Immediate Leader Program

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The Führer-Sofortprogramm (also called Luftschutz-Sofortprogramm or LS-Sofortprogramm ) refers to the planning and construction of air raid shelters in the German Reich on the basis of a Führer order from October 10, 1940. The project is considered the largest purpose-built construction program in history.

In the first wave of construction , Adolf Hitler's instructions initially affected Berlin and a further 60 cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, which were considered to be "at risk from the air" and had armaments factories that were important to the war effort and were classified as first-class air protection locations . By mid-1943, around 2,000 bunkers in 76 cities had been "halfway" completed.

history

From the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 to August 25, 1940, there were seven air raids in Berlin . The Royal Air Force (RAF) only dropped leaflets . That changed on the night of August 25th to August 26th, 1940, when the RAF first dropped bombs in response to an Air Force attack on London on August 23rd . On the night of August 28, 1940 there were civilian civilian casualties for the first time in Berlin . From September 6th, there were regular night raids by the RAF bombers on Berlin, which resulted in a direct hit on a gasometer on September 24th, 1940 resulting in 22 dead and 83 injured. Two days later, Hitler met OKW boss Wilhelm Keitel together with armaments minister Fritz Todt for a meeting in the New Reich Chancellery , which focused on the effects of the bombings on the morale of the civilian population. Hitler demanded the construction of air raid shelters "on a very large scale" and appointed the General Building Inspector for the Reich Capital (GBI) Albert Speer to be responsible for the program for the implementation of the air raid shelter in Berlin. On September 27, Todt forwarded the minutes of the meeting to Speer along with a handwritten sketch by Hitler on a new type of standard bunker.

In order to secure himself and, in particular, to defend his responsibility vis-à-vis the Minister of Aviation Hermann Göring , Speer had a corresponding Führer decree issued on September 30, 1940 . In accordance with this order, Speer, in his function as GBI, was entrusted with the responsibility for building the air raid in the Reich capital and was to receive the manpower, building materials and equipment required for this. Both the expansion of basement rooms in existing public and private buildings and the construction of free-standing air raid shelters with up to 100 beds each were ordered.

The aim of the program was to protect the civilian population in cities where there were war-essential industrial and military facilities. These cities were to be equipped with bunkers that would offer protection from bombs weighing up to 1000 kg.

Conditional u. a. the construction of the Atlantic Wall in December 1941 resulted in a shortage of manpower and material for the program.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Foedrowitz: Bunker Worlds. Air raid systems in northern Germany . Ch. Links, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-86153-155-0 , p. 9 f.
  2. ^ A b Rolf-Dieter Müller : The bombing war 1939–1945 . Ch.links, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-86153-317-0 , p. 134.
  3. ↑ Michael Foedrowitz: Bunker Worlds. Air raid systems in northern Germany . Ch.links, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-86153-155-0 , p. 13.
  4. ^ Dietmar Arnold , Ingmar Arnold: Dark worlds. Bunkers, tunnels and vaults under Berlin . 9th, updated edition. Ch.links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-583-6 , p. 114.
  5. ↑ Martin Kaule: Fascination Bunker. Stone evidence of European history . Ch.links, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-86153-761-8 , p. 13.
  6. ↑ a b Dietmar Arnold: Sirens and packed suitcases . Ch. Links, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-86153-308-1 , pp. 33-35.
  7. ↑ Martin Moll (Hrsg.): "Führer-Erasse" 1939–1945: Edition of all handed-down directives from the areas of state, party, economy, occupation policy and military administration issued by Hitler during the Second World War and not printed in the Reichsgesetzblatt . Steiner, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-515-06873-2 , p. 143. (Document 54, AdF, concerns: Implementation of air raid protection in Berlin from September 30, 1940. )