Witten-Düren Germany

Posted on by Thor

Düren is a quarter in Witten Germany just south of Dortmund. Rather than being a town, it is really just farm land. I parked on the side of a muddy farm road and hiked to a trail. That trail made its way along the edges of farm fields at the edge of the woods. A small stream separated the trail form the fields. I jumped the stream and set up to sketch at the edge of a farmers field. I worked quickly, but as I sketched it started to rain. The drops splattered on the page. A German woman was walking her dog on the trail She waved, but must have thought I was crazy to be sketching in the rain.

In April 1945, the 75th Infantry Division, 3rd Battalion followed the 2nd Battalion and then passed through them to attack and capture Düren Germany. With Düren secured they pressed forward and took Stockum Germany.

In the town of Witten, up to 25,000 people from different countries, including several hundred Poles, were forced to work for Nazi regime during the Second World War. The majority of the workforce in the town was made up of forced laborers, who were used mainly to produce weapons. In 1944, a satellite of the Buchenwald concentration camp was even created to accommodate the concentration camp inmates in the Annen Cast Steelworks.

During the WWII, there were a total of around 24,900 forced laborers from all the occupied territories in the area now covered by the town of Witten. On average, they worked for approximately 15 months in the town, and made up the majority of the workforce there. At the beginning of 1945, for example, the forced laborers constituted about 55 % of the total workforce in Witten. The different areas of work that they performed meant that large-scale forced labor camps were needed. As a result, it is thought that between 230 and 250 forced labor camps of different sizes were established in the town during that period.

“It was a beautiful afternoon the day we left Krakow. Our homeland, abused by the occupation, said goodbye to us with a sunny day. The monotonous clatter of the train wheels painfully reminded us that it was taking us away as slaves.”
– Maria Hosajowa, a former Polish forced laborer.

U.S. 75th Infantry Division liberated thousands of forced laborers and Prisoners of War (POWs) from Nazi camps, in the Ruhr Pocket region. Once liberated the infantry had to feed and house the displaced persons and find a way to get them back to their home countries. It was a task they were ill-prepared to carry out. Once liberated, forced laborers looted to began to find the basics for survival and decent clothing, Displaced persons consulted bulletin boards hoping to find out about transportation home. Hitch hiking wasn’t effective in war time. To survive you needed to carry all your belongings.

Saint Reynold’s, Dortmund Germany

Posted on by Thor

I knew of several photos of the partially destroyed Saint Reynold’s Church in Dortmund Germany after the Allies had captured the city in April of 1945. I found the exact location where one of the 1945 photos was taken but I would have been run over if I sketched from that spot. I decided to sketch from the next street over which was more pedestrian.

As I finished my basic pen and ink line work, it started to rain. I only had a short time in Dortmund, so I had to finish the painting despite the rain. Rain drop splashes can be seen all over the sketch. I started scribbling with colored pencils to try and darken spots which were flooded with water making darker watercolor washes ineffective.

Saint Raymond’s is the oldest church in Dortmund. St. Reinold’s was built from 1250 to 1270, and is located in the center of the city, The church was heavily damaged in World War II.

In December 2016, nine neo-Nazis from various German cities who were associated with the Die Rechte right wing group occupied the church steeple and appeared to set off fireworks from it. The members were subsequently taken into custody by police. Neo-Nazi slogans shouted from the steeple through a megaphone were drowned out by the church bells, ordered to be rung by the vicar of St. Reinold’s.  The illegal occupation of the church’s tower was met with disbelief and anger from the church’s spokespersons and the vast majority of the public.

Dortmund was the most heavily bombed city in Germany by the end of WWII, resulting in over 6000 deaths. Dortmund was the largest industrial city captured at the end of the war by the Allies. With the City surrounded, the Ruhr ceased to exist as an industrial powerhouse. Hitler’ bread basket was empty. American troops captured flak trains, guns, ammunition and supplies.

In 2020 . about 14,000 German residents were ordered to leave their homes when several WWII undetonated bombs were discovered in western Dortmund. German disposal experts were brought in to detonate the bombs. The two devices — an American bomb and a British bomb — were successfully detonated on Sunday afternoon. Shipping containers stacked as walls blocked streets to absorb potential blast waves, and barriers warned that “entry is forbidden,” (verboten) as the operation got underway. Police helicopters scanned the streets from overhead to ensure residents had left as instructed.

The 290th Infantry Division which my father, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken was in, kept to the west of Dortmund proceeding south. By April 10, 1945 they were getting close to Witten Germany. The 2nd Battalion advanced south and southeast through light enemy opposition to capture Ospel and Dorney Germany and then continued to the regimental objective. The 3rd Battalion followed the 2nd Battalion then passed through them to attack and capture Duren. With Duren captured the Battalion moved ahead and took Stockum Germany, reaching the regimental objective an hour before midnight.

Prisoners poured into the 75th Infantry Division cage. The battle raged on from one town to town.