April 4, 1945:Allied troops invade Germany from the west. Five weeks before the German Wehrmacht surrenders to the Allies, the city of Osnabrück is taken by British and Canadian troops. In the early morning the Allies reach the completely destroyed city. A week earlier, the people of Osnabrück had experienced the worst bombing raid of the war.
Osnabrück residents refuse to obey
One evening before the British marched in, a rumor circulated in the city that Osnabrück was to be defended like a fortress. At that time there was a Volkssturm in the city:"All men capable of bearing arms between the ages of 16 and 60 should defend the homeland of the German Reich," the SS said as propaganda. Tank barriers are erected around the city. The Volkssturm has orders to post there. But the people of Osnabrück refuse to obey - no one fights. The Allies occupy an "empty" city.
Brits distribute chocolate
Wilhelm Kückelhahn, born in 1929, remembers:"When the shelling stopped, we went outside and it was a sunny morning. And then it was said:The English are here. The police threw away their rifles, their pistols and then hit them the soldiers, because they didn't want to be captured." The Allied soldiers were friendly to the civilian population. "Every now and then they threw a piece of chocolate over," says Wilhelm Kückelhahn.
Tanks continue towards Berlin
Not only the German soldiers, but also the municipal NSDAP leadership had fled head over heels. "On the way they are said to have shot a farmer's wife because she had hung a white cloth out of the window," remembers Gerhard Strüwer. Brigitte Löbecke's mother had set out on her bike to get groceries. Suddenly tanks come towards her. "But they didn't do anything to her," she says. There are tank columns that roll through the city and then move on towards Berlin.
The liquor factory blows up
For most of the population, the arrival of the troops is a liberation. They use the moment to stock up on groceries. Heinz Ahlert, born in 1931, remembers:"Then it was said that the food stores were being plundered. We then set off for the Winkelhausen barracks up at the port. We went in there and got a sack of flour and a box of sauerkraut and canned goods." Others were after the liquor factory. Alcohol is said to have spilled on the floor there." And someone threw in a cigarette butt or a match. The alcohol then exploded. There were about 30 dead," says Gerhard Strüwer.