Not to be forgotten

The Covid-19 lockdown is dominating our lives these days, as well as the news. Also, all public events have been cancelled for the foreseeable future. Corona is also overshadowing the remembrance of the end of World War II this spring. 75 years ago to this day, on April 20th, 1945, the US Army liberated Nuremberg from the terrors of the Nazi regime. A day not to be forgotten.

The tanks of the US Army reached the outskirts of Nuremberg on Thursday, April 16th. They wanted to take the city, already totally destroyed from the allied bomb raids, without a fight, but Hitler’s remaining officials forced the war-weary inhabitants to fight back. They threatened everyone raising a white flag with immediate execution.

Over the course of the next days, the US forces conquered the city bit by bit, while the situation for the inhabitants was hopeless. On April 20th, the tanks and soldiers of the 7th US Army finally entered the remnants of the Old Town, which ended the fighting.

From 1941 to 1945, Nuremberg suffered a total of over 6,000 air war fatalities. The Old Town was almost completely destroyed and the city as a whole was severely damaged. Result of the senseless war that the Nazis had started 6 years earlier, that costed millions of lives and put a whole continent in ruins. Testimony to what crazy and insane leaders can drive a people into. Let’s make all sure that history doesn’t repeat itself. This is why the events around the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII are not to be forgotten, despite Covid-19.

The photographs were taken by US Army photographer Ray D’Addario, who documented the destructions, while stationed in Nuremberg. He was most famous for his photographic coverage of the Nuremberg war tribunals.

Have a great Monday, and stay safe!

Marcus

Related Posts:

Nuremberg Explored (8) – Martin Behaim

Nuremberg Explored (4) – Historic Steam Train “Adler”

Summer over the Imperial Castle

Winter on the Streets of Nuremberg

39 thoughts on “Not to be forgotten”

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  2. Thank you for this haunting reminder of the results of war. We must not forget.

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  4. Thanks, Marcus, not to be forgotten, indeed. I was born just up the road from Nuremberg, in Schwabach, 1950. Mother grew up there & experienced the bombings, while father was in U.S. Air Force doing what he could to make it end. A lot of post-war memories for me. I recognize a few landmarks still standing in the ruins, the castle, a church, but yeah, so sad.

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    1. Thanks for sharing your personal story on this, so much appreciated. I still have memories of me standing at the sidewalk waving at the US Army soldiers driving their tanks to the practice range every day. Occasionally that got me a pack of gums thrown down to me. One of these days I need to do a post from Schwabach 🙂 ! Happy Memorial Day weekend! Marcus

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  6. Very well written. It is not until photographs like these are seen by people who have not experienced this level of destruction is the full sadness of what mankind can inflict on its self can be seen.

    It makes me very sad to think it happened at all.

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  8. HI there. Please come check out my blog which contains excerpts from my book of memoirs, The Driveway Rules which details growing up with undiagnosed autism. Hope to see you there!

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  10. Thank you Marcus. Your words are so true. But as Marlene Dietrich sang many years ago: wann wird man je verstehen?

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  13. Very good informative post. From what I know about the War, I’m surprised that the City of Nuremberg was not totally blown away from all the Allied bombing runs. Many other cities received almost complete destruction. Cologne was another one since it was a major city for the building of German war equipment. My Mother was stationed in the Allied HQ in London during the “buzz bombs” that were launched against the city. Her stories that she told me were not all good! Thanks for the Images.

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    1. Thanks for your visit and sharing your thoughts, Les, so much appreciated! Indeed the Old Town of Nuremberg was more than 90% destroyed, but rebuilt after the war. We are the last generation that got to here those stories from people who actually experienced the terrors of the war. We must not forget! Marcus

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  14. Dear Marcus,
    thank you for the recollection and comemmoration.
    With those photographs, Ray D’Addario kept all this in our collective mind.
    Yours,
    Bernd

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    1. Thanks for sharing that link, interesting to hear this original statement of someone who experienced the reconstruction. The buildings he is talking about (Grand Hotel and Court House) are famous landmarks and can be visited to this day. Happy weekend, Brenda, and stay safe! Marcus

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  16. As usual, citizens are the pawns in the game of chess played by nations. Not sure when world leaders will come to their senses. Stay well Marcus. Allan

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  19. Thank you for posting this remembrance for all of us! In times like these it is easy to forget how much suffering the world has experienced in the past. Let’s all do our part to remember the past and also work together for the future! Take care!

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  20. Wonderfully put and you are so right to continue to remember the innocent. It would be interesting to see what those devastated areas look like now. In Liverpool near where i live we still have remains of bombed houses etc. Stay safe my friend. A very interesting post.

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    1. Thanks for reading and your kind words, Ian, much appreciated! Nuremberg has been rebuilt, and while lots of the historic substance in the Old Town was lost forever in the fire storms, there are still some beautiful corners where you can see the beauty of the historic city. Just search for “Nuremberg” or “Nuremberg Explored” on my blog, I have plenty of photographs of the Old Town. Have a great weekend and stay safe! Marcus

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