Air raids on Sangerhausen
During the Second World War , several US air raids took place on Sangerhausen , the main target of which was the train station in the central German district town. On 22 February 1945. 11 heavy four-engine threw bomber type B-24 "Liberator" 23.5 tons of bombs on the Reichsbahn grounds, gasworks and the city. The attack took place as part of the large-scale Anglo - American Operation Clarion against traffic targets in the German Reich . From April 7 to 11, 1945, the station area was the daily target of US fighter bombers . The attacks, in which two ammunition trains were hit, led to the almost complete destruction of the station area and the cessation of train traffic. A total of 87 people lost their lives in the air raids on Sangerhausen, including 237 residents in the district.
City and district of Sangerhausen
In 1939 the district town of Sangerhausen had 12,700 inhabitants , the district belonging to it (at that time) 75,000 inhabitants. These numbers grew considerably in the course of the war due to the inclusion of evacuees from the air war zones , foreign workers, forced laborers , prisoners of war and refugees and displaced persons from the eastern regions.
Air raids, hospitals
In addition to the expansion of air raid shelters in public buildings, industrial and residential buildings, air raid shelters were built in the course of the war years : on Bonifatius-Platz (founding foundations of the former Bonifatiuskirche), in Hospitalstrasse (celery spot), behind the middle school, at the train station and on Hospital on the Tennstedt (with an underground operating theater). As "immediate protection" then came slit trenches so. In September 1943 the "air-endangered" Sangerhausen was classified as a "2nd order air raid shelter".
There were six hospitals for wounded and sick soldiers in Sangerhausen: in the mother house of the district hospital, and in five reserve hospitals in schools, in the Herrenkrug and in the Hotel Gieseler.
Air alarms
From 1940 to 1944 there were 538 “air warnings” in Sangerhausen (increasing sharply in 1945 and no longer complete information) and 181 air raids . The vast majority of these were caused by overflights by British and American long-range bombers and their accompanying fighter planes ("escorts"). In 1944 and 1945 there were many independent missions of fighters and bombers as low-flying aircraft in the district. On the two Easter holidays alone (April 1st and 2nd, 1945) the alarm sirens rang 23 times in Sangerhausen. From April 7th, there was a permanent alarm in the district.
The air raids on the city of Sangerhausen
The information comes from the book of the local historian Thilo Ziegler Under the Swastika. An outline of the history of the Sangerhausen district from 1933 to 1945 . 2004
- In 1940 a passenger train was shot at by British RAF aircraft with on-board weapons close to the entrance from Halle to Sangerhausen station .
- July 28, 1944: During a US air raid on Sangerhausen, German Air Force fighters shot down three American B-17 “flying fortresses” . 12 US airmen were killed, 18 were parachuted and taken prisoner.
- February 21, 1945: Uninterrupted US low- flying raids on the railway lines around Sangerhausen. An express train near Berga was attacked, with 62 traveling civilians losing their lives to gunfire.
- February 22, 1945: Heavy air raid by 11 four-engined bombers type B-24 “Liberator” of the 8th Air Division of the 8th US Air Fleet , which was approaching from the south (via Martinsrieth ), on the station and town of Sangerhausen. The navigation was done visually. An air raid alarm sounded from 12.08 to 15.50 , and from 13.12 to 13.14, 23.5 tons of high-explosive explosive bombs fell from a height of just 3,000 meters. Severe damage was done in the western part of the Reichsbahn site (tracks, switches, signal systems, locomotive and goods sheds), where 32 deep bomb craters lay close together. Just a few hours after the attack, operations are said to have been normalized with all efforts. In the residential area, buildings were hit on Mogkstraße, Hindenburgstraße (today Ernst-Thälmann-Straße), Marienstraße, Am Bahnhöfchen, Voigt-Straße and the Malzfabrik. Eight houses were completely destroyed or badly damaged, and numerous buildings in the station district suffered damage to the roof. The gasworks suffered so much damage that it had to cease operations by September 1945. Five chain bombs were thrown at the gas systems, with three bombs chained together, for a total of 15 bombs. Two gas containers (perforated with about 100 splinter impacts), the workshop, the factory house and the “model house” behind the factory were hit. The fires were successfully extinguished by the workforce and the fire brigade. A total of 33 people were killed and many seriously injured. The victims were buried on February 27 after a funeral service in a communal grave in the Sangerhausen cemetery .
Almost at the same time, the village of Wallhausen (Helme), west of Sangerhausen, on the railway line to Nordhausen , was bombed by 19 “Liberators”, half of whom destroyed it (70 dead).
A total of 1,372 heavy bombers, accompanied by 817 escorting long-range fighters / fighter-bombers ( Mustang , Thunderbolt ), were mobilized by the 8th US Air Force for Operation Clarion on February 22, 1945 .
- April 7, 1945: Attacks by US fighter bombers with bombs and on-board weapons left a field of rubble on the western and central part of the Reichsbahn premises from 1:00 p.m. and paralyzed the main line. The station area was overcrowded with travelers, especially refugees. Two long trains of signal ammunition exploded. Two bombs fell on the reception building, including in the waiting room. Twelve dead were rescued from the rubble on the same day, others only weeks later. More bombs fell on the residential area, houses 82 to 85 on Morunger Strasse were destroyed and others were damaged. There were 15 deaths (it is not entirely clear whether the above 12 deaths are included in the 15) and “very many seriously injured”.
At the station, which was newly built in 1963, there is a plaque with its history. It says: “7. April 1945: Destruction of the station building and the tracks by bombing American planes ”.
- April 8, 1945: Major alarm for the district all day. At 10.15 a.m., 2.00 p.m. and towards evening major bombing raids on the city. At 10.15 am the station building was hit by 15 high explosive bombs.
- April 9, 1945: Again, explosive and incendiary bombs were dropped over Sangerhausen. The main track that had just been repaired now completely failed due to bomb hits.
- April 10, 1945: At 11:45 am, 12:30 pm and 6:00 pm, the train station and the city were again attacked with bombs and weapons.
- April 11, 1945: Around noon 58 bombs and gunfire on Sangerhausen, in the evening the last 6 bombs on the town and train station.
- April 12, 1945: Sangerhausen is occupied by US troops without a fight.
Sacrifice and burial place
A total of 87 people lost their lives in air raids in the city of Sangerhausen. In Section A / 3 of the cemetery there is a cemetery of honor for 62 of the civilian bomb victims . A leaflet from the history association and an information board in the area of the cemetery entrance informs you that it is a “WWII bomb cemetery ” . The stone floor slab in the middle of the mass grave bears the general heading above the 62 names of the victims (29 women and girls; no years of birth or death): "In memory of the victims of war and the tyranny of World War II from 1939-1945"
Together with the district area, 237 aerial warfare deaths occurred. A large communal grave with 50 (of 70) victims can be found in the Wallhausen cemetery (Helme) .
Air war over the Sangerhausen district
This compilation is based closely on the two books by Sangerhausen local history researcher Thilo Ziegler (from 1999 and 2004).
It began in 1939 with the arrival of individual aircraft of the British RAF. From 1940 the following were dropped: leaflets, phosphorus fire platelets on fields and forest areas, fire balloons, fire bottles, fire bombs, sturgeon balloons on high-voltage lines, chocolate, English tobacco, food cards, light bombs and from 1943 heavy explosive bombs through to mine bombs . Going down and exploding: German and Allied fighters, Allied fighter-bombers and several heavy, four-engine British and American strategic bombers - some still with their cargo. The residents often had the opportunity to watch dogfights. In 1944, and especially in 1945, allied low-level pilots dominated the field, “shooting at everything that moved”. This also included the civilian population, especially the farmers - but also horses and cattle.
Many places in the district were affected by air raids with bombs and on-board weapons in 1944 and 1945, civilian fatalities occurred in at least nine of these villages and towns: Allstedt (11), Berga (28), Blankenheim (16), Hohlstedt (1), Kelbra ( 12), Rottleberode (4), Sangerhausen (87), Stolberg (8) and Wallhausen (Helme) (70). Including the city of Sangerhausen, there were 237 aerial warfare deaths among the civilian population, not counting the military and train travelers. Destroyed or damaged, in addition to military targets - preferably train stations, but also factories and residential buildings.
The attacks on railroad trains form a special chapter . The targets were military, tank and ammunition trains. But the low-flying aircraft did not stop at clear passenger trains. Some examples with loss figures are given.
- May 5, 1944: Fighter planes shelled the passenger train to Stolberg at noon. One passenger was shot in the chest and killed and seven other passengers were injured. The stoker died from his injuries in the hospital.
- May 5, 1944: In front of the Aumühle , a military train coming from Berga-Kelbra station around noon was stopped by low-flying planes and shot at. 28 people were killed and 56 injured, some seriously.
- May 26, 1944: Around 11.00 a.m., a passenger train from Stolberg to Berga-Kelbra was attacked by low-flying aircraft near Berga . One traveler was killed and the stoker seriously injured.
- February 6, 1945: A work service train was shot at near Aumühle. There were 6 dead and many injured.
- February 9, 1945: South of Artern , near Reinsdorf , American low- flying aircraft attacked a freight train carrying prisoners from Buchenwald with bombs and on-board weapons. 105 people were killed and 150 wounded. Of the latter, 23 died in Artern Hospital: a total of 128 dead. “The inmates jumped out of the car and took shelter in the open air. After the aviators recognized them by their clothes, they stopped the fire and turned off ”. 26 dead are buried in the Artern cemetery. There is a stone tablet above the mass grave: “26 concentration camp prisoners are resting here, who died on February 9, 1945 in an Allied air raid on a railroad transport near Reinsdorf. In 2014, the relocation from the forecourt of the Artern Park Cemetery to this resting place ”(at the Artern Cemetery).
- February 17, 1945: at Oberröblingen one was D-train shot. 21 travelers, mostly refugees, suffered severe wounds.
- February 17, 1945: When leaving a tunnel, a passenger train was attacked by low-flying aircraft. Three people were killed and six seriously injured.
- February 21, 1945: At around 11.30 a.m., D-Zug 190 from Leipzig to Cologne was attacked by low-flying aircraft. About 2 km from the train station, in the "Bergaer Kuhried", the shelled locomotive came to a stop. There were 41 dead and at least twice the number seriously injured. 166 bullets were counted on two cars. 37 of the dead were buried in Berga. The travelers were killed or wounded in the compartments or while fleeing across the neighboring open area. Relief measures were taken immediately. A special train set off from Sangerhausen to take the seriously injured to the hospital there. The Nordhausen Hospital also took in numerous wounded. 21 seriously injured people died there from their gunshot wounds. This resulted in 62 deaths.
literature
- Roger A. Freeman: Mighty Eighth War Diary . Jane's. London, New York, Sydney. 1981. ISBN 0-7106-0038-0
- Thilo Ziegler : Looking for traces. The Sangerhausen district in the period from 1939–1945 . Strong pressure, Sondershausen 1999
- Thilo Ziegler: Under the swastika. An outline of the history of the Sangerhausen district from 1933–1945 . Strong pressure, Sondershausen 2004.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thilo Ziegler: Under the swastika . 2004. P. 79
- ^ Roger A. Freeman: Mighty Eighth War Diary. 1981. pp. 445-446
- ↑ Thilo Ziegler: Under the swastika . 2004. S. 83 f, S. 87 ff
- ↑ Thilo Ziegler: Under the swastika . 2004. p. 96 ff
- ↑ Thilo Ziegler: Under the swastika . 2004. p. 195
- ^ Association for the History of Sangerhausen and Surroundings e. V .: Sangerhausen cemetery. Gravesites, memorials . Leaflet (Thankfully received from the association: 2018)
- ↑ Thilo Ziegler: Under the swastika. An outline of the history of the Sangerhausen district from 1933–1945 . Starke Druck, Sondershausen 2004. pp. 82, 100
