Rudolf Prescher
Rudolf Prescher (born March 19, 1912 in Dresden ; † June 15, 1997 in Braunschweig ) was a member of the Braunschweig professional fire brigade during the Second World War (note: the fire brigades during the Nazi era were called the fire protection police from 1938 , the professional fire brigades from 1933 fire extinguishing police ) and, through his work in the bombing of Braunschweig on October 15, 1944, made a significant contribution to saving around 23,000 people trapped by the fire from death.
Life
Prescher grew up in his hometown, where he became a member of the Dresden fire-fighting police in 1937 . Soon after the start of the war he was transferred to other cities, including Leipzig , Berlin , Dortmund , Düsseldorf , Solingen and Remscheid , before he finally came to Braunschweig in 1943.
In Braunschweig he was a fire engineer and an officer in the fire police and in this role he experienced all the air raids on the city. Prescher played a leading role in the extinguishing and clearing work, and it was not uncommon for him to be involved in the rescue measures at the risk of his own life.
October 15, 1944
Rescue of 23,000 trapped people
During the air raid on the night of October 14-15, 1944, Braunschweig experienced the heaviest air raid of the Second World War. 233 Lancaster bombers of the Royal Air Force (RAF) sparked a firestorm that set fire to 150 hectares of downtown and trapped around 23,000 people who had taken refuge in air raid shelters. Due to the enormous heat development and the spreading fire, the oxygen in the bunkers became increasingly scarce. There was a risk that the bunker occupants either suffocated from lack of oxygen if they stayed in the bunkers, or burned alive if they tried to leave the shelters enclosed by the firestorm.
The Wassergasse
It is thanks to Prescher's initiative that in the early morning - before the firestorm had developed its greatest intensity - a " water alley " could be formed. This alley consisted of a long hose line that was driven to the trapped under a constant veil of water to protect against the enormous heat. The ranges of the individual nozzles overlapped so that a closed, artificial “rain zone” was created. So it was finally possible to lead the 23,000 trapped in safe areas of the city.
The red rooster over Braunschweig
Prescher became known beyond the borders of Braunschweig through his book Der Rote Hahn über Braunschweig , published in 1955 , in which he meticulously described the fire-fighting operations in the city of Braunschweig during the Second World War and detailed the duration and intensity as well as damage and loss of life.
- Rudolf Prescher: The red rooster over Braunschweig. Air protection measures and aerial warfare events in the city of Braunschweig 1927 to 1945. in: Braunschweiger Werkstücke. 18. Waisenhaus-Buchdr., Braunschweig 1955 (The 2nd edition from 1994 is a reprint to which a register and literature references have only been added to an insignificant extent . ) ISSN 0175-338X .
post war period
After the war ended, Prescher stayed with the Brunswick professional fire department. It was not until 1948 that he managed to get his wife and son secretly from Dresden over the “ Green Border ” to Braunschweig. His rank when he retired in 1972 was chief fire officer. In 1994, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the air raid on October 15, 1944, in which 90% of the inner city was destroyed and around 80,000 residents were left homeless, his book was published a second time, which he received with great surprise but also with pride. The Braunschweiger Zeitung also reported.
literature
- Braunschweiger Zeitung (ed.): The bomb night. The air war 60 years ago. Braunschweig 2004.
Other media
- Firestorm - The bombing war against Germany. DVD edition, SPIEGEL TV history. Polar Film Medien GmbH , Gescher 2003 (contains excerpts from the original RAF film of the bombing on October 15, 1944)
Web links
- Literature by Rudolf Prescher in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Prescher, Rudolf |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German fire officer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 19, 1912 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Dresden |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 15, 1997 |
| Place of death | Braunschweig |