History of Europe

The last days of the war in the Northeast

by Henning StrüberMore than three million German soldiers end up in Soviet captivity - here a camp near Moscow.

"In the Mecklenburg-Pomeranian area, the Soviet 5th Guards Division was brought up again and pushed our units back to Templin and the chain of lakes between Lychen-Neubrandenburg and Anklam." This is what the Wehrmacht High Command report of April 29, 1945 says. When the first Red Army units reach what is now Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the war has long been decided. Around 100 kilometers to the south, the last major battle for Berlin is raging. The Third Reich goes under, Hitler takes his own life on April 30th. Although Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania was spared major military battles, the war with all its horrors is shown here once again:death, hunger, flight, expulsion, rape, epidemics.

Treks of refugees herald the impending doom

Already at the beginning of 1945 the impending disaster had announced itself. With the first streams of refugees from East Prussia, reports about the advance and the brutality of the Red Army made the rounds. Confidence in the Nazi leadership fell among the population, and fear spread. More and more people fled. Some Nazi greats mobilized the last forces for defense - and secretly made themselves away. Rostock and Wismar were declared fortresses. Allied bombs fell from above, almost a third of the living space was destroyed. Overcrowded ships with refugees arrived in the ports, who quickly set off again for Holstein. "Take us with you, just away from the Russians!" was often heard. The situation became more and more chaotic, the supply could only be maintained with difficulty.

Large destruction in the cities to the east

When captured by the Red Army, many places do not obey orders to defend themselves or to blow up bridges and other buildings. For example, Greifswald was handed over on April 30 without a fight. But where the Soviets met resistance, the towns came under fire. This mainly affects the eastern part of the country. On April 29, the advancing Red Army took the cities of Friedland and Neubrandenburg, which were defended by the Wehrmacht. The city center burns down almost completely. On April 30, 65 percent of Alt-Strelitz is destroyed. Large parts of the city also go up in flames in Malchin. In Neustrelitz the castle, the theater and other buildings burn down. The fact that there was no more destruction is probably thanks to a group of 200 women who demanded an end to the defense preparations in front of the town hall.

Mass suicides and abuse

Especially the women have to endure a lot of suffering. As with the German advance in the Soviet Union, there are countless cases of sexual violence. The city of Demmin becomes a beacon for the psychological horrors of war. On the night of May 1st, Red Army soldiers plunder the small town overflowing with refugees. In the drunk, uninhibited soldiers set houses on fire, the town center burns for days, the place is transformed into a smoking landscape of ruins. On May 1, the situation escalated when a pharmacist poisoned Soviet officers with red wine at a "victory celebration". Revenge is immediate and hits women and girls in particular. "Girls from ten years old to their 80-year-old grandmother were raped", the Demmin city chronicler Heinz-Gerhard Quadt once recalled.

Demmin:Dead float in the rivers

Men who object to the attacks are summarily shot. In the days that followed, around 1,000 people took their own lives - it is not possible to give an exact number, it could also be many more, because many cases were covered up - out of shame or in order not to forfeit insurance premiums. On the banks of the rivers Tollense, Peene and Trebel, women wander with their children and drown themselves. Uncertainty and torment are also driving an estimated 3,000 people to suicide in Neubrandenburg.

Tragedies on land and at sea

Tragedies also occur at sea:in addition to the sinking of the "Wilhelm Gustloff", the sinking of the "Cap Arcona" on May 3 by British warplanes is considered one of the worst catastrophes. Among the 7,000 dead are almost 6,000 prisoners of the Neuengamme concentration camp. Hundreds of bodies washed up on the beaches of the island of Poel near Wismar in the days that followed. In Rostock, a captain who refuses to take Nazi bigwigs on board instead of refugees is shot by the SS. In the final days of the war, when the Red Army was already stationed in Mecklenburg, more than 60,000 refugees, soldiers and wounded were brought west from Rostock and Wismar on warships and merchant ships. The ordeal of more than 20,000 prisoners from the Sachsenhausen camp ends in Raben Steinfeld near Schwerin. They had been sent on a death march to Schwerin. The exhausted survivors are freed by US troops. Around 7,000 die on the death march.

1. July 1945:Handshake between the Russians and the Western Allies near Schwerin

In just five days, the country will be taken by May 3rd. Near Schwerin, units of the Red Army under Marshal Konstantin Rokossowski and soldiers of the Western Allies under Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery shake hands. The 21st Army under General Kurt von Tippelskirch surrenders to US units near Ludwigslust. 150,000 German soldiers are taken prisoner by the Western Allies. They have to give up their valuables as booty. The demarcation line initially runs east of Wismar-Schweriner See-Ludwigslust-Dömitz. Schwerin and West Mecklenburg are first occupied by the Americans and British before the Soviets take control on July 1st. According to the decisions of the Yalta Conference, the demarcation line will be moved further west.

Supply situation collapses

The already difficult supply situation for the locals and refugees collapses completely after the capitulation. At this time there are more than two million people in the country. An estimated 30,000 children wander around the area without their parents. Chaos and plague break out. A typhus epidemic that started in the summer of 1945 killed several thousand people. It takes time to restore public order. But the time after that also brings suffering and injustice to countless people. The land reform leads to the expropriation of more than 2,000 properties. More than 7,000 inmates die in the special camp in Fünfeichen near Neubrandenburg due to exhaustion and illness. Former supporters of the regime, but also entrepreneurs and critical social democrats are deported to Siberia from here.