Lorem ipsum Liberation Route Nordrhein-WestfalenLiberation Route Northrein-Westfalen Liberation Route Northrein-Westfalen Liberation Route Northrein-Westfalen. Liberation Route Northrein-Westfalen Liberation Route Northrein-Westfalen Liberation Route Northrein-Westfalen. Liberation Route Northrein-Westfalen Liberation Route Northrein-Westfalen Liberation Route Northrein-Westfalen

Annelies "Anne" Marie Frank (nata il 12 giugno 1929 a Francoforte sul Meno e morta a Bergen-Belsen nel 1944) è diventata nota grazie alla pubblicazione del suo diario, iniziata dal padre dopo la sua morte, e da allora è stata diventato simbolo dei bambini perseguitati e uccisi.Le annotazioni private dell'adolescente vanno dal 12 giugno 1942 al 1° agosto 1944 e non solo permettono al lettore di conoscere la vita quotidiana di Anne nella clandestinità di Amsterdam, ma descrivono anche la vita della famiglia ebrea Frank prima della lunga e accuratamente pianificata fuga dalla Germania nel 1933, in cui Aquisgrana ebbe un ruolo centrale. I genitori di Anne, Otto ed Edith Stein (nata Holländer), stavano pensando di lasciare la Germania dal 1932, poiché la loro vita quotidiana e le loro opportunità professionali erano sempre più compromesse dal rafforzamento delle politiche nazionalsocialiste. Su consiglio del cognato, Otto, che lavorava nel settore bancario, decise di abbandonare l'appartamento di Francoforte e di costruirsi una nuova vita professionale ad Amsterdam, per poter offrire alla sua famiglia un nuovo sostentamento.A tal fine, la famiglia si separò per diversi mesi. Durante questo periodo, Anne e la sorella maggiore Margot vissero prima con la madre a Francoforte, nella casa della madre di Otto. Poi, dal settembre 1933 al 7 dicembre 1933, vissero al primo piano della casa di Pastorenplatz 1 ad Aquisgrana con la madre di Edith, Rosa. Anne si fermò più a lungo ad Aquisgrana, rimanendo nella casa della nonna fino al 16 febbraio 1934, anche dopo che la sorella e la madre si erano trasferite ad Amsterdam per raggiungere il padre nel dicembre 1933. Sebbene nei suoi diari Anne abbia poi descritto un forte affetto per la nonna Rosa, secondo un ex ragazzo ebreo vicino di casa la sua permanenza ad Aquisgrana fu determinata dalla solitudine, soprattutto nel periodo successivo alla partenza della sorella.Dopo la Notte dei Cristalli del 1938, la famiglia cercò anche di portare la nonna fuori dal Paese, ad Amsterdam, cosa che riuscì a fare nel marzo del 1939. Dopo una lunga malattia, Rosa Holländer morì ad Amsterdam nel gennaio 1942.

Germany

Il soggiorno di Anne Frank ad Aquisgrana

Dopo la liberazione di Aquisgrana nell'ottobre 1944, le autorità di occupazione statunitensi cercarono di far ripartire la vita quotidiana della città. Per loro, questo significava anche assicurarsi che la popolazione locale potesse nuovamente informarsi attraverso un giornale in lingua tedesca.Così, mentre nel resto della Germania la propaganda dei nazionalsocialisti continuò fino al maggio 1945, ad Aquisgrana apparve dal 24 gennaio 1945 un primo giornale controllato dalla potenza di occupazione statunitense: l'Aachener Nachrichten. La storia dei media fu così scritta ad Aquisgrana. In nessun'altra città tedesca venne autorizzato un giornale locale analogo in questa situazione da immediato dopoguerra.La licenza per la pubblicazione del giornale fu data dalle autorità statunitensi a due persone lontane dal nazionalsocialismo: il giornalista Otto Pesch e il socialdemocratico e tipografo Heinrich Hollands che assunse il ruolo di editore. Venne presa una decisione di equidistanza da tenere nei confronti dei cattolici e borghesi, al fine di creare un contrappeso all'amministrazione cittadina. Era anche chiaro che i nuovi redattori dovevano contribuire allo sviluppo di una cultura democratica con il loro giornale. In effetti, ci furono frequenti conflitti tra il governo cittadino e le Aachener Nachrichten.Ciononostante, l'Aachener Nachrichten rimase l'unico giornale autorizzato in Germania nell'immediato dopoguerra. Tuttavia, è da notare che il nome di Holland non poteva apparire sul giornale perché suo figlio stava ancora combattendo nella Wehrmacht, cercando così di evitare ritorsioni nei suoi confronti.

Un giornale indipendente in Germania

​​After long, heavy fighting, the city of Aachen was occupied in October 1944. Just ten days later, the US military authorities installed a new city government with German civilians at its head. The large city, which by then had only about 10,000 inhabitants, was ruled by Mayor Franz Oppenhoff, who was assisted by nine other Mayors. However, they all belonged to bourgeois circles with strong Catholic beliefs. Workers, on the other hand, were not represented at the top of the city - this applied even to representatives of the Catholic labour movement.The military government initially had no problem with this composition, as the proposal for Oppenhoff's appointment had come from the Bishop of Aachen. Since the American authorities saw the Catholic Church in particular as the bearer of resistance against the Nazis, they had great confidence in the new city leadership. This was especially because it could only work under American supervision anyway and, above all it was important for the occupying power to ensure an orderly everyday life behind the front.​However, it did not take long before fundamental criticism of the work of the newly appointed Aachen city government arose. Above all, the Department of Psychological Warfare of the 9th Army of the US Armed Forces took offence at the circumstances. Saul K. Padover, a history professor who had emigrated from Austria to the USA as a child in the 1920s, was particularly bothered by the lack of diversity in Aachen's city leadership. It did not reflect Padover's understanding of democracy, as it did not reflect the whole composition of the population. He saw it instead as a clique of upper-class notables, most of whom had been active in political Catholicism before the Nazi era. A democratic spirit, which the PWD wanted to establish in Germany, was not evident in the city's leadership.​Therefore, numerous American newspapers reported on the "Aachen Scandal". According to the reports, readers in the USA must have thought that under a disinterested occupying power, a group of anti-democratic forces was trying to prevent the occupied city of Aachen from becoming democratic. It was only after these newspaper reports that the military authorities removed numerous former Nazi bigwigs from the administration. However, they left Oppenhoff in the position of Mayor, until his assassination by a Werewolf-Kommando from the leftover Nazi Germany on 25 March 1945.

“Aachen Scandal”: Aachen Town Hall

​​In the shadow of the UNESCO World Heritage Aachen Cathedral is St. Foillan&nbsp;City Church. From the 12th century onwards, this was the church for the citizens of the city, and throughout this time it was repeatedly affected by fires. During the Second World War, however, the building was almost completely destroyed.St. Foillan&nbsp; was quickly rebuilt in the early post-war years, and by 1958 the shape that is visible today had been created. However, on the front of the church, directly on the narrow lane leading to the cathedral, there is still visible damage that was caused by violence during&nbsp;the Second World War. The building damage, which was inflicted during bombardments and fighting during the liberation of Aachen, was deliberately left unrepaired.​Today, they are wounds of the martial past. Chipping on the plinth shows how badly the church was damaged in the fighting. However, because most of the damage is at ground or knee level, most people no longer notice these traces of the Second World War.

Wounds of the past: St. Foillan Church

​​​The judiciary system played a significant role in National Socialist Germany, steadily expanding and strengthening the power of the Nazis. Once the war started,&nbsp;judges working in the judicial system were invoked as soldiers of the "Inner Front". The concept and legitimisation of Special Courts was taken from the Weimar Republic. The purpose of them was mainly to try political crimes, and they thus became instruments to eliminate political opponents quickly and confidently.Based on the Sondergerichtsverordnung (Special Courts Ordinance) of 21&nbsp;March 1933 (which after the Reichstagsverordnung was a step further towards eliminating the rule of law), Special Courts were established in every higher regional court district. The aim of this was to secure and stabilise the Nazi regime. Initially, this made Cologne the next competent court for the Aachen district. However, due to the increasing number of judicial cases a separate Special Court was established in Aachen in 1941.Following the steady expansion of the courts' jurisdiction, the start of the war and the Kriegssonderstrafrechtverordnung (Special Wartime&nbsp;Criminal Law Ordinance (KSSVO)), which had already been passed, finally led to an almost unlimited expansion of special jurisdiction. This included draft evasion, incitement to desertion and self-mutilation, as well as decomposition of military strength. Other political punishment provisions followed. In addition to the expansion of jurisdiction, procedures were also increasingly 'simplified'. For example, arrest warrants could not be challenged, and the accepting of evidence could be refused if the court concluded that it was no longer relevant to the clarification of the incident.Towards the end of the war, due to the Allies'&nbsp;approach the Aachen Special Court was transferred first to the nearby city of Düren, and then to Siegburg. The last surviving document from the court office is dated 30&nbsp;January 1945. A unique feature of the files from the Aachen&nbsp;Special Court is that some of them were continued after the end of the war, continued in another court, re-evaluated, or closed.​​

Aachen Special Courts

​​Oppenhoff was born on 18 August 1902, and from 1933 was a lawyer in Aachen, known for defending priests and Jews. The Nazis were unhappy with Oppenhoff and he had been warned by high-ranking National Socialist officials several times because of his actions. Oppenhoff also worked for the armaments company Veltrup, which helped him avoid being drafted into the military. In September 1944, when the American troops were near Aachen and the city was largely destroyed, Oppenhoff reached out to the American forces. After the withdrawal of German troops on 31 October 1944, he was appointed as mayor by the military.Oppenhoff knew that, as long as the war was not yet over, his life was in danger. Despite this he chose to cooperate with the victorious powers. Unfortunately, on 25 March 1945 he was murdered in front of his home on Eupener Straße by a Werewolf-Kommando squad. The five attackers included a 14-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl. Although the attackers were caught, the exact individual responsible for the kill was never discovered, but Oppenhoff was surely a victim of the National Socialist dictatorship. He was buried in the Aachen Eastern Cemetery.To remember him, a monument made of 13 concrete pillars was built in his memory, with the following quotes:​"Judge not, that ye be not judged." - New Testament&nbsp;​"Man is free. The individuality of man is transformed into freedom." - G. Büchner&nbsp;​"Love thy neighbour as thyself." - Leviticus&nbsp;​"Silence can become a crime." - Kurt Schumacher&nbsp;​"Our generation is a guilty generation to a very great extent." - Alfred Oelp&nbsp;​"The dignity of man is inviolable." – §1 Grundgesetz (Basic Law Germany)&nbsp;​"One can only overcome fate through understanding." - Hermann Hesse&nbsp;​"Not only the deed but also suffering is a path to freedom." - D. Bonhoeffer&nbsp;​"The imprisoned truth torments." - Rosa Luxemburg&nbsp;​"Sixth Commandment: Thou shall not kill." - Hebrew Bible&nbsp;​"If he has not fought alone and is defeated, the enemy has not yet won." - Berthold Brecht / C. v. Ossietzky&nbsp;​"Love your enemies, bless those who curse you." - New Testament​&nbsp;

Oppenhoffallee Monument

​​​Haus Löwenstein, located on Aachen's market square, is one of the city's most famous buildings. It was likely built in the 14th century and is one of the few buildings from that period still standing today. It is believed that the house was once used both for residential purposes and as an Inn.​At the beginning of the 20th century, the house was united with the neighbouring house, Zum Wolf. During the Second World War, Haus Löwenstein was damaged. In 1969, the house was acquired by the city and restored by the city conservator Leo Hugot, who made significant structural changes. In the process, Haus Löwenstein and the house Zum Wolf were again visually separated, although today they still share the same entrance. Hugot strove to restore the house to its Gothic form, although he had no historical plans or illustrations. For this reason, his renovations were viewed quite critically at the time. The historic facade, however, stands in marked contrast to Hugot's interior design of Haus Löwenstein which is, in keeping with the early seventies trend, done in brutalist style.This approach is characteristic of the reconstruction of destroyed cities in Germany. Immediately after the end of the war, reconstruction was influenced by a lack of space and was subject to the maxim of restoring important infrastructure and creating housing as quickly as possible. As a result, many historic buildings initially underwent only makeshift repairs and were not comprehensively renovated and restored until the 1960s or 1970s. &nbsp;​Subsequently, they were often re-purposed, as was the case with Haus Löwenstein. The new design of the interior made it possible to use the building for the city administration, a purpose which it still serves today along with a large hall for press conferences and space for the marketing department.Haus Löwenstein is thus emblematic of a particular era of German reconstruction: historic building fabric was preserved after the war, but at the same time changed and re-purposed.

Löwenstein House (Haus Löwenstein)

​​During the Nazi regime, the city health department of Aachen was housed alongside the city administration in the Haus Grenzwacht. It was responsible for implementing the Nazi's law for the prevention of genetically diseased offspring, which aimed to promote Nazi racial hygiene and included compulsory sterilisations of people with disabilities.The government doctors in Aachen requested hundreds of such sterilisations for those they deemed "inferior". From 1941 to 1945, with the help of the health department, people with disabilities and sick individuals from Aachen were deported and then systematically murdered in operations such as Action T4. Many were also abused in cruel human experiments, disregarding ethical principles. The Wege gegen das Vergessen (Ways Against Forgetting) project remembers the participation of Aachen government doctors in these crimes with a memorial plaque attached to the western tower facade of Haus Grenzwacht.​

Border Guard House

​​The deportations of Aachen's Jewish residents began with their forced relocation from their homes and apartments to collection camps. One of these camps was located on Grüner Weg. From there, the Jewish victims were driven under SS and police supervision to the nearest tram stop.They were then taken to Aachen Central Station with special trains. There, the deportation trains, made up of goods wagons, were already waiting for them. Often, the trains first went to Düsseldorf, where trains from various places were assembled into a large transport. Everything was organised, including the transportation costs. According to the third-class tariff, the victims were charged 4 Reichspfennige per person and kilometre. Usually the trains, which consisted of up to 45 goods wagons, were occupied by 1,000 people.​By the end of the war, 2,000 to 3,000 people were crammed into the goods wagons. Four people per square metre. Without adequate nutrition, without toilets. The journeys took days: how the people in the wagons coped is hard to imagine. During World War Two, all Jewish citizens of Aachen who had not fled to safety beforehand&nbsp;were deported. A total of seven transports left from Aachen to concentration and extermination camps. The deportations in Aachen started in March 1942 and ended in September 1944.In October 1944 the central station was heavily fought over&nbsp;during the liberation. The 1st and 30th American infantry divisions had taken the heights south and west of Aachen, leading to an attack on Aachen. After intense fighting that resulted in partial destruction of the train station, on 21 October 1944 the military conflict in Aachen ended. Following this, the central station was quickly rebuilt as it was the needed by the Allies for logistical reasons.

Aachener Hauptbahnhof (Aachen Central Station)

​​The house at the corner of Pippinstraße and Rolandstraße in Aachen is a significant site in Aachen's history, as it is believed that the city's final declaration of surrender was signed there. On 21 October 1944 at 12:05, Colonel Gerhard Wilck signed the city's surrender declaration. The first major German city was thus&nbsp;liberated from the Nazi dictatorship. Wilck was commander of the 246th People's Grenadier Division and the last city commander of Aachen as of 12 October. He had tried in vain to defend the city from the Allied troops. Even though Wilck and his predecessor, General Gerhard Graf von Schwerin, had been trying since 10 September 1944 to convince the supreme army command to abandon the city, this proposal was brusquely rejected. Wilck was obliged not to voluntarily&nbsp;surrender an inch of ground to the enemy and to hold the city to the last man. The battle for Aachen had mainly propagandistic purposes, since strategically speaking the city was almost meaningless.​When the German troops were pushed back to a single bunker, U.S. officer John Corley presented Wilck with an ultimatum: surrender or destroy the city. At Corley's office, on the corner of Pippinstrasse and Rolandstrasse, Wilck initially refused to sign the surrender declaration, fearing for his family, who did not live in Aachen. Corley then poured him a glass of whiskey and again urged him to surrender. But Wilck continued to refuse. Only after the third glass of whisky did Wilck sign the declaration and then, with the remaining 3,473 German soldiers, was placed in captivity. Today, the house is used as a residence.​

House on the corner of Pippinstraße / Rolandstraße

Dopo le prime incursioni aeree sul territorio tedesco nel 1940, fu avviato un "programma urgente per la protezione della popolazione civile", che classificò Aquisgrana come città particolarmente a rischio a causa della sua posizione. Su questa base, nel gennaio 1941 iniziarono i primi lavori per i rifugi antiaerei. Per risparmiare sui costi e sui materiali, si preferirono bunker alti. Per motivi di mimetizzazione, dovevano confondersi il più possibile con gli edifici circostanti. Con 15 bunker alti, alcuni dei quali costruiti ad anello intorno al centro storico medievale, Aquisgrana era la città con la più alta densità di bunker in termini di popolazione tra quelle censite nel Reich tedesco.Il bunker all'angolo tra Scheibenstraße e Wittekindstraße, in vista della porta delle mura medievali (Ponttor ), fu costruito a partire dal 1941 secondo i progetti dell'Ufficio Costruzioni Finanziarie. Per questa costruzione, come per tutte le altre costruzioni di bunker nell'area della città, furono utilizzati prigionieri di guerra a partire dal dicembre 1941. In questo caso, provenivano dal Battaglione 25 di costruzione e lavoro dei prigionieri di guerra. Dal 1942, l'edificio a tre piani con base pentagonale fu utilizzato come rifugio civile. A causa della pianta insolita per gli edifici bunker, le stanze, spesso poligonali, sono raggruppate intorno a una scala triangolare. Tuttavia, con soli 250 posti letto su una superficie di 655 m³, il bunker è uno dei rifugi più piccoli e allo stesso tempo più costosi della città. Il motivo per cui il rifugio fu comunque costruito in questa forma non è documentato.Dal 1946 al 1948, l'edificio è stato utilizzato come alloggio di emergenza per circa 40 famiglie. In seguito, l'edificio è stato destinato al de-sheltering (la rimozione delle installazioni di protezione per renderlo adatto a un uso alternativo moderno, ad esempio come sede di eventi), di cui si conoscono i progetti e i costi stimati (circa 520.000 DM), ma che non è mai stato realizzato per ragioni sconosciute.Nel 2003 l'edificio, di proprietà privata, è stato inserito dalla città di Aquisgrana nell'elenco degli esempi di storia architettonica della Germania sotto il regime nazista. I pavimenti, le porte antiaeree, le porte metalliche delle singole stanze e alcuni locali sanitari si sono conservati fino ad oggi. Le aggiunte successive sono facilmente riconoscibili come tali. Demolizioni ai piani superiori hanno creato stanze più grandi. Delle installazioni tecniche originali si sono conservati l'impianto di riscaldamento e una turbina dell'impianto di ventilazione. L'edificio può essere visitato solo dall'esterno.

Bunker alto all'angolo

Poco dopo l'inizio della guerra contro la Francia, il 12 maggio 1940 ebbe luogo il primo raid aereo su Aquisgrana. Quando il 12 settembre 1944 iniziarono i combattimenti per Aquisgrana (con l'attraversamento del confine occidentale e l'attacco alla Linea Sigfrido il 15 settembre), un totale di 2.364 persone vennero uccise in 5 grandi attacchi e 64 attacchi minori . Inoltre, anche la città stessa fu gravemente danneggiata.Dopo oltre cinque settimane di combattimenti in città, in parte combattuti da una strada all'altra con carri armati e artiglieria, il 43% delle circa 14.000 case della città fu completamente distrutto e un altro 40% danneggiato. Delle 68 chiese e cappelle di Aquisgrana, 25 vennero distrutte e altre 43 gravemente danneggiate. Anche il palazzo storico del Municipio e gli ultimi edifici medievali cittadini finirono in macerie. Nonostante gli ingenti danni dovuti ai bombardamenti,&nbsp; la Cattedrale di Aquisgrana mantiene la sua struttura originale riconoscibile.Per quanto riguarda gli edifici di Annastrasse, la distruzione della Annakirche, la più antica chiesa protestante di Aquisgrana, è particolarmente ben documentata. La chiesa bruciò nel bombardamento del 14 luglio 1943 e dell'aprile 1944 in cui furono colpite la casa del pastore e la sala parrocchiale. Tuttavia, le maggiori distruzioni nella Annastrasse, di cui furono vittime anche la parete sud e la torre della chiesa, furono causate dal fuoco dell'artiglieria durante la battaglia di Aquisgrana.La ricostruzione della città iniziò già nel novembre 1944. La priorità fu quella di ricostruire le abitazioni, inizialmente su base di provvedimenti normativi d'urgenza, dato che fino a 5.000 persone a settimana rientravano in città subito dopo la resa di Aquisgrana. Le discussioni sugli obiettivi e sull'attuazione del piano di ricostruzione, in particolare sul trattamento dei monumenti architettonici, continuarono fino agli anni Ottanta. A quel punto, la maggior parte delle distruzioni della guerra era stata cancellata dal paesaggio urbano. Tuttavia, laddove non furono costruiti nuovi edifici, ma le aree vennero utilizzate, ad esempio, come parcheggi, i resti e le tracce degli edifici distrutti sono ancora visibili oggi.

il divario architettonico di Annastraße: Resti della distruzione bellica Paese Germania

In September and October 1944, American troops have already failed two attempts to slip around the Siegfried Line from the north to attack the Germans from the rear, take the plateaus of the northern Eifel and push through to the River Ruhr. The impenetrable forests, incessant rain and heavy resistance by the German Wehrmacht caused delays and great losses. Far behind the front lines, at the headquarters of the American 12th Battalion led by lieutenant-general Omar Bradley, high-ranking officers draft new attack plans for the American 1st Army and the American 28th Infantry Division fighting in the Hürtgen Forest. They rely on maps, radio traffic and phone calls, but no one really knows what the Hürtgen Forest looks like or what to expect in terms of opposition. The battle in the Hürtgen Forest is a disaster. Jeeps and tanks get stuck in the mud, battalions get lost and retreat back to Vossenack under a continuous barrage of shell fire. Supply routes are cut off, retaken, cut off again and retaken. The battle continues day and night, and many soldiers are close to exhaustion. After five days, it is complete chaos. General Hodges finally orders a full retreat. The catastrophe in the Hürtgen Forest, later dubbed Allerseelenschlacht, resulted in Commander-in-Chief Dwight Eisenhower coming to take stock of the situation personally on 8 November 1944. Just behind the front line in Rott, Eisenhower meets with Bradley, Hodges and Gerow at Norman Cota's headquarters. Cota is supposed to host his superiors, but he is exhausted. Over 6000 of his men were killed, missing, wounded or captured in the fighting between 2 and 10 November 1944—the greatest loss of an American division during the Second World War.&nbsp;

Mistake after mistake

Turney W. Leonard graduated from Texas A&amp;M University in Dallas, Texas, in 1942. It is a famous university where cadets are trained to take important positions in the U.S. Army. Upon graduation, he received a valuable gold ring engraved with his name, just like the rest of his class. Like many of his friends, he signed up for the American army shortly after and is deployed to Europe not long after his training in 1944, where he distinguished himself as an extremely courageous soldier at the Battle of Kommerscheidt in the German Hürtgen Forest. He did not survive the battle. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honour—the highest American military award—for his actions.   After his exhumation in the German Hürtgen Forest, in Kommerscheidt, in 1946, the ring was discovered by a German boy. Alfred Hutmacher was only 17 years old at the time and was forced to fill open graves by the Americans. He took the ring home and forgot about it. Fifty-four years later, while talking to his son-in-law, Volker Lossner, about the war and their house in Schmidt, he remembered the ring. They studied the ring in detail and decided to return it to its rightful owner. What follows is an extraordinary story with a happy ending.&#13;
&#13;
 &#13;

Aggie Ring comes home

Il 12 settembre 1944, le prime truppe americane attraversarono il confine tedesco vicino al villaggio di Roetgen fuori da Aquisgrana. Nella loro avanzata verso la città tedesca più a ovest, unità della Prima armata americana si spinsero nella foresta di Hürtgen nelle montagne dell’Eifel, a sud della città, per assicurarsi il fianco destro. Inizialmente le forze americane non furono in grado di raggiungere alcun obiettivo decisivo verso il Reno. Per la metà di ottobre, venne ripetuto l’attacco. All'inizio si intendeva conquistare il villaggio di Schmidt, importante dal punto di vista strategico, a nord-est della riserva della Ruhr. Il mattino del 2 novembre 1944, la cosiddetta Battaglia per Schmidt – o, per i tedeschi, Allerseelenschlacht (Battaglia di Ognissanti) ebbe inizio.  La 28esima Divisione di fanteria americana mise tre reggimenti ad avanzare su Schmidt. Il secondo giorno, un reggimento riuscì ad avanzare a raggiungere la chiesa del villaggio. Tuttavia, gli altri due reggimenti non ebbero vita facile nei fitti boschi ed ebbero numerose perdite. Le unità americane a Schmidt si trovarono poi sotto il fuoco di artiglieria dall’89esima Divisione di fanteria tedesca e dalla 272a Divisione Volksgrenadier. Carri armati americani mandati a supportare la divisione fallirono nel loro intento perché non conoscevano il terreno.  Inoltre, le truppe americane avevano sottostimato le difese tedesche. I tedeschi, dal canto loro, dovevano tenere la foresta di Hürtgen come area di supporto per la loro offensiva delle Ardenne. Tutti i tentativi alleati di organizzare rinforzi fallirono. Gli americani tra Vossenack e Schmidt furono consumati dall’artiglieria tedesca fino all’8 novembre 1944, quando fu ordinata la ritirata.

On 12 September 1944, the first U.S. troops crossed the German border near the ancient city of Aachen, with units pushing into the Huertgen Forest to secure their right flank. Underestimating the German defences and the difficulties of the terrain they suffered heavy losses during a bitter confrontation starting on 2 November, known as ‘The Battle for (the town of) Schmidt’.

On 12 September 1944, the first U.S. troops crossed the German border near the village of Roetgen outside of Aachen. In their advance toward Germany’s westernmost major city, units of the 1st U.S. Army pushed into the Huertgen Forest in the Eifel Mountains south of the city, to secure their flank. Initially the U.S. forces were unable to achieve any decisive breakthrough towards the Rhine. By mid-October they renewed their efforts. First they wanted to take the strategic important village of Schmidt to the northwest of the Rur Reservoir. On the morning of 2 November 1944, the so-called Battle for Schmidt – or, to the Germans, the Allerseelenschlacht (‘All Souls’ Day Battle’) commenced.

The U.S. 28th Infantry Division committed three regiments to the advance on Schmidt. On the second day, one regiment managed to reach the village church. The other two regiments however, found the going very tough in the thick woods, and suffered heavy losses. The American units in Schmidt then came under artillery fire from the German 89th Infantry Division and the 272nd ‘People’s Grenadier’ Division. American tanks sent in as support were disabled due to ignorance of the terrain.

Moreover, the U.S. troops had underestimated the German defences. The Germans, for their part, needed to hold the Huertgen Forest as a marshalling area for their planned offensive in the Ardennes – the Battle of the Bulge. All Allied attempts to organize resupply failed. The Americans on the bare ridge between Vossenack and Schmidt were pounded by German artillery until 8 November 1944, when their withdrawal was ordered.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqYi9i1SXOw[/embed]

La Battaglia di Schmidt

Nel novembre 1944 gli alleati lanciarono l’operazione Queen, con lo scopo di attraversare il fiume Roer e poi spingere verso il Reno. Le truppe di terra ricevettero supporto da una della più grandi operazioni tattiche aeree dell’intera Seconda guerra mondiale. Di conseguenza, le città di Düren e Jülich furono completamente distrutte. Anche se la diga Schwammenauel sulla Roer, a sud-est di Schmidt, in origine non era un fattore per i pianificatori americani delle operazioni, l’Alto comando statunitense capì che se le chiuse fossero state aperte, l’intera pianura della Roer attorno a Düren sarebbe stata inondata, rendendo il fiume impossibile da attraversare.  Il 13 dicembre le truppe statunitensi spinsero verso la diga. A causa delle condizioni metereologiche e della testarda resistenza tedesca, la loro avanzata fu rallentata. “La foresta era un luogo cupo ed infernale per combattere”, avrebbe detto in seguito il veterano George Morgan. I soldati statunitensi passarono le fredde notti d’inverno nelle trincee, alcuni di essi vestiti con l’uniforme estiva, erano totalmente impreparati per questo tipo di combattimento. In aggiunta al numero crescente di morti e feriti, sempre più soldati erano vittime di geloni e polmoniti.  La controffensiva tedesca nelle Ardenne iniziò il 16 dicembre 1944 e arrestò temporaneamente tutte le operazioni alleate nella foresta di Hürtgen. Solo dopo il collasso dell’offensiva tedesca il 10 gennaio 1945 le truppe americane reiterarono il loro attacco. Le ultime truppe tedesche vennero spinte fuori dalla foresta solo a metà febbraio. Nel ritirarsi, aprirono la diga Schwammenauel sulla Roer, arrestando l’avanzata alleata attorno a Düren per circa due settimane.

In November 1944 the Allies launched Operation Queen with the goal of crossing the Rur river and then pushing forward to the Rhine. They realized that if the Rur floodgates were opened, the entire river plain would be inundated, rendering the river impassable. And indeed, as they withdrew, the Germans opened the Rur Dam Schwammenauel, thus hampering the Allied advance for two weeks.

On 16 November 1944, the Allies launched Operation Queen with the goal of crossing the Rur river and then pushing forward to the Rhine. The ground troops received direct support from one of the largest tactical air operations of the entire Second World War. As a result, the cities of Düren and Jülich were almost completely destroyed. Although the Rur Dam Schwammenauel southeast of Schmidt was originally not a factor for the American operational planners, the U.S. High Command now realized that if its floodgates were opened, the entire plain of the Rur around Düren would be inundated, rendering the river impassable.

On 13 December the U.S. troops pushed towards the dam. Due to the weather and the stubborn German resistance, their advance was slowed. “The forest was a hellishly grim place to fight”, veteran George Morgan would recall later. The U.S. soldiers spent the cold winter nights in foxholes, some of them in summer uniforms, and were totally unprepared for this kind of combat. In addition to the mounting casualties – dead and wounded – more and more soldiers were disabled by frostbite and pneumonia.

The German counteroffensive in the Ardennes – the Battle of the Bulge – began on 16 December 1944, and temporarily stopped all Allied operations in the Huertgen Forest. Only after the offensive collapsed on 10 January 1945 did the American forces renew their attacks. Not until mid-February were the last German troops pushed out of the forest. As they withdrew, they opened the Rur Dam Schwammenauel, thus hampering the Allied advance around Düren for around two weeks.

Diga Schwammenauel sulla Roer

Il villaggio di Vossenack fu completamente distrutto durante la battaglia dal novembre 1944 al febbraio 1945. Neanche la chiesa fu risparmiata dalla distruzione. Nel suo saggio ‘You are now entering Germany’ (‘Ora state entrando in Germania’), il premio Nobel tedesco Heinrich Böll menziona che i combattimenti ebbero luogo nella chiesa: “A Vossenack il ‘fronte’ correva dritto attraverso la chiesa, con i soldati americani che sparavano giù dalla tribuna dell’organo, i tedeschi su dalla sacrestia”. Böll scrisse anche che il villaggio di Vossenack cambiò proprietà, dai tedeschi agli americani e viceversa, ben 28 volte.  Per mettere tutto ciò in prospettiva può essere confermato che il 6 novembre due compagnie del 112esimo Reggimento americano dovettero fuggire da un attacco tedesco dalla valle del Tiefenbach. Solo quando raggiunsero la chiesa gli americani riuscirono a fermare l’attacco tedesco e in questo frangente il combattimento ebbe luogo nella chiesa. Una lapide commemorativa all’interno della chiesa ricorda gli eventi. Tuttavia, dopo il 6 novembre non ci fu nessun altro attacco su Vossenack da parte dei tedeschi.  La chiesa fu nuovamente consacrata dopo la Seconda guerra a causa di questi eventi. Sul portale della chiesa c’è un’iscrizione che menziona i circa 68.000 morti della foresta di Hürtgen. Questo numero più probabilmente può essere ricondotto a un misto tra morti e feriti. Il numero dei soldati uccisi in azione nella foresta di Hürtgen ancora non è chiaro. Le stime odierne variano attorno a circa la metà delle vittime riportate sul portale della chiesa.

During the month of November 1944 fighting between American and German soldiers took place inside the church of Vossenack. Today a commemorative plaque inside and an inscription on the church portal call these events to mind.

The village of Vossenack was completely destroyed in the fighting between November 1944 and February 1945. Even the church was not spared destruction. In his essay ’You are now entering Germany’ the German Nobel Prize-winning author Heinrich Böll mentioned that fierce fighting took place in the church: “In Vossenack the ‘front’ ran straight through the parish church, with the American soldiers firing down from the organ loft, the Germans up from the sacristy”. Böll also wrote that the village of Vossenack had changed ownership between Germans and Americans twenty-eight times.

To put this in perspective it can be confirmed that on 6 November two companies of the 112th U.S. Regiment had to escape a German attack from the Tiefenbach valley in panic. Only when they reached the church were the Americans were able to stop the German attack. In the course of this engagement the fighting in the church was taking place. A commemorative plaque inside the church calls the events to mind. However, after 6 November there was no other attack on Vossenack by the Germans.

The church was newly consecrated after the Second World War because of these events. On the church portal there is an inscription that mentions about 68.000 dead in the Hürtgen Forest. This number most likely can be put down to a mixing up of dead and injured. The number of soldiers actually killed in action in the Hürtgen Forest is still not clear. Today’s estimates range around half of the number given on the church portal.

Chiesa di Vossenack

Il bunker medico numero 374 a Simonskall è situato all’inizio della strada in salita che porta al villaggio di Vossenack. È l’unico bunker superstite di questo tipo in tutto il Nordreno-Vestfalia. Costruito nel 1938 secondo le regole del bunker standard tipo 32 (10,20m x 14,90m), è circondato da muri spessi un metro e mezzo. Qui quattro medici potevano prestare assistenza a circa venti soldati feriti o malati. Lo spazio era molto piccolo. Sono due stanze di trattamento erano disponibili per i pazienti. La prima stanza per persone intossicate dai gas ospitava non meno di 10-15 letti in soli 2,70x5 metri. C'erano anche una serie di spazi più piccoli. L'inventario del bunker è quasi completamente originale.  Nell'autunno 1944 la linea del fronte nella foresta di Hürtgen correva vicina a Simonskall. Il 4 novembre 1944, soldati del 110mo Reggimento di fanteria statunitense riuscirono a conquistare sia il villaggio sia il bunker medico.  Dopo la guerra il bunker servì prima come un rifugio provvisorio per persone che erano state evacuate e ritornavano a casa e in seguito come cantina di una casa privata. Per questo motivo l’accesso al bunker è molto limitato. Le visite possono essere effettuate tramite il museo di Vossenack, che è diretto dalla stessa organizzazione di volontari che ha restaurato il bunker. Il luogo esatto è anche indicato dai sentieri storici ‘Historisch-literarischer Wanderweg – Hürtgenwald 1938-1947' e dal seguente progetto ‘Multimedia History Guide’.

The medical aid bunker Nr. 374 in Simonskall was built in 1938. Here four medics could give emergency treatment to about twenty to thirty wounded or sick soldiers. After the war the bunker first served as provisional housing for returning evacuees and later as a cellar for a private home. Access is very limited.

The medical aid bunker Nr. 374 in Simonskall is situated at the beginning of the road leading uphill to the village of Vossenack. It is the only one left of its type in all of Nordrhein-Westphalia. Built in 1938 according to the standard bunker type 32 (10,20m x 14,90m), it is surrounded by 1,5m thick walls. Here four medics could deliver medical assistance to about twenty wounded or sick soldiers. Conditions were very cramped. Only two treatment rooms were available for the patients. Treatment Room 1 for ‘gas sick’ persons for example accommodated no less than 10-15 beds on just 2,70 x 5,00 metres. There are also a number of other, much smaller spaces. The inventory of the bunker is almost completely original.

During the autumn of 1944 the main front line in the Huertgen Forest ran close to Simonskall. On 4 November 1944 soldiers from the U.S. 110th Infantry Regiment succeeded in capturing both the village and the medical aid bunker.

After the war the bunker first served as a provisional home for returning evacuees and since then as the foundation and cellar for a private home. For that reason access to the bunker is very limited. Visits can best be arranged via the museum in Vossenack, which is run by the same volunteer organization that renovated the bunker. The location is also linked to the historic hiking trails ‘Historisch-literarischer Wanderweg - Hürtgenwald 1938-1947’ and the ensuing project ‘Multimedia History Guide’.

Ospedale bunker di Simonskall

Durante l’autunno e l’inverno del 1944-45, la più lunga battaglia della Seconda guerra mondiale su suolo tedesco ebbe luogo nella foresta di Hürtgen. Con questa battaglia, la guerra condotta dal regime nazista ritornò in Germania. Il combattimento causò numerose vittime da entrambe le parti.  Nel cimitero di guerra di Hürtgen riposano 3.001 vittime di guerra, principalmente tedesche. Circa 500 vittime non sono state identificate. Tra i caduti tedeschi vi sono un centinaio di uomini che hanno perso la vita durante le operazioni di sminamento come membri della ‘Squadra per la ricerca e la rimozione delle munizioni’ o per tentare di ritrovare i caduti nella foresta.  Il cimitero fu creato tra il 1951 e il 1952 e inaugurato il 17 agosto 1952. Nel 1994, nel 40esimo anniversario del D-Day, gli sbarchi alleati in Normandia, i veterani della Quarta Divisione di fanteria americana hanno inaugurato una lapide in onore del Luogotenente Friedrich Lengfeld, che provò a salvare un soldato americano ferito in un campo minato pagando con la sua vita. Questa lapide si trova all’entrata del cimitero.

During the autumn and winter of 1944/45, a long and bloody battle took place in the Huertgen Forest. 3.001 mostly German victims of this bitter struggle have their final resting place at Huertgen War Cemetery.

During the autumn and winter of 1944/45, the longest battle of the Second World War on German soil took place in the Huertgen Forest. With this battle, the war precipitated by the Nazi regime returned to Germany. The fighting caused numerous casualties on both sides.

At Huertgen War Cemetery 3.001 mostly German casualties of war have found their final resting place. Around 500 victims have not been identified. Among the German dead are a little over a hundred men who lost their lives during post-war clean-up operations as members of the ‘Ammunition Search and Removal Team’ or during efforts to recover the fallen from the forest.

The cemetery was established between 1951 and 1952 and inaugurated on 17 August 1952.
In 1994, on the 50th anniversary of D-Day, the landing of the Allies in Normandy, veterans of the 4th U.S. Infantry Division unveiled a memorial plaque in honour of Lieutenant Friedrich Lengfeld, who tried to save an American wounded soldier lying in a minefield at the cost of his own life. This memorial plaque can be found at the entrance of the cemetery.

Cimitero di guerra di Hürtgen

Nel novembre 1944 unità della 28esima Divisione di fanteria statunitense avanzarono verso lo strategico villaggio di Schmidt attraverso il cosiddetto “Sentiero Kall”, una strada sterrata attraverso una fitta foresta. Dopo otto giorni di combattimenti, la Battaglia per Schmidt si concluse con una sconfitta per gli americani. I soldati, ormai spossati, furono costretti a ritirarsi dietro alla linea del fronte di Vossenack.  Ritirandosi da Schmidt, i sopravvissuti dovettero attraversare il ponte sul Kall in un momento in cui parti della vallata circostante erano già state ricatturate dai tedeschi. Tra il 7 e il 9 novembre, il dottor Stüttgen, un capitano tedesco nel corpo dei medici, riuscì a negoziare numerosi piccoli cessate il fuoco presso il ponte, permettendo ai soldati feriti di entrambi gli schieramenti di essere curati. Gli effetti di questi cessate il fuoco erano tuttavia limitati a causa della confusione sul campo. In ogni caso, i dottori e paramedici tedeschi salvarono le vite di molti soldati americani.  Dopo la guerra il dottor Stüttgen fu onorato dal Governatore della Pennsylvania per quest’atto di umanità. L’evento presso il ponte sul Kall fu immortalato nel quadro ’A Time for Healing’ (‘Un tempo per la guarigione’) che è visibile al museo della Guardia Nazionale statunitense. Una replica del quadro è anche esposta al museo ‘Hürtgenwald 1944 und im Frieden’ di Vossenack.  Sul ponte sul fiume Kall oggi c’è anche una statua di Michael Pohlmann, che ricorda al visitatore questo momento di umanità nel mezzo dell’orrore. “Non volevo creare un memoriale eroico, niente di teatrale, niente pathos. Volevo onorare questo luogo con modestia, con una semplice scultura di roccia che eleva il posto in cui la razionalità – o magari l’emozione – resero possibile incontrarsi in umanità”.

When, in November 1944, worn-out American units were forced to retreat from the village of Schmidt, they had to pass the Kall bridge under fire. In the midst of the bitter fighting, Dr. Stüttgen, a German medical officer, organized several short cease-fires. As a result, wounded soldiers from both sides could be treated by German doctors and paramedics.

In November 1944 units of the 28th U.S. Infantry Division advanced towards the strategically important village of Schmidt by way of the so-called ‘Kall Trail’, a rough road through a thick forest. After eight days of fighting, the ‘Battle for Schmidt’ ended in defeat for the Americans. The worn-out U.S. soldiers were forced to fall back on their frontline in Vossenack.

Retreating from Schmidt the survivors had to cross the Kall Bridge at a time that parts of the surrounding valley had already been retaken by the Germans. Between 7 and 9 November, Dr. Stüttgen, a German captain in the medical corps, managed to negotiate several short cease-fires at this bridge, allowing wounded soldiers from both sides to be treated. The effect of these cease-fires was limited because of the confusing terrain. Nevertheless the lives of lots of U.S. soldiers were saved by German doctors and paramedics.

After the war Dr. Stüttgen was honoured by the Governor of the State of Pennsylvania for this act of humanity. The events at the Kall Bridge were immortalized in the painting ‘A Time for Healing’, which can be seen in the museum of the United States National Guard. A replica of the painting is on display in the museum ‘Hürtgenwald 1944 und im Frieden’ in Vossenack.

On today’s bridge there is also a sculpture by Michael Pohlmann, reminding the visitor of this moment of humanity in the middle of horror: “I did not want to create a heroic memorial, nothing theatrical, no pathos. I wanted to honour this spot with modesty, with a simple sculpture out of rock that dignifies the place where rationality – or maybe emotion – made it possible to meet in humanity.”

Ponte sul fiume Kall

La Battaglia della foresta di Hürtgen, nell’autunno-inverno del 1944, costò la vita a migliaia di soldati americani e tedeschi. Ma non soffrirono solo questi giovani. Villaggi, terreni agricoli e la foresta furono distrutti. Il Museo della foresta di Hürtgen nel 1944 e in tempo di pace (Museum Hürtgenwald 1944 und im Frieden) non è attento solo al confronto militare, ma anche alla sofferenza della popolazione locale durante e dopo la battaglia. Quando gli abitanti evacuati tornarono alle loro case videro distrutto il lavoro di intere generazioni. Durante l’estate del 1945 la foresta bruciò per mesi ed esplosioni di mine costarono la vita a molte persone. Ma con coraggio e dedizione la popolazione locale prese su di sé il compito di ricostruire la loro vita e la loro terra da zero.  Allo scopo di ricordare e sensibilizzare, il Museo della foresta di Hürtgen nel 1944 e in tempo di pace (Museum Hürtgenwald 1944 und im Frieden), tenuto in vita da volontari, mostra foto, documenti e artefatti militari per raccontare la storia della battaglia e le sue tristi conseguenze.   Il museo è animato da volontari. Quasi tutti gli oggetti esposti sono stati raccolti nella foresta di Hürtgen dopo la guerra.

For the purpose of remembrance and warning Museum Huertgen Forest 1944 and in Peacetime (Museum Hürtgenwald 1944 und im Frieden) tells the story of the so-called Battle of Huertgen Forest - and its consequences for the local population. The museum is run by volunteers. Almost all objects in the exhibition were collected in the Huertgen Forest area after the war.

The Battle of Huertgen Forest in the autumn and winter of 1944 took the lives of thousands of American and German soldiers. But not only these young men suffered. Villages, farmland and forest were utterly destroyed. The Museum Huertgen Forest 1944 and in Peacetime (Museum Hürtgenwald 1944 und im Frieden) therefore not only pays attention to the military confrontations, but also to the plight of the local population during and after the battle. When the evacuated inhabitants returned to their homes they saw the labour of generations annihilated. During the summer of 1945 forest fires burned for months and spontaneous explosions of unspent ammunition claimed the lives of many men, women and children. But with courage and dedication the local population took on the daunting task of rebuilding their lives and their land from scratch.

For the purpose of remembrance and warning the voluntary run Museum Huertgen Forest 1944 and in Peacetime (Museum Hürtgenwald 1944 und im Frieden) shows photos, documents and military artefacts to tell the story of the battle and its sad consequences.

The museum is run by volunteers. Almost all objects shown were collected in the Huertgen Forest area after the war.

Museo della foresta di Hürtgen nel 1944 e in tempo di pace

Quando i soldati americani arrivarono dell’area della foresta di&nbsp;Hürtgen, dovettero abituarsi alle strategie di combattimento nella foresta. Le loro controparti tedesche, dall’altro lato, erano composte da truppe che erano state già lungo tempo sul fronte orientale ed erano abituate alle tattiche del combattimento nella foresta.&nbsp;Specialmente nell’area di&nbsp;Ochsenkopf&nbsp;e&nbsp;Peterberg&nbsp;i tedeschi avevano un altro vantaggio: potevano resistere al fuoco americano nei bunker che&nbsp;puntinavano&nbsp;le colline. Essi erano parte del Vallo Occidentale o Linea Siegfried, l’ultima linea di difesa del Terzo Reich hitleriano.&nbsp;Spesso si discute del ruolo della Linea Siegfried durante l’autunno nel 1944. Le trincee e le fortificazioni della Prima guerra mondiale erano obsolete. Le tattiche e le armi erano parecchio differenti trent’anni dopo.&nbsp;I bunker della Linea Siegfried nell’Eifel&nbsp;settentrionale erano tuttavia di solito situate in fitte foreste dove ogni albero era un potenziale ostacolo per i carri armati. I tedeschi furono in grado di difendere i bunker entro un piccolo raggio, anche se la linea del fronte era avanzata. Nella foresta ogni singola compagnia tedesca, ogni reggimento poteva nascondersi dietro a grandi muri di cemento. Questo causò una lotta di posizione che durò per molti mesi, a ricordare i combattimenti della Prima guerra mondiale. Solo dopo che il contrattacco tedesco, la Battaglia delle Ardenne, fu respinto, la Prima Armata statunitense fu capace di superare i bunker e passare la valle del&nbsp;Kall.

Between September 1944 and February 1945 American and German soldiers faced each other directly in the pillboxes at the Ochsenkopf. In the almost inaccessible forest the Germans were able to defend their fortified positions for a long time.

When the American soldiers arrived in the Huertgen Forest area, they first had to get used to the ‘tricks’ of fighting in the forest. Their German counterparts, on the other hand, were reinforced by troops that were seasoned on the eastern front and all too familiar with the tactics of forest warfare.

Especially in the area of the Ochsenkopf and Peterberg the Germans had another advantage: They could withstand American fire in the pillboxes that dotted the hills. These pillboxes were part of the ‘Westwall’ (or ‘Siegfried Line’ as the Allies called it), the last line of defence of Hitler’s Third Reich.

It is often discussed what role the Siegfried Line played during that bloody autumn of 1944. The trenches and fortifications of the First World War were mostly obsolete. Tactics as well as weaponry were quite different thirty years later.

The pillboxes of the Siegfried Line in the northern Eifel, however, were generally situated in dense spruce forests where every tree was a potential tank obstacle. The Germans were able to defend the pillboxes within a short radius, even if the actual front line had moved further.
In the bewildering forest every single German company, every regiment could hide behind massive concrete walls. This resulted in a position-fight that went on for several months, calling to mind the warfare of the First World War. Only after the German counterattack, the ‘Battle of the Bulge’, had been repulsed, was the 1st U.S. Army able to move beyond the pillboxes and pass the Kall Valley.

Bunker di Ochsenkopf

Un totale di circa 760.000 cittadini sovietici venne seppellito in Germania in seguito alla Seconda guerra mondiale, soprattutto soldati dell’esercito sovietico e persone sottoposte ai lavori forzati. Il Cimitero sovietico della Seconda guerra mondiale di Simmerath-Rurberg raccoglie i resti di 2.322 cittadini sovietici. 55 di essi riposano in tombe individuali, il resto in tombe comuni. Il nome di solamente un piccolo numero di essi è noto. Quasi tutti erano prigionieri di guerra o sottoposti ai lavori forzati e morirono in seguito alle difficili condizioni di vita nei campi di lavoro o per i bombardamenti alleati.  Dopo la fine della guerra, molti piccoli cimiteri sovietici furono creati in tutta la Germania. Il Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge unì 38 di questi cimiteri delle regioni di Monschau, Erkelenz, Geilenkirchen, Aquisgrana, Jülich, Düren and Schleiden in Germania e Rurberg in Belgio. La maggior parte delle salme furono trasferite da Düren, dove nel corso della guerra 1.522 persone ai lavori forzati morirono nelle fabbriche di armamenti. Il cimitero di Simmerath-Rurberg è stato aperto ufficialmente nel 1961.

The Soviet-Russian Second World War Cemetery Simmerath-Rurberg holds the remains 2.322 Soviet citizens. Fifty-five of them rest in individual graves, the others in mass graves. Only a small number is known by name. Almost all of the buried were prisoners of war or forced labourers.

A total of around 760.000 Soviet citizens were buried in Germany as a result of the Second World War, most of them soldiers of the Soviet Army and forced labourers. The Soviet-Russian Second World War Cemetery Simmerath-Rurberg holds the remains 2.322 of them – men, women and children. Only fifty-five of them rest in individual graves, the others in mass graves. Just a small number is known by name. Here in Simmerath-Rurberg almost all of the buried were also prisoners of war or forced labourers. They died in consequence of hardship in the labour camps or as a result of Allied bomb strikes.

After the war was over many small Soviet cemeteries were established all over Germany. The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge united 38 of these cemeteries in the region of Monschau, Erkelenz, Geilenkirchen, Aachen, Jülich, Düren and Schleiden in Germany and Rurberg in Belgium. Most of the dead were transferred from Düren, where in the course of the war 1.522 forced labourers died in arms factories. The Simmerath-Rurberg Cemetery was officially opened in 1961.

Cimitero sovietico della Seconda guerra mondiale di Simmerath-Rurberg

Dalla metà di settembre 1944 alla fine di febbraio 1945 intensi combattimenti ebbero luogo nella regione tra il crinale delle Hautes Fagnes e il fiume Roer, una fase della Seconda guerra mondiale meglio conosciuta come ‘Battaglia della foresta di Hürtgen’. Diecimila soldati americani e tedeschi morirono in sei mesi di conflitto brutale e sanguinoso. Come richiesto dai parenti, i resti di molti soldati americani furono rimpatriati negli Stati Uniti per essere sepolti in cimiteri nazionali o privati.  I resti dei soldati tedeschi che persero la vita durante questa battaglia trovarono riposo nei cimiteri di guerra tedeschi specialmente a Hürtgen e Vossenack, o in cimiteri della zona. Una larga parte dei soldati tedeschi caduti era stata trasferita da uomini del Servizio americano per la registrazione delle sepolture, una branca militare del Corpo quartiermastro, in Belgio e nei Paesi Bassi in altri cimiteri di guerra tedeschi.    Dal 21 maggio 2005 un monumento all’entrata del cimitero ricorda Julius Erasmus, un ingegnere capitano tedesco che recuperò i resti di 1.569 suoi ex compagni dai campi di battaglia della foresta di Hürtgen anche a rischio della propria vita e li riseppellì personalmente su questa collina.

The Vossenack Cemetery was constructed on a strategic site, Hill 470, by the German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge) during the years 1949 to 1952. Today the cemetery contains the graves of 2.347 war dead. Among those are 35 men who lost their lives during post-war operations as members of a 'Ammunition Search and Removal Team'.

From mid September 1944 till the end of February 1945 fierce battles raged in the region between the ridge line of the Hautes Fagnes and the Rur River, a phase of the Second World War better known as ‘The Battle of Huertgen Forest’. Ten thousands of American and German soldiers died during the six months of the fierce and bloody fighting. Following the request of the next of kin, the remains of most American soldiers were repatriated to U.S. soil for interment in a National or private cemetery.

The remains of the German soldiers who lost their lives during the Huertgen Forest Campaign found their eternal resting places on German War Cemeteries, especially Huertgen and Vossenack, or communal cemeteries in the area. A larger part of fallen German soldiers had been transferred by elements of the American Graves Registration Service, a military branch of the Quartermaster Corps, to Belgium and the Netherlands on German War Cemeteries there.

The Vossenack Cemetery was constructed on a strategic site, Hill 470, by the German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge) during the years 1949 to 1952. Today the cemetery contains the graves of 2.347 war Dead. Among those are 35 men who lost their lives during post-war operations as members of a 'Ammunition Search and Removal Team'.

Since 21 May 2005 a monument at the entrance to the cemetery commemorates Julius Erasmus, a German Engineer Captain who - mostly under risking his life - recovered 1.569 sets of remains of his former comrades from the Huertgen Forest battlefields and personally buried them on this hill.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqYi9i1SXOw[/embed]

Cimitero militare tedesco di Vossenack

La prima parte dell’’Ordensburg’ Vogelsang fu costruita dal 1934 al 1936 su uno sperone di montagna sopra alla diga di Ufttal. Doveva essere un’istituzione di addestramento per giovani membri del partito nazionalsocialista dei lavoratori tedeschi (NSDAP). Il termine Ordensburg (castello dell’ordine) derivava dal bisogno della classe dirigente dello stato e del partito di adottare importanti simboli della storia tedesca e dare loro una nuova interpretazione ideologica. Il complesso di Vogelsang doveva essere inteso come un simbolo del comando dello stato e del partito sulla natura e molto lavoro fu dedicato a creare un effetto in rilievo sulla collina dov’è situato.  Il complesso non è dunque un castello medievale ma una moderna struttura di cemento armato e ricoperta di pietra naturale. Il torrione era usato come torre dell’acqua. Gli apprendisti non appartenevano ad un ordine nel senso di comunità medievale di cavalieri ma erano fanatici del sistema, che arrogantemente e in modo superbo si definivano Junker.  Gli addestramenti a Vogelsang terminarono quando la Wehrmacht attaccò la Polonia il 1° settembre 1939 e gli apprendisti si arruolarono. Dal 1946 al 2005 diventò il centro di addestramenti militari prima britannici e poi belgi.  Oggi, Vogelsang è un luogo internazionale di memoria attiva, dove oltre a presentare fatti storici sull’epoca nazista si affrontano temi, messaggi e riflessioni sulla nostra vita sociale contemporanea. Il fulcro è nella domanda: “cosa c’entra Vogelsang con me?”

The Vogelsang complex was built as a National Socialist training institution before becoming an international military training area. Today, Vogelsang IP is an international place of active remembrance, where in addition to conveying historical facts about the Nazi era, issues regarding our present social life are addressed.

The first phase of the Vogelsang ‘Ordensburg’ was built from 1934 to 1936 on a wooded mountain spur above the Urfttal dam. It was to be a training institution for young party members of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP). The term Ordensburg (order castle) came from the party and state leadership’s need to adopt powerful symbols from German history and to give them a new ideological interpretation. The Vogelsang complex was to be understood as a symbol of the rule of state and party over nature and great trouble was taken to create a relief effect on the hillside where it is located.

The complex is thus by no means a hilltop mediaeval castle but a modern, purpose-built structure made of reinforced concrete and faced with natural stone; the ‘keep’ was used as a water tower. The trainees did not belong to an order in the sense of a medieval community of knights but were fanatical adherents of the system, who boastfully and arrogantly referred to themselves as junkers.

Instruction at Vogelsang ended when the German Wehrmacht attacked Poland on 1 September 1939 and the trainees signed up for war service. From 1946 until 2005 it was the centre of initially a British and later a Belgian military training ground.

Today, Vogelsang IP is an international place of active remembrance, where in addition to conveying historical facts about the Nazi era, issues, messages and reflections regarding our present social life are addressed. The focus lies on the question: “What has Vogelsang got to do with me?”

Parco internazionale di Vogelsang

L’abbazia di Mariawald è situata vicino al villaggio di Heimbach nelle montagne dell’Eifel, a Sud-Est del Rur-Dam Schwammenauel. Il monastero fu fondato dai monaci cistercensi nel 1486. Nel 1909 il monastero fu elevato ad abbazia. Durante il periodo nazista i monaci e i fratelli entrarono in conflitto con le autorità e furono soppressi dalla Gestapo finché l’abbazia fu dichiarata ostile allo stato. Alcuni dei monaci furono arrestati, altri reclutati o sfrattati. Solo alcuni fratelli rimasero come contadini nei campi del monastero.  Già nel 1938 parte dell’abbazia fu sequestrata per ospitare i lavoratori che costruivano il Vallo Occidentale o Linea Siegfried, una linea di fortificazioni lungo il confine tedesco dai Paesi Bassi alla Svizzera. In seguito i locali furono per un certo tempo usati come orfanatrofio.  Durante l’autunno e l’inverno del 1944-45 una lunga battaglia ebbe luogo della regione dell’Eifel. I combattimenti causarono numerose vittime da entrambi gli schieramenti. L’abbazia fu usata come ospedale militare. Per molti dei soldati feriti non vi era speranza. I pochi fratelli rimasti li seppellirono in una collina vicina, dove 414 di loro ancora riposano in quello che oggi è il cimitero militare dell’abbazia di Mariawald.  Durante il combattimento l’abbazia fu pesantemente danneggiata dal fuoco alleato e anche dalle truppe tedesche in ritirata. Nel 1950 i monaci ritornarono a Mariawald e iniziò subito la ricostruzione dell’abbazia, che terminò nel 1959.

In the late 1930s the monks of Mariawald Abbey came into conflict with the Nazi regime and were evicted. During the battle of Huertgenwald the abbey was used as a field hospital. Many of the wounded could not be saved and died. 414 of them are still resting in what is now the War Cemetery of the Mariawald Abbey.

Mariawald Abbey is situated near the village of Heimbach in the Eifel Mountains, to the southeast of the Rur-Dam Schwammenauel. It was founded as a monastery by Cistercian monks in 1486. In 1909 the monastery was elevated to the status of ‘abbey’. During the Nazi period the monks and brothers came into conflict with the authorities and were suppressed by the Secret State Police (Gestapo) until the abbey was finally declared hostile to the state. Some of the monks were arrested, others were conscripted or evicted. Just a few brothers remained as farmhands on the fields of the monastery.

Already in 1938 part of the abbey was commandeered to accommodate the workers who constructed the ‘Westwall’ (Siegfried Line), a line of fortifications along the German border from the Netherlands to Switzerland. Later the buildings were for some time used as an orphanage.

During the autumn and winter of 1944/45 a prolonged battle took place in the Eifel region. The fighting caused numerous casualties on both sides. The abbey was used as a military hospital. For a lot of the wounded soldiers there was no saving. The few remaining brothers buried them on a nearby hill, where 414 of them are still resting in what is now the War Cemetery of the Mariawald Abbey.

During the fighting the abbey was badly damaged by Allied fire and suffered more destruction from the withdrawing German troops. In 1950 the monks returned to Mariawald and immediately started to rebuild the abbey. The work was finished in 1959.

Cimitero di guerra dell’abbazia di Mariawald

Negli anni precedenti alla Seconda guerra mondiale l’Ordenburg Vogelsang aderiva al culto della prodezza e della virilità. La forma fisica, la bellezza e la forza erano equiparate all’idea di ‘razza ariana’. Le caratteristiche opposte erano attribuite alle ‘razze inferiori’. Molti dei rilievi e delle sculture a Vogelsang sono sopravvissute e ancora riflettono il concetto nazionalsocialista del cosiddetto Herrenmensch. Esse erano state disposte in modo tale che i giovani le vedessero ogni giorno. Il rilievo più importante, il tedoforo, era visibile ai cadetti quando si avvicinavano alla collina di Vogelsang. Ancora oggi l’enorme figura domina la Sonnwendplatz (piazza del solstizio) con la sua coppa di fuoco ed è facilmente visibile fino al lago Urft. L’artista, lo scultore Willy Meller, creò di proposito una somiglianza tra il tedoforo e un’altra scultura: l’eroe maestro nella sala d’onore, eretta per commemorare i nazisti caduti, e in particolare i ‘martiri’ uccisi nel tentativo hitleriano di putsch nel 1923.  Per i cadetti il tedoforo serviva da principio guida per la loro percepita distinzione di essere la ‘razza superiore’. L’iscrizione, che attinge alle parole di Gesù nel sermone della montagna sia nel contenuto sia nelle espressioni, si rivolge direttamente ai cadetti: “Voi siete i tedofori della Nazione, voi portate la luce dello spirito nella lotta per Adolf Hitler”. La torcia alzata è un riferimento al mito greco di Prometeo che porta il fuoco all’umanità e si inserisce nel simbolismo della luce, popolare nel nazionalsocialismo, che fu reinterpretato politicamente. La fiamma simboleggiava la rinascita della nazione attraverso la vittoria della Germania nazista. Quando i soldati americani conquistarono l’Ordensburg nel 1945, spararono al tedoforo e ad altre sculture. I fori di proiettile sono ancora visibili.  La razza maestra di Hitler è l’argomento di un’esposizione permanente a Vogelsang: “Destino, razza superiore. Ordensburg nazionalsocialista – tra fascino e crimine”.

Vogelsang International Place is riddled with Nazi-symbols. Quite a few of them focus on the national socialist idea of a master race, the ‘Herrenmensch’. The most conspicuous symbol is the statue of the torchbearer, that it visible even beyond the perimeter of the Ordensburg. It borrows from Christian and Greek symbolism as well as the pagan idea of light.

In the years before the Second World War the Ordensburg Vogelsang adhered to a cult of prowess and virility. Physical health, beauty and strength were equated with the ideal of the ‘Aryan race’. The opposite characteristics were attributed to the ‘inferior races’. Many of the reliefs and sculptures in Vogelsang have survived and still reflect this National Socialist concept of the so called Herrenmensch. They were placed in a way that the young men saw them every day. The most conspicuous relief - called the ‘torchbearer’- loomed large above the cadets whenever they were in the vicinity of the Vogelsang hillside. To this day the huge figure still commands the Sonnwendplatz (solstice place) with its bowl of fire and is easily visible from as far as Lake Urft. The artist, sculptor Willy Meller, purposefully created similarities between the torchbearer and another sculpture: the ‘master hero’ in the hall of honour, erected to commemorate fallen Nazis, particularly the ‘martyrs’ killed in Hitler’s putsch attempt of 1923.

For the cadets the torchbearer served as a guiding principle for their perceived distinction of being the ‘master race’. The inscription, which draws from Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount both in phrasing and in content, directly addresses the cadets: “You are the torchbearers of the Nation, you carry forth the light of spirit in the fight for Adolf Hitler”. The raised torch is a reference to the ancient Greek myth of Prometheus bringing fire to mankind. It fits in with the symbolism of light, popular in National Socialism, and was politically reinterpreted: The flame symbolised the rebirth of the nation through the victory of Nazi-Germany. When the U.S. soldiers captured the Ordensburg in 1945, they fired their guns at the torchbearer and other sculptures. The bullet marks are still clearly visible.

Hitler's master race is the topic of a permanent exhibition in Vogelsang: “Destiny: Master Race. National Socialist Ordensburgen – Between Fascination and Crime”.