April 19, 1945: Iserlohn Germany

Posted on by Thor

On April 19, 1945, my father, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken and his C-Company of the 75th Infantry Division were relieved by elements of the 313th Infantry Division. The 75th was then trucked to several locations in the Ruhr Valley for reassembly, and then sent to Iserlohn Germany. The town east of Iserlohn was Hemer which was the site of Stalag VIA, a large POW Camp. Rather than fighting a battle after the successful capture of the Industrial Ruhr Pocket, the 75th was now tasked with occupation duty.

On the evening of 13 April 1945, the United States Army began bombing the city of Iserlohn Germany. The bombing continued for three days. The bombardment lasted nearly three days but caused only minor damage.

The events of WWII are indelibly etched in the minds of the residents of Iserlohn who lived through the years of the Nazi inhuman racial ideology. The Nazi drive for conquest and annihilation cost countless lives. The exact number of Iserlohn residents who lost their lives due to Nazi doctrine are unknown. Municipal statistics report 776 fallen soldiers and 137 civilians killed by air raids and artillery fire. These numbers do not account for those who died in captivity, nor the number of Jewish residents who were deported from Iserlohn and murdered in concentration camps.

A synagogue was built in Iserlohn in 1829. It was destroyed on the Night of Broken Glass November 9, 1938. The building had to be demolished. The first Jewish deportation began on October 28, 1938. In 1941 the Jewish community that remained was moved to Kluse 18 and deported from there to to the industrial extermination camps of Auschwitz and Theresienstadt Germany.

Because of its metal industry, Iserlohn produced war-relevant products, including brass components, specialized light metal castings for ammunition, and hardware for Stick hand grenades. With every industrial building converted for armaments production. The town was a prime target for Allied bombing.

Iserlohn was therefore a prime target of Allied Air Strikes. The need to take protective measures for the population became apparent by 1943. Construction of the air-raid shelter tunnel under the Supreme City Church began at the end of 1943. This church is an emblem of the city of Iserlohn and also part of its coat of arms. The Supreme City Church in Iserlohn, which dates back to roughly 1350, survived the destruction of World War II.

With an originally planned length of 500 to 550 meters, the air raid shelter was supposed to be able to accommodate up to 6,600 people. By the end of the war, the tunnel had only reached a length of around 200 meters offering refuge for 2,000 residents.
Iserlohn was home to 5 military barracks and other military installations. The old style half-timbered homes were particularly vulnerable to Allied incendiary bombings. The town had 46,000 residents in 1943.

Prisoners of war from Stalag VI-A in Hemer Germany were used for construction. These same workers were not allowed to enter the tunnel during the Allied air raid attacks. Jews were also prohibited from entering the shelter. The Forced Laborers, many of them Russian and Polish, were literally worked to death. The forced laborers were expected to drill and chisel into the rock for 5 meters a week. Drilling operations had to stop due to the appearance of fissures and cracks in the clay. The loose clay and slate offered  unreliable protection against bombings. With only room for one third of the residents, fights broke out for the right to enter the tunnels, resulting in overcrowding.

At midday on April 16, 1945, in Iserlohn, a Jagdtiger Tank Battalion led by Wehrmacht commander Albert Ernst, assembled for its final roll call before surrender to the U.S. 99th Infantry Division. American Major Boyd McCune lead the negotiations, which were eased by the fact that Ernst spoke English   . The Germans lay all their weapons on the pavement of the Iserlohn city market square as the Americans watched.

The air raid shelter construction ended on April 16, 1945 when American forces occupied the city.

American Sherman Mine Sweeper Tank

Posted on by Thor

At the Overloon Oorlogs Military Museum, a curator came to meet me in the lobby. She walked me to this viscous looking Sherman Tank that sported huge thick chains on a giant spinning drum that was positioned out in front of the vehicle. She told me that my father, 1st Lieutenant Arthur Thorspecken likely walked behind one of these beasts while he was in the Netherlands. The Germans would position many mines as they retreated from the advancing Allied army.

The name of this tank is the Sherman Crab MK1. It is a flail tank with the rotating roll, that hits round bullets with a force of more than 330,000 pounds on the ground  causing the mines to explode in front of the tank. It is a way to created a safe passageway for troops to move forward. The tank would have a crew of 5 men and could reach a top speed of 25 miles per hour. It has a 75mm cannon and 2 machine guns.

Besides all the armament, there were sections of the museum which told the more personal side of having to be in an occupied country. Helene Egger was 10 years old when the Netherlands became occupied by the Germans. She was Jewish. Her parents were divorced. She lived with her 2 older brothers in her grandmothers house in Amsterdam. Her mother  developed a brain tumor and died in 1941.  Helena was devastated.

Less than 6 months later her oldest brother went to a work camp. He was actually sent to Westerbroek Jewish transit camp in Drenthe. Shortly after, her other brother went to the work camp voluntarily. He was bored of living at his grandparents home and missed his brother.

The Westerbork transit camp became a gathering place for Jews before they  were transported to labor camps in Germany. Approximately 107,ooo Jews and 245 Sinai and Roma were deported to Westerbork  and then “to the east”. They were transported in freight cars without food or water. Most were sent to extermination camps like Auchwitz and Sobibor, while other went to concentration camps like Bergen Belsen and Theresienstadt.

Her brothers ultimately were sent to Auchwitz concentration camp where they were murdered. Her father as well was later rounded up by the Nazis and murdered in a concentration camp. Ultimately Helene lost everyone in her immediate family, but her grandparents, Aunt and Uncle kept her safely hidden in the country. Helene lived to be 94 years old.