The town of Bleckede - 25 kilometers east of Lüneburg - was spared the fighting of the Second World War for a long time. But that changed within a few days in April 1945:With its location directly on the Elbe, the city had a strategically important function for both the German army and the Western Allies. The British and Americans wanted to cross the Elbe to meet the Russians. The Wehrmacht wanted to prevent this at all costs. This led to battles that were among the last on the Elbe in northern Germany.
Grandfather's advice:get lost
In April 1945, Ludolf Stamer was just 15 years old. Actually, he too should have gone to the front. "I was in the Hitler Youth and we were supposed to defend the fatherland and my grandfather said:'Now it's over'." Grandfather's advice:get out. "I put some bread on my bike and hid in a hut until the English came." Ludolf Stamer sees from afar how the fighting in the last days of the Second World War is also coming to his hometown of Bleckede:In April 1945, the German leadership is trying to establish a last front on the Elbe. The bridgehead in Bleckede and thus the ferry station should be maintained under all circumstances.
"We went to Bleckeder Moor in a horse-drawn carriage"
Dorathea Soetbeer also remembers the war well. She talks to students about her experiences.Dorathea Soetbeer, who is now 80, remembers:"We lived in Bleckede and then we heard that something was going to happen here. My father took us to the Bleckeder Moor in a horse-drawn carriage. And then we hid in the bunker there ." Meanwhile, the so-called Volkssturm is being mobilized in Bleckede; Roadblocks, cover holes and observation posts are built. About 500 German soldiers are supposed to hold the city on the Elbe. The neighboring village of Breetze surrenders to the advancing British army on April 20th. Now it's four kilometers to Bleckede. Those who can flee the city - including Resi Röber and her grandparents. "My grandfather noticed that ammunition was being loaded into barns next door. 'If we hit the bull's eye, we'll all die,' he said." That's why he decided to flee the next morning. "We weren't even halfway to Bleckeder Moor when the shooting started," says Resi Röber. "Then my grandmother took sheets and swung them back and forth. We weren't enemies, we just wanted to get through."
Almost 90 dead and 180 prisoners of war
It is April 21st, six o'clock in the morning, when the British army launches its attack. The first houses on the outskirts are taken. But the British are making slow progress. The Germans attack them from the houses. The fighting continues into the night. In the morning it turns out that the remaining German soldiers have withdrawn to the other side of the Elbe; Bleckede is occupied by the British. 57 soldiers died on the German side; around 180 people are captured; 30 soldiers die on the British side and 130 are injured. Ludolf Stamer returns from hiding. "I was impressed that I saw four young German soldiers. They were shot by the English. They had barricaded themselves behind a car, but it was no use to them. I thought maybe you know them, they were at my age."