Reports from communities on the war events in 1945 and the extent of the destruction in World War II

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The "Reports from municipalities on the war events in 1945 and the extent of the destruction in World War II" are the results of three questionnaires in which cities and municipalities in Baden-Württemberg about the extent of destruction in World War II during the occupation by the Allies in April 1945 were interviewed. The surveys were carried out in 1948 by the Württemberg State Statistical Office , in 1955 by the Balingen district and in 1960 by the Baden-Württemberg State Statistical Office . The holdings are located in the Baden-Württemberg State Archive and have the archive signature J 170 .

The documents comprise 153 tufts with a total of over 5,000 typewriter pages (first fonts) from around 450 municipalities. Among other things, the crime against the men of Brettheim is documented in the reports.

history

1st survey 1948

In December 1945, the German archaeologist Oscar Paret asked the Ludwigsburg District Culture Council to record the events of World War II with a 15-point questionnaire. With a circular dated July 14, 1948 with the number III 11-530 / 48 (in Bü 88), the Württemberg regional statistical office initiated a survey in the administrative district of North Württemberg , which was based on the 15 points Parets. The answers were received by the State Statistical Office until 1950, mostly in duplicate, and later form the most extensive results of the three surveys. The first copies were handed over in September 1977 by the State Description Department of the Baden-Württemberg State Archives Directorate to the Main State Archives in Stuttgart , where the duplicates were already located. In 1978 a finding aid was created for the inventory.

2nd survey 1955

In the second survey in 1955, the municipalities of the Balingen district were questioned by the Balingen district office (Bü 21). The answers were evaluated in 1960 and 1961 by the State Description Department at the State Statistical Office of Baden-Württemberg and then passed on to the Stuttgart State Archives.

3rd survey 1960/1961

Nothing from the community of Eschelbronn

Since the war destruction in the districts of the administrative districts of South Württemberg , North Baden and South Baden had not been recorded by the previous surveys, the State Statistical Office of Baden-Württemberg, with the approval of the Stuttgart Archives Directorate, sent circular No. VIII 51-4059 to the District offices conducted a third survey (Bü 61). However, this was aimed at all cities and municipalities in Baden-Württemberg in order to obtain an overview at the same time. The towns and communities were required to hand over copies of all records of destruction, especially those that had occurred in the last days of the war and at the beginning of the occupation. Municipalities and districts where there had been no or only minor damage or where there is no documentation on destruction were present, the possibility had none to report. This option was used by several municipalities and districts, which led to a significantly lower result than in the survey of 1948. The State Description Department handed the reports received to the Stuttgart State Archives in September 1977. Books and writings that had been sent in with the reports were sent to the library of the Landesbeschreibung department at the Landesarchivdirektion for archiving.

Digitization and publication 2015

All reports were completely digitized by 2015 as the “contribution of the state archive to the 70th anniversary of the end of the war and the liberation of Germany from National Socialism”. The digital copies were published under a Creative Commons license (CC-by 3.0) and the corresponding reports were linked online with the previously published finding aid.

rating

The reports are considered to be an important historical source on the Second World War. The author Friedrich Blumenstock evaluated them for his book The Invasion of the Americans and French in northern Württemberg in April 1945 (depictions from the Württemberg history, vol. 41, Stuttgart 1957). He noted:

“The reports vary in value and scope, depending on the importance of what happened in the area or in the vicinity, and the zeal and skill with which those responsible for answering the questions posed have handled the task. On the whole, an enormous amount of material of several thousand pages has come together in the reports of around 450 congregations, because apart from the brief schematic answers to the questions, many special occurrences and personal experiences were reported. Some go beyond what can only be observed from a local point of view and give valuable clues as to the connection between the military movements ” .

Web links and individual references

Commons : Reports from communities on the war events in 1945 and the extent of the destruction in World War II  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Landesarchiv Baden Württemberg - end of war online. Retrieved January 1, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Reports from communities on the war events in 1945 and the extent of the destruction in World War II (inventory) - German Digital Library. Retrieved January 1, 2018 .