania
On February 27th Moscow reported that in Pomerania the Army Group Rokossovsky had in four days broken through the German positions to a depth of 70 km and had taken Schlochau, Stergers, Hammerstein, Baldenburg and Bublitz. On the 28th Neustettin and Prechlau were taken. Danzig it thus virtually isolated.
In Silesia the battle for the annihilation of the German garrison encircled in Breslau continues.
In Czechoslovakia the Army Group Petrov has continued to advance. The Czechoslovak government in London has informed the Czech and Slovak partisan forces that the time has come for them to go over to open warfare against the Germans.
Targets in Germany
(exclusive of front)
27/2: Cologne (bridges), Kamen, near Dortmund (synthetic fuel plant), Berlin (Schlesischer, Alexanderplatz, Ostkreuz stations), Halle, Leipzig (marshalling yards), Gelsenkirchen (Alma-Pluto benzol works), Mainz (railway plant), Augsburg (railway targets), Bregen Siegen (stations).
28/2: Gelsenkirchen (Nordstern fuel plant), Weimar, Gotha (airfields), Bitterfeld (industrial targets), Münster, Giessen, Aarweiler, Marienbaum, Sonsbeck (railway targets), Kassel, Soest, Schwerte, Hagen Siegen (stations).
1/3: Heilbronn, Bruchsal, Reutlingen, Göppingen, Neckarsulm, Ingolstadt, Ulm, Ausburg, Mannheim (railway targets), Kamen, near Dortmund (synthetic fuel plant), Berlin, Nürnberg, Munich (industrial targets).
Occupation zones agreed upon
President Roosevelt has disclosed to American newspaper correspondents particulars of the agreement reached at the Crimea Conference for the partition of Germany into zones of occupation. Russia will occupy eastern Germany, Britain will occupy north-western and western Germany and America will occupy the area south of Mainz, with a supply corridor to the sea at Bremen. The zone to be occupied by France will be determined after consultation with the French government.
Asked how long American troops would remain in Germany, the President said that he could not answer.
[Map of the Rhineland area including towns: Venlo, Roermond, KREFELD, M. GLADBACH, DUISBURG, ESSEN, BOCHUM, DÜSSELDORF, SOLINGEN, KÖLN, AACHEN, BONN]
No. 112 FRONTPOST, Southern Edition March 2nd, 1945
Italy's
sovereignty
By the decision of the Allies,
Italy, less than 18 months after its
capitulation, is again a sovereign
State. The Italian government has
resumed direct control of its fo-
reign relations, law-making and
news-services, and of internal ad-
ministration south of the military
zone. All appointments to govern-
ment offices, except about ten offi-
ces of military importance, will be
made by the Italian Government.
The bread-ration in liberated Ita-
ly has been increased from 200 to
300 grammes daily.
SOUTHERN FRONT
Allied aircraft have continued
their offensive against targets along
the Brenner supply routes in
northern Italy and in Austria.
Troop
movements
The 356th Infantry Division, until
recently in Italy, has been in action
in Hungary, between Komarn and
the Hron.
The 16th SS. Pz. Gren. Division
has left Italy.
Shorter News
It is reported from Washington
that America has so far sent to Rus-
sia, amongst other war-material,
6000 tanks, 12,000 aircraft and half
a million tons of rail.
Tokyo, capital of Japan, was on
the 25th bombed by over 200 Ame-
rican Superfortresses from bases in
the Marianas.
In Burma, advanced British units
were on the 26th within sight of
the capital, Mandalay.
The official Portuguese newspa-
per, Diario da Manha, states that
Portugal will remain neutral. The
newspaper adds that Portuguese
neutrality is desired by the United
Nations.
At war with the 3rd Reich
Abyssinia, Albania, Australia,
Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria,
Canada, Chile, China, Columbia,
Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia,
Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Fin-
land, France, Great Britain, Greece,
Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, India,
Iran, Italy, Lebanon, Liberia, Lux-
embourg, Mexico, Monaco, New
Zealand, Nicaragua, Netherlands,
Norway, Palestine, Panama, Para-
guay, Peru, Poland, Puerto Rico,
Rumania, Russia, San Marino, San
Salvador, Syria, Turkey, Uruguay,
Union of South Africa, U.S.A., Ve-
nezuela, Yugoslavia.
"Unfair" says Goebbels
"Our enemies should be deeply
ashamed of fighting ten to one
against us," — Dr. Goebbels, in
"Das Reich."
Hitler prophesies
"Today I prophesy that in the
end there will be the victory of the
German Reich." — Adolf Hitler,
in a speech read out by Party Mem-
ber Esser on February 24th, 1945.
No partisans
The attempt of the National So-
cialist Party to organize German
partisan warfare in East Prussia
has hitherto obtained no response
from the population. Russian and
Allied correspondents report that
there has been no trace of partisan
activity.
[Photograph of shell impacts on a riverbank]
Düren under fire
American 81 mm phospho-
rus shells land on German
positions on the bank of the
Roer. This picture was taken
on February 15th.
8th Army Radio
Music and latest news in
German. Midday from 1200 to
1400 hours and every evening
at 1945 and 2230 hours, on
medium wave 241.9.
(TRANSLATION) 149
Frontpost
A U S G A B E S Ü D
No. 111 Newspaper for German troops February 27th, 1945
Jülich, Düren,
Forbach fallen
Troops of the American 1st and 9th Armies on the
23rd opened an offensive east of Aachen and crossed
the Roer in assault boats. Jülich and Düren, in the
defence zone west of Cologne, were taken on the 24th.
After overcoming still German resistance in the Ham-
bach forest, the Americans advanced towards the Erft
at a point 20 km west of Cologne and, attacking from
the Linnich area, reached Erkelenz, 10 km south-west
of Rheydt.
On the sector of the American 3rd Army Forbach,
south-west of Saarbrücken, was taken on the 25th.
At the northern end of the Westwall troops of the
Canadian 1st Army, after storming the plateau south
of Kalkar, reached the Uedem marshes.
General Eisenhower stated on the 25th to news-
paper correspondents that the
major offensive now being carried
out by the Allies on the various
Army sectors has as its object the
breaking of German resistance west
of the Rhine.
SOUTHERN FRONT: West
of the Pistoia-Bologna road
American troops of the 5th
Army have occupied the
southern part of Monte Tor-
raccia. Brazilian troops have
taken Monte Castello.
In the week ending on Fe-
bruary 24th Allied aircraft ba-
sed on Italy flew 31,852 sor-
ties against targets in Germa-
ny and Austria and against
German rear communications
in Italy, and dropped 17,000
tons of bombs.
Poznan stormed
Breslau entered
In the East the encircled German fortress of Poznan,
140 km behind the main front, was stormed after a
month’s siege on February 23rd. 23,000 Germans were
taken prisoner in Poznan, together with their com-
mander, Major-General Mattern. Amongst the captu-
red war-material were 365 aircraft that the Germans
had been unable to remove for lack of petrol.
In German hands the great road and rail junction
of Poznan was a serious obstacle to the rear commu-
nications of the Army Group Zhukov, whose advanced
forces a fortnight ago established bridgeheads across
the Oder north and south of Frankfort. The liquida-
tion of this obstacle will enable Zhukov to intensify
his main offensive in the direction of Berlin.
In Breslau, which has been encircled since the
18th, the Russians on the 25th bro-
ke into the southern part of the
main city.
Turkey, Egypt,
Syria in war
On the afternoon of February
23rd the Turkish Foreign Minister
informed the National Assembly
that, on a decision taken at the Cri-
mea Conference by Roosevelt, Sta-
lin and Churchill, Turkey had been
invited to participate in the inter-
national conference for world re-
construction which opens in San
Francisco on April 25th, on condi-
tion that she declared war on Ger-
many and Japan before March 1st.
On the 24th Egypt, and on the
26th Syria, also declared war on
the Axis powers.
[Map of the Rhine-Meuse-Moselle region with cities including: ROTTERDAM, Nijmegen, Eindhoven, Goch, BRUXELLES, Jülich, Aachen, DÜREN, LIEGE, Namur, Vianden, Prüm, LUXEMBOURG, REIMS, Forbach, Nancy, STRASBOURG, Chaumont, Freiburg, Lörrach, Dijon, Basel]
No. 111 FRONTPOST, Southern Edition February 27th, 1945
Targets in Germany
(exclusive of front)
23/2: Gelsenkirchen (Alma-Pluto
benzol works), Krailsheim, Kitzin-
gen, Ansbach, Neumarkt, Treuch-
tlingen (marshalling yards), Berlin,
Dresden, Pforzheim, Darmstadt,
Frankfort-on-Main, Leipzig, Kassel,
Stuttgart, Esslingen, Augsburg (in-
dustrial targets), Essen, Eschwege,
Celle, Lüneburg, Hildesheim, Wit-
tenberg, Nordhausen, Wallhausen,
Fulda, Paderborn, Osnabrück,
Plauen, Meiningen, Würzburg, Wei-
mar, Gera, Worms (railway targets),
Krefeld, München-Gladbach (brid-
ges).
In Austria: Vienna, Innsbruck,
Villach, Klagenfurt (marshalling
yards.)
24/2: Misburg, near Hanover,
Hamburg, Harburg (oil refineries),
Hamburg, Bremen (UBoat yards).
25/2: Munich (Siebert tank
works), Aschaffenburg (tank as-
sembly works), Neuberg (fuel
dump), Schwäbisch-Hall, Geben-
bach (airfields), Kamen, near Dort-
mund (synthetic fuel works), Lud-
wigshafen (transport targets), Ber-
lin, Erfurt, Ulm (industrial tar-
gets). In Austria: Linz, Graz, Kla-
genfurt, Brenner (railway targets).
26/2: Berlin, Nürnberg (indu-
strial targets). In Austria: Brenner
line.
On the 23rd, in the heaviest air
attack of the war, 6800 aircraft of
eight Allied air fleets attacked over
3500 individual targets in the Ger-
man transport system. Little or no
ground defence was encountered,
and resistance by German fighters
was sporadic. On this day 5500
tons of bombs were dropped on
targets in Germany and Austria.
8th Army Radio
Music and latest news in
German. Midday from 1200 to
1400 hours and every evening
at 1945 and 2230 hours, on
medium wave 241.9.
Hope
The Trades Unions
The General Secretary of the Bri-
tish Trades Unions, Sir Walter Ci-
trine, said recently: « The time
will come when we shall again sit
down at table with those who in
this war are our enemies. Yes,
with the Germans, even with the
Germans. It will be the task of the
Trades Union movement to bring
the nations together again and to
away with bitterness ».
The Churches
The Catholic Bishops of Great
Britain, in a joint statement:
« Economically no less than mo-
rally a vindictive peace would
harm the victor nations ».
Roosevelt
« We make no charge against the
Germans in themselves, for we
know how many good citizens of
German extraction there are in our
country ».
Churchill
« We Allies are no monsters. We
exterminate no nations. We but-
cher no peoples ».
[Photograph of world leaders seated together]
THE CRIMEA CONFERENCE. — Stalin (left), Roosevelt (right background), Churchill (right
foreground), with their advisers, at the conference held at Yalta, in the Crimea, early this
month. At this conference final plans were made for the defeat of the Third Reich and the
occupation and post-war control of Germany.
(TRANSLATION)
NEWS FROM THE HOME COUNTRY
Frontpost Supplement No. 33. 27th February 1945
Reich Railways are the Target
The new Allied air offensive, which has been going on since the beginning of February, has latterly been directed more and more against German communications. Allied GHQ in the West reports that on the 22nd between 8,000—9,000 Allied planes attacked the German transport system, covering the smaller railway junctions such as Lueneburg, Stendal, Halberstadt, Bebra, Ludwigslust, Salzwedel, Wittenberg, etc., and branch lines and sidings as well. On the same day, about 1,000 American fighter-bombers, based on Italy, bombed the railway lines Munich-Lindau and Munich-Salzburg as well as the Brenner supply route and lines in the Austrian Alps. On the 23rd, the area of German territory under attack extended to 50,000 sq. km. In these two days, the German rail network was disrupted in 200 places, and 3,000 railway-trucks and 500 engines were put out of action.
Unsolved Murders
Though the reward offered has been increased, the Gestapo has not yet succeeded in arresting the unidentified person who in January of this year stabbed and killed the Chief of Cologne State Police, SS-Sturmbannfuehrer Hoffmann, when he was on his way from his house to his office. Nor has any solution yet been found of the murder of Rudolf Link, SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer of Karlsruhe, who was found dead, lying across the Durlacher Allee car-tracks with his head cut off.
What the loss of Posen means to German industry
With the fall of Posen, Germany looses the following concerns: the « Tschegielsky Works », which were taken over by the « German Arms and Munitions Co. », and which employed 10,000 workers making small arms and ammunition, AA guns, and locomotives; the « Accumulator Manufacturing Co. », employing 3,000 workers, producing for the Navy U-boats, etc.; two or three subsidiaries of the « Focke-Wulf Aircraft Co. », making air-frames and air-frame components; and the « Stormil » rubber works, taken over by « Continental Gummiwerken », which made tyres and rubber tubing.
FOR THIS YEAR
HITLER PROPHESIES
TURNING-POINT
« And let be no doubt about it — National-Socialist Germany will in the end here too — and in this very year — will come the historic turning-point ».
From Hitler's message of 25 Feb. to Party old-timers, read by Party Member Hermann Esser.
Occupied Germany
Trade Unions planned
Kohlscheid. On the basis of General Eisenhower's Proclamation, which provides for the formation of free trade unions, as soon as circumstances permit, preparations are being made to form a trade union among the 3,000 miners in the district. A voluntary Social Insurance scheme is already in existence. The main point of the union's programme will be a reduction of working hours to a 7-hour day and a 6-day week. Under the Nazi regime working hours were 8 3/4, with one free day every fortnight.
Alsdorf. The present number of inhabitants is 6,000 (formerly 25,000). The health situation is satisfactory. Though there is no hospital functioning, serious cases are transported to Bardenburg, light cases are treated by American medical officers. Two of the three coal-mines in the district are working on a restricted scale. In all some 1,000 miners are back at work. The town itself has suffered little damage.
Breinich. A secret stock of foodstuffs was discovered here, large quantities of flour, sugar, preserves, etc. It formerly belonged to a National-Socialist Party member. A.M.G. requisitioned the stock and handed it over to the Buergermeister for distribution to the population.
All news from Germany given here is taken — without further guarantee — from the best available news-sources in Germany and adjacent countries.
Handwritten Marginalia / Stamps:
* Folio Number: 150 (Handwritten in pencil, Top Right).
* Reference Header: The National Archives' reference AIR 27/271/3 (Printed, Top Center).
* Reference Stamp:
Frontpost Supplement NEWS FROM THE HOME COUNTRY 27th February 1945
Underground — but life goes on
Basle: The « Nationalzeitung » publishes the following report from Western Germany, dated the beginning of January: « A street in a town on the Rhine. Not a house has more than a couple of spectral, shattered walls showing above ground. The winter wind scours over depressing heaps of stones, rubble and plaster. Nobody would believe that life was still possible here. And nevertheless there is a teeming life under these piles of rubble, as in an ant-heap. People are coming up out of cellar-holes over there; in a courtyard a door opens under some iron girders; here are people disappearing down a ladder into the depths. They are carrying shopping-bags or tool-kits. Some go to draw water a hundred yards away, or collect wood from the debris of houses. Early in the morning they are already on their way to their places of work, and after their ten-hour working day they come back again in the evening to their underground hide-outs.
Somewhere behind the pile of stones is the entry into the depths, a haphazard structure of boulders and beams left that way after a heavy bombing. From time to time a young girl comes out and rakes about in the ruins at the back there. In the cellar a young man is waiting for her, her fiancé — he had been in prison for a year without trial for some political offence, when the confusion of an air-raid enabled him to break free. Now he's hiding there, and every evening his fiancée brings him food. somewhere: four players lost to the world in their music, Beethoven. They have saved their instruments, and in the flickering light of pine-torches, they go on with life under the rubble-heaps ».
Behind the Scenes
Secret Italian Report shows Germany's leadership in disintegration
Zuerich. The Swiss newspaper, « La Suisse », publishes a secret report, captured by Italian Partisans, sent to Mussolini by the Italian representative in Berlin, Filippo Anfuso. The report states: « The situation in Berlin is tragic. However, the German people is physically and mentally so exhausted that any sort of revolt is most unlikely. Hitler's power is purely formal. Several groups that share the power can be distinguished: The first group includes Himmler and Goebbels and several provincial Party leaders, and has complete political control; the second is led by Goering and Ribbentrop, who still hope for a negotiated peace with the Allies; the third group is a section of the Wehrmacht which wants to save the remnants of the Army by a putsch. Finally, there are the industrialists, who are closely watched by the Gestapo ».
Goering quits his Karinhall home
Stockholm: Reports originating from Berlin state that early in February Marshal Goering and his wife left Karinhall, in Schorfheide, and went to live in Elman Castle in Bavaria. In the interval hundreds of skilled workmen were busy packing the valuable objects d'art, period furniture and old masters in the Goering residence and getting them safely to southern Germany. Along with the other things went the electrically-driven model railway with which the Marshal amuses himself in his spare time.
Results of the « People's Sacrifice » textile collection
Berlin. The textile collection closed on the 28 Feb., after the final date had been postponed twice. The results are provisionally estimated at over 50 million kg. of used textiles. In Berlin, 1 1/2 kg. per head of the population was given up. Munich had already donated over 100,000 kg. of used textiles, 33,500 shirts, and over 6,000 pieces of children's clothing and bedlinen by the 1st Feb. An exceptionally large number of old Party uniforms were handed in. — A new collection is to made to bring in old felt hats, which will be made over into shoes for men in field hospitals and for people who have been bombed out.
News in Brief
Berlin: The German Radio Force Programme announces that a film is being made in Berlin at the moment showing the air battle for the capital. Scenario and production by Wolfgang Liebeneiner.
Berlin. On the 23 Feb., the Reich Labour Leader Konstantin Hierl was 70 years old.
Hamburg. The man who laid out the Stellingen Zoo, Heinrich Hagenbeck, Germany's best-known zoo expert, died early in Feb. from a heart-attack at the age of 69.
The war this week, 19-25 Feb.
Fall of Posen. Russians penetrate into Breslau. Russians thrust forward in East Prussia, Pomerania and Brandenburg. In the West, the Allies capture Goch, Linnich, Juelich, Dueren, Saarburg and Forbach. On the 23rd, 6.800 Allied planes attacked transport and industrial targets throughout Germany and Austria.
(TRANSLATION)
Frontpost
A U S G A B E S Ü D
No. 110 Newspaper for German troops February 23rd, 1945
Losses of 1,150,000 in 40 days
In a special Order of the Day on the night of February 22nd Marshal Stalin announced that in the first 40 days of the latest Russian offensive an estimated 800,000 Germans had been killed and 350,000 captured. The total of 1,150,000 is equal to nearly half the total strength of the German Ostheer at the beginning of the offensive.
During the last three days the Russians have continued their battles of annihilation against the German forces encircled east of the main front, especially in Königsberg, Grudziadz, Poznan, Breslau.
In the Königsberg area, forces of the German 3rd Panzer Army have broken out to the west in the direction of the port of Pillau and have retaken several villages in Samland, S.W. of Königsberg, the Russians on the 22nd took Zinten.
North-west and north of Grudziadz, which since the 17th has held only the west bank of the Vistula.
In Poznan the German garrison, which since the 17th has held only the citadel, is under heavy fire.
In Breslau, which has been encircled since the 18th, the Army Group Koniev on the 22nd took two suburbs of the city. Farther north, this Army group has encircled another strong German force south-east of Guben and, continuing its rapid advance into Brandenburg, took Crossen, Bobersberg and Christianstadt on the 20th and on the 21st Pförten and Priebus.
In Hungary, despite the annihilation of the garrison of Budapest, the Germans have counter-attacked strongly north of the Danube between Komarn and the Hron. The German radio military commentator Colonel von Hammer states that this counter-attack is designed to forestall a Russian thrust in the direction of Vienna.
[Map of the Eastern Front showing German/Soviet positions around BERLIN, KÖNIGSBERG, BRESLAU, WARSCHAU]
Americans in Saarburg
On February 21st troops of the American 3rd Army in the Moselle-Saar triangle had opened a major offensive on a front of nearly 90 kilometres. On the first day the Americans advanced at several points from the Luxembourg frontier up to about 5 kilometres into Germany.
In the first 48 hours the Americans had overrun 64 German towns and villages. Saarburg was taken on the 22nd. The 3rd Army had thus penetrated deeply into a zone of the Westwall that guards the Saar and Middle Rhine industrial areas. Since the threat to the Ruhr district and the loss of Upper Silesia these areas have become vitally important to the Third Reich. On the night of the 22nd the Ameri-
No. 110 FRONTPOST, Southern Edition February 23rd, 1945
cans were 10 kilometres from Trier.
Farther south troops of the Ame-
rican 7th Army penetrated into
Forbach.
Troops of the Canadian 1st Army
on the 21st continued their offensi-
ve with a thrust from Goch in the
direction of Uedem. The German
rear line of communication with
Xanten and Wesel was cut.
SOUTHERN FRONT
West of the Pistoia - Bologna
highway, American troops of the
5th Army have taken Monte Belve-
dere.
Headquarters of the Allied Tacti-
cal Air Force in Italy has announ-
ced:
In the last three months 750 lo-
comotives and 2500 railway cars in
German service have been destroyed
by Allied aircraft on the line lea-
ding up to the Brenner pass. At the
same time over 2000 German trucks
have been destroyed on Italy's
northern roads. For more than half
of the time through traffic was im-
possible because of the destruction
of bridges over the Adige, Brenta,
Livenza, Piave and Tagliamento
rivers.
Alsace-Lorrainers!
Lorraine has been entirely libe-
rated. The Allied troops and the
French 1st Army have driven the
German Army back over the Rhine
and the Moder.
The young men of these two
French provinces will realize that
from now on their families are no
longer « hostages ».
French Mission with the Allied
Armies in Italy.
8th Army Radio
Music and latest news in
German. Midday from 1200 to
1400 hours and every evening
at 1945 and 2230 hours, on
medium wave 241.9.
Targets in Germany
(exclusive of front-line)
20/2: Bremen (shipyards). Eise-
nach, Gotha, Weimar (industrial
targets). Nürnberg (locomotive re-
pair shops). Böhlen, near Leipzig
(synthetic fuel works). Dresden,
Hanover, Brunswick, Würzburg
(railway targets). Bochum, Gelsen-
kirchen (fuel dumps). In Austria:
Linz (station).
21/2: Nürnberg (railway and in-
dustrial targets). Monheim, Reichs-
holz near Cologne (oil refineries).
Berlin, Mannheim (factory targets).
Koblenz, Kaiserslautern (railway
plant). Pirmasens, Landau (dumps).
Berchtesgaden (station). In Austria:
Vienna (oil refineries).
22/2: Hanover, Stendal, Halber-
stadt, Ludwigslust, Uelzen, Salzwe-
del, Kreiensen, Peine, Nordheim,
Göttingen, Sangerhausen, Worms
(railway junctions).
During the Allied air attacks of
the 20th and the 21st upon the im-
portant military targets in Bremen
and Nürnberg no fighter opposition
was encountered. In the attack on
Berchtesgaden the Allied aircraft
arriving from Italy were encounte-
red by a heavy A.A. barrage from
the Watzmann and High Göll.
In the West Allied aircraft on
February 22nd flew over 6000 sor-
ties against targets in Germany.
Flight
from Torun
A Swiss woman who until the
latest Russian offensive lived in
Torun, in north-western Poland,
and has now returned to Switzer-
land, told an Allied correspondent
of her experiences.
« As the Russians approached »,
said the Swiss woman, « the who-
le population, German and Polish,
was ordered by the Party to leave.
A Nazi block leader told me that
if I refused I would be shot. Never-
theless most of the Poles stayed
behind. We others marched west-
wards with no food and only mel-
ted snow to drink. Hundreds died
of exposure.
« It took us nine days to reach
a station. There we had to wait 20
hours for the arrival of a train,
which was stormed by a hysterical
mob. Those left behind had to
wait for another train, which consi-
sted of freight cars. This train,
too, was stormed by thousands of
people. Children were trampled
under in the crowd, and on the
journey dozens died daily ».
Neutrals and
Crimea Conference
The joint declaration issued by
Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill
after their recent meeting at Yalta,
in the Crimea, has been cordially
welcomed in the press and on the
radio of neutral countries. Typical
comments:
The Swiss radio commentator
Professor von Salis: « Yalta mean-
the final end of all German hopes
of a split between the Allies and
the achievement of a compromise
peace ».
The Swedish radio commentator
Dr. Bolander: « The Yalta docu-
ment is not the expression of a
malicious attitude towards the Ger-
man people, but of a firm resolve
to prevent the Germans from let-
ting loose a third world war ».
The Turkish newspaper « Ulus »:
« At the conference of the Big
Three practically no problem was
left unsettled. Even the greatest
optimists could not have imagined
that the Three Powers would arri-
ve at such an agreement ».
(TRANSLATION)
NEWS FROM
THE HOME COUNTRY
Frontpost Supplement No. 32. 23rd February 1945
Guderian arrested?
Stockholm: According to reports reaching here which have not as yet been confirmed from German sources, the Chief of the General Staff, Colonel-General Guderian, has been taken into custody by the Gestapo, following a meeting in Berlin at the end of January between high Party officials and Army generals. Guderian is said to have declared in the course of the discussion that in view of the general situation any further resistance was « useless and foolish ».
In mid-February, the German official news reported that Himmler, Reichsführer of the SS, had taken over supreme command of the Army Group Centre, replacing Colonel-General Reinhardt.
Three high officials executed in Baden
For actions subversive of Party discipline and the armed power of the State, the following three Baden officials were arrested by the Security Service at the beginning of February and executed shortly afterwards: the Premier, Oberguppenführer in the SA, Walter Koehler; the Minister of the Interior, Brigadeführer in the SS, Karl Pflaumer; and the Provincial Office Leader, Karl Gaertner. The executions at Bromberg of the Police Chief, von Salisch, and the Deputy Provincial Leader of Lower Silesia, Dr. Spielhagen, were made known to the public, but in this case official German quarters have refrained from doing so, for reasons of internal security.
Berlin, Fortress of the Reich
Goebbels as Chief of Defence
Berlin. The telegraphic news service « Front and Homeland » of 16 Feb. reports that Reichsminister Dr. Goebbels in his capacity as District Head of Greater Berlin is also Reich Defence Commissioner for the capital. The entire civil defence is based on the Party organisation. The report states further: « Many of our comrades will be asking themselves, What is going to happen to my wife and children, if it comes to lighting for the capital? Measures to take care of the women and children are the most important task of the city's leaders. At the same time, it will be understood that it is not possible to evacuate Berlin en masse. For one thing, the space to evacuate into has shrunk, and nothing need be said about the transport difficulties. It is also self-evident that even if there is fighting, work in Berlin must go on ».
Barricades and strong-points
Zuerich. Paul Werner, Berlin correspondent of the Swiss periodical, « Sie und Er », wrote on the 12th Feb.: « Berlin has been seized by a fever of building. Everything which can possibly be utilised for the purpose is being used to build up barricades. Some are constructed from rows of burnt-out steel safes, filled with rubble from ruined walls, others of double rows of overturned street-cars, also filled with rubble. Cellars of destroyed or burnt-out houses are being strengthened and provided with All news from Germany given here is taken — without further guarantee — from the best available news sources in Germany and adjacent countries.
Breslau cut off
On the 19 Jan., the Reich radio reported from the Breslau battle area: « Combat units and groups of infantry that have settled themselves in towns and villages and some tank groups are forming the breakwater that has called the first halt to the Soviet mass assault ».
When the fall of Oels became imminent, first administrative offices and then the civilian population began to leave the town. At that date, some 300,000 persons got out of the town. All activities not immediately concerned with defence came to a stop. In an address by Regional Leader Hanke, Breslau was declared a fortress.
On the 31 Jan., a German Press reporter could still get through to Berlin by 'phone to say that the city was expecting the Russians hourly. « Russians shells are already falling on the inner city. All the (continued over leaf) the thickest possible roofing, and in some cases are even camouflaged. The quantities of foodstuffs available are amazing, and everybody is laying in provisions for the possible siege. Nearly every household has managed to save 10, 20 or more kg. of flour, as well as hard sausage, jars of jam and cases of soda-water.
Frontpost Supplement NEWS FROM THE HOME COUNTRY 23rd February 1945
Behind the Scenes
Hitler-Greeting an Index to Morale
A secret report on the morale of the population, sent to the Baden Chief of SS-Chief Himmler's Security Service from a local Security Service branch, dated 20 Nov. 1944, makes the following statement: « Even if the 'Heil Hitler' greeting can only be considered a matter of external form, certain conclusions can be drawn from the striking decline in giving this greeting among all classes of the population. Doubt exists even among out-and-out supporters of the Party as to whether the Fuehrer is really kept well informed. It is generally believed that many of the leading personalities are lacking in civic courage and that they often do not give the Fuehrer an accurate picture of the situation, so as not to depress him. To belong to the Party seems to many people today a burden rather than a privilege ».
...Breslau
bridges over the Oder except two have been blown up. »
On the 16 Feb., troops of Koniev's Army pressing forward north and south of Breslau joined up at Kanth and cut the last roads leading out of the town at Schweidnitz. The garrison, consisting of units of the Army, police, City and Territorial Guards and Volkssturm, is estimated at 30,000 men. Supplies have been dropped by air since the 18 Feb.
On the 19 Feb. a German war correspondent reported from the fortress of Breslau: « Breslau now joins the ranks of the cities whose resistance must tie up superior enemy forces ».
Nazi assets in Switzerland
Basle. According to a statement made by a financial jobber on the local Bourse to a representative of the « Nationalzeitung » at the end of last year, there must be at least 2 milliard Reichmarks from Germany in secret accounts in certain Swiss Banks, such as « Pictet », the « Industriebank » in Zuerich and the « Bankhaus Sturzenegger » in Basle. These accounts are for the most part in the names of intermediaries of the National-Socialist Party, and are intended for the use of the Party and its leaders after the war.
Berne. The Swiss Federal Council has blocked all German assets in Swiss banks, by a Decree of 17 Feb. This will enable an enquiry to be made as to how much of these assets is capital deposited abroad by the German Party or its leaders.
Juetland-Schleswig defences in construction
Berne. A Swiss correspondent who recently returned here from Germany after making contacts with general staff officers of a Wehrmacht division reported that a deeply echelonned system of defences is being constructed, extending from Juetland and Schleswig, with Hamburg as its centre, to Emden on the one side and the Peene on the other. Support positions are being erected on the banks of the Elbe and Elde.
Say it with flowers
« Just as the first snowdrop in the Spring break through the hard earth, and thus announce that Spring has come, in the same way, I am convinced, the young National-Socialist revolution will break through the hardened, ice-bound crust of the world that is dying off ».
Dr. Ley in the « Angriff », 21 Jan. (The paper has since ceased publication).
News in Brief
Berlin. Hundreds of German women have received the War Service Cross in recognition of their service during this war in the Army, the Red Cross or the National-Socialist Welfare Organization. A smaller number have been decorated with the Iron Cross Second Class, and one has even received the Iron Cross First Class.
Lueneburg. The Regional leader of Dannenburg, in the Province of East Hanover, handed over 12,000 meters of handwoven linen to the Provincial Leader, Telschow. The cloth was the donation made by the peasants of the region to the « People's Sacrifice » textile collection.
Stockholm. As part of the fuel economy drive, civilian air traffic between Berlin and Stockholm is now reduced to two services a week, on Mondays and Thursdays.
Berlin. The German radio announces that the garrison of La Rochelle on the Atlantic coast, which has been cut off for months now, has had the latest German film dropped to it from the air. It is the Ufa production, « Kolberg ».
NEWS OF THE WEEK (14-20 Feb.)
Heavy allied air attacks on supply lines of German eastern army in Saxony — Russians capture Sagan, Sorau in Silesia, Sommerfeld, Crossen and Gruenberg in Brandenburg — Breslau cut off — Schneidemuehl taken — In the West, the Canadians hold the Reich Forest, the English take Goch on the West Wall — The Americans in Saarburg.
(TRANSLATION)
Frontpost
A U S G A B E S Ü D
No. 109 Newspaper for German troops February 20th, 1945
Battles of annihilation
[Map of the Eastern Front showing cities: STETTIN, KOLBERG, DANZIG, KÖNIGSBERG, INSTERBURG, MARIENBURG, ALLENSTEIN, SCHNEIDEMÜHL, DEUTSCH-KRONE, BERLIN, WITTEMBERG, FRANKFURT a.O., POSEN, GLOGAU, BRESLAU, OPPELN, PLOCK, WARSCHAU]
In the last three days the chief events on the Eastern Front were battles of encirclement and annihilation waged by the Russians against German forces cut off east of the main front.
In East Prussia the Army Group formerly commanded by General Chernyakhovsky — whose death from wounds was reported on the 18th — has taken Wormditt and Mehlsack. In this sector the German 3rd Panzer and 4th Armies now hold only Königsberg and a small area round Braunsberg.
North of Grudziadz, which is still in German hands, the Army Group Rokossovsky, advancing along the west bank of the Vistula, has taken Neuenburg.
In the Grenzmark a German force that had broken out from Schneidemühl was again encircled in the forest north of the city. Over 3000 Germans were killed and over 2000 surrendered. Another encircled German force, in Poznan, on the 17th still held the citadel.
In Brandenburg the Army Group Koniev is advancing on Guben from three sides. In Silesia this Army Group has encircled Breslau.
In Hungary 3400 Germans — the remnants of a force that had broken out of Budapest and had again been encircled in the forest north-west of the city — surrendered on the 16th. In the whole siege of Budapest over 120,000 Germans were captured — more than in Stalingrad.
Scots in Goch
The major offensive of the Canadian 1st Army between the Meuse and the Rhine has passed into its third week. The attack was first launched in an easterly direction from Nijmegen into Germany through the Reichswald. After the capture of Cleves on the 12th and Kessel on the 15th it developed into a double thrust from two strong salients.
On the 19th the northern wing of the 1st Army lay on the Rhine opposite Emmerich, thus cutting German road and river traffic in the Lower Rhine frontier area. This area is still partly flooded. The 1st Army's southern spearheads, consisting of Scottish units, continued from February 16th to 19th to advance across the Niers south of Cleves and on the 19th had taken two-thirds of Goch, a strong-point of the Westwall. On this day the focus of the fighting lay 15 kilometres east of a line from Cleves to Goch, in the area of Kalkar and near Moyland, whose surrounding woods were occupied by Allied troops. At their farthest point of advance the east troops of the 1st Army held a line along the road from Goch to Udem, about 14 kilometres from Xanten and 25 kilometres from Wesel, a town that guards the northern approach to the Ruhr district.
Farther south the American 3rd Army continued its advance into Germany south of the Snow Eifel, near Prüm and along the Luxembourg frontier to a point east of Vianden, on a front of more than 50 kilometres. Leidenborn was taken by the Americans on the 19th, North-east of Echternach, near the confluence of the Enz and Prüm rivers, main fortifications of the Westwall were penetrated on a front of about 10 kilometres to a depth of 5 kilometres.
No. 109 FRONTPOST, Southern Edition February 20th, 1945
Targets in Germany
(exclusive of front-line)
16/2: Offenburg (shunting yards). Münster, Rheine (railway plant). Dortmund (synthetic fuel plants « Minister Stein » and « Hartener Weg »). Gelsenkirchen (Nordstern and synthetic fuel plants). Bahlburg (oil refinery). Hamm, Osnabrück (stations). Wesel (railway bridges). Solingen (jet-propelled aircraft works). Obertraubling near Regensburg (airfield).
17/2: Frankfort-on-Main (shunting yards). Salzbergen (oil refinery). In Austria: Brenner line.
18/2: Berlin, Bremen, Mannheim (industrial targets). In Austria: Brenner line.
19/2: Siegen, Wesel, Osnabrück, Rheine, Münster (railway targets). Erfurt (shunting yards). In Austria: Vienna, Graz, Klagenfurt (railway plant).
Hitler decree
The German wireless news service reported on February 17th that on Adolf Hitler's order the Reich Ministry of Justice had set up summary courts in « the areas of the Reich threatened by the enemy ». Their object is « to bring shirkers to justice ». The summary courts consist of a penal magistrate, an Army, Police or Waffen-SS officer and a political administrator of the National Socialist Party. Pronouncement and execution of sentence are confirmed by the Gauleiter.
WARNING
TO THE PEOPLE OF
NORTHERN ITALY
Lieutenant-General Mark Clark, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied forces in Italy, has addressed a message of warning, by leaflets and radio, to the people of northern Italy. The message states that in the present phase of the war attempts by the Germans to withdraw from Italy become increasingly likely. The Allied air fleets will seek to make any such attempt as costly as possible. Italians are therefore advised to stay away from main-roads, railways, bridges, etc.
The generals stayed
« We are determined to break for all time the German General Staff ». So reads a sentence of the joint declaration made at Yalta, in the Crimea, by Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill. The British radio commentator Lindley Fraser observes: « The necessity for this measure is clear if one remembers the part played by the German General Staff after the last war.
« After the collapse of November 1918 the first step of the German militarists was to disown responsibility for the loss of the war and thus maintain their own prestige. Hindenburg and Ludendorff, who had themselves insisted in repeated communications to their government on Germany's immediate capitulation, joined in spreading the famous « stab in the back » legend, according to which the Imperial Army had never been defeated in the field, but had been betrayed from the rear. This was the first psychological preparation for the next war.
« The next step of the German militarists was to extend their power. As early as March 13th 1920 they tried to overthrow the Republic in the Kapp Putsch led by General Freiherr v. Lüttwitz and Admiral v. Trotha.
« These traitors to their government were never punished. In 1926 retired Imperial generals received pensions larger than the pay of a cabinet minister in office.
« The next step was to evade in all possible ways the disarmament imposed by the Versailles Treaty. The British Military Representative on the Allied Disarmament Commission has stated: « Not a single article of the disarmament terms was completely observed except the abolition of general conscription ». Since the Reichswehr was limited by the Treaty to 100,000 men, an illegal army was formed consisting of Free Corps and the « Black Reichswehr », numbering half a million men. Such organizations as the « Nationalist Soldiers' League », president General Abendroth, « Society of Former Baltic Combatants », president General Freiherr von der Goltz, continued to receive regular military training.
« When Adolf Hitler came to power, he had only to follow the course set by the generals. That is why this time the United Nations, as stated at Yalta, are resolved to destroy not only Nazism, but also German militarism, and especially the German General Staff ».
Shorter News
The South American Republics of Uruguay and Venezuela have declared war on Germany and Japan. All the 21 North and South American States are now at war with the Axis except the Argentine, which has broken off diplomatic relations with Germany.
The Swiss Federal Council has issued a decree immobilizing German funds in Switzerland. This has been done so that an investigation may be made into the charge that German Nazi leaders have been transferring funds from Germany to Swiss banks.
Dr. Benes, President of Czechoslovakia, announced in a broadcast from London on the night of February 17th that he and Foreign Minister Masaryk were about to return to Czechoslovakia by way of the Soviet Union.
On February 16th and again on the 17th over 1500 American carrier-based aircraft bombed the Japanese capital of Tokyo.
The Papal Nuncio to Germany, Monsignor Orsenigo, has left Berlin and taken up residence in Eichstätt, in central Bavaria.
8th Army Radio
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