April 14, 1945: Old City, Herdecke Germany

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At the little town of Herdecke Germany, the burgomeister formally declared: “I surrender the town of Herdecke to the Allied Military forces at 1000 April 14, 1945. It is understood that from this time forward, control of Herdecke will be by the Allied forces.”

The surrender was to L-Company of the 289th Infantry Division.

Within several days, First Army units to the south of Herdecke had closed in to the other side of the Ruhr River. The battle was over.

Albert Vögler, a prominent industrialist and Nazi supporter, committed suicide while being led away by American soldiers from his luxurious Hause Ende Ville in north Herdecke. He bit down on a hidden cyanide pill, dying instantly. Despite his death, he was still identified as one of the defendants in the Nuremberg trials of prominent industrialists, which prosecuted the group of businessmen who helped Hitler. The industrialists were tried at Nuremberg, for using slave labor, plundering occupied territories, and aiding the Nazi war machine. Most received prison sentences ranging from 2 to 12 years, though many were released early in the 1950s.

The Nazis initiated a conscious policy of “annihilation through work,” under which certain categories of prisoners were literally worked to death. Camp prisoners were forced to work under conditions that would directly and deliberately lead to illness, injury, and death.

Vögler an important executive in the munitions industry during World War II was an industrialist who financed the Nazis, Vögler was a member of the Circle of Friends of the Economy, which was a of German industrialists whose aim was to strengthen the ties between the Nazi Party and business and industry. As a business man, Vögler feared the rise of communism in Germany. Records of donations from Vögler to the Nazi Party from as early as 1931 exist. Vögler met Adolf Hitler on September 11, 1931. Beginning in 1932, Vögler openly funded the Nazi Party.

Vögler invited Hitler several times to his Haus Ended estate. Hitler did not feel safe at the estate at the beginning of the war, so Vögler spared no expense and effort to develop a huge bunker system and to install extensive security measures for the protection of his villa.

After 1940, Vögler was heavily involved with the manufacture of munitions. The armaments industry used much forced labor as well as slave labor so the costs of manufacturing were minimal. Albert had his fingers in many industrial pies, he was involved with United Steel Works in Düsseldorf as Chairman of the Board,. He was also associated with the German-Luxembourg Mining and Smelting Company and Rhein-Westphalian Coal Syndicate in Essen Germany. In the end his guilt over the blood money he had made resulted in his suicide by cyanide.

April 14, 1945: Herdecke Germany, Ruhr River Viaduct

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The Ruhr River-Viaduct was opened in 1879 as part of the Düsseldorf-Derendorf–Dortmund South Railway, In May 1943, it was damaged by a flood wave following Operation Chastise (Dambusters Raid ). 19 British Lancaster bombers from Royal Air Force 617 Squadron aimed to destroy the Möhne, Eder, and Sorpe dams using “Upkeep” bombs, designed to skip across water and sink against the dam wall. The Möhne and Eder dams were breached, releasing massive floods. The Sorpe dam sustained little damage.

The devastating floodwaters traveled down the Ruhr river, impacting several towns and villages downstream in the Ruhr Valley, including the area surrounding Herdecke Germany, which is situated on the Ruhr between the Sorpe dam and the Rhine. The flood wave swept away a pillar of the viaduct, narrowly missing an approaching train. The destruction caused massive, though temporary, damage to water, power, and industrial infrastructure in the region. Over 1,600 people died in the flooding, a significant portion being allied prisoners of war and forced laborers.

Forced labor was used to reconstruct the arch destroyed in the floodwaters of the Dambusters Raid, but then in 1945, the Wehrmacht demolished two of the Viaduct’s arches to hinder Allied advances.

The three battalions of the 75th Infantry Division continued to press south towards the Ruhr River. Every yard was bitterly contested by the German enemy whose freedom of movement was limited and compressed on all sides. German troops were hopelessly trapped and were being fired upon by artillery from all sides. The American foot troops continued to press forward three abreast. The Germans were attempting to prevent the Americans from capturing a main road that could offer an escape route across the Ruhr River.

The 2nd Battalion found resistance weakening, and they took advantage of this to drive south through to the Ruhr River. E- Company of the 2nd Battalion wrestled their objective from the enemy. My father 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was in the 1st Battalion which found it’s sector crumbling and they reached the Ruhr without major difficulty.

The 3rd Battalion encountered stiff resistance from Germans who had entrenched themselves on the opposite slope of a hill slightly north of the river with the intention of defending that high ground at all cost. As elements of the 3rd Battalion advanced toward the hilltop, F-Company of the 289th Infantry Division, pushed through on the enemy right flank, catching the enemy in a deadly cross fire.

The German positions collapsed and the advance continued to Herdecke with the enemy fighting a delaying action as they retreated. An airstrike was made on the town of Herdecke, and the city was offered an opportunity to surrender by L-Company. The offer was accepted and K and L Companies crossed the Ruhr River on the south side of the town.

The 290th Infantry Division was relieved on April 14, 1945 by elements of the 313th and 314th Infantry in what would prove to be the final battle action in the European Campaign.

April 12, 1945: Old City Hall, Dortmund Germany

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In Dortmund Germany, I searched for an old building that might have stood back in 1945. The Altes Stadhaus was hosting a wedding when I stopped to sketch. People were gathered outside at the entrance to the building despite the intermittent rain. A woman released a metallic helium balloon and people cheered as the balloon floated up to the grey sky. I hunched over my drawing trying to block the rain before the page became a liquid mess. Saint Reynolds Church could be seen down the street.

The Altes Stadhaus is an office block which was built in 1899, designed by “master builder” Friedrich Kullrich, an architect from Berlin. It was built in the Renaissance Revival style. The building was partially  damaged in World War II, due to heavy Allied bombing which leveled the city center. A record-breaking air raid on March 12, 1945, dropped over 4,800 tons of bombs, the largest in a single city during the war. 98% of the city center was leveled. The Stadhaus was rebuilt in the same Renaissance Revival style to remind people of the cities past. Though opulent in design it was simplified compared to the 13th century original building. Reconstruction seldom restored the full grandeur of the past.

On April 12, 1945, the 95th Infantry Division attacked attacked Dortmund from the southeast and liberating the central and southern part of the city. Edward D. Snell, in F-Company, 2nd Battalion, 378th Regiment, said he couldn’t believe how much of the city was destroyed by years of bombing. There was nothing left of the center municipality of Dortmund, it was completely gutted.

After the fighting subsided, there were many displaced persons (DPs) running around looting stores and shops. Displaced persons were usually forced laborers who had been starved on minimal rations of a thin watery “soup”. This “soup” was low in nutrients (e.g., swede soup, or “Yoshnik” made of a few potatoes, barley, and beans), and it was intentionally inadequate for sustaining the heavy labor demanded of the prisoners. After liberation, they foraged for food to survive.

It was about this time that Ed and his squad were informed that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had died. This news had a solemn effect on the whole Division. His squad captured a Nazi headquarters near the center of Dortmund. He relieved one of the German officers of his P-08 Lugar, and his dress sword. Within the headquarters, they found racks and racks of beautiful rifles and shotguns that the German military police had confiscated from the public. Ed and his squad were ordered to destroy them. He said he felt awful having to break up those weapons in the middle of the street. They were some of the finest rifles and shotguns he had ever seen.

The 290th Infantry Division  passed to the west of the city of Dortmund in a push to get to the Ruhr River. With Dortmund surrounded the Ruhr pocket was crushed. The 290th Infantry Division, 75th Infantry, 2nd Battalion captured Herdeke Germany on April 14, 1945. Herdeke is directly south of Dortmund on the Ruhr River. The enemy had fought  a delaying action as they retreated. An air strike was made on the town. The burgermeister surrendered to L- Company. He wrote, “I surrender the town of Herdeke to the Allied military forces at 1000 April 14, 1945. It is understood that from this time forward, control of Herdeke will be by allied forces.” K and L-Companies crossed the Ruhr River to secure it’s southern bank. This would prove to be the last battle for the 75th Infantry Division of the European campaign.