The end of an era: Harpstedt and the shocking everyday life of 1945

The end of an era: Harpstedt and the shocking everyday life of 1945

Harpstedt, Deutschland - On April 10th, the end of the Second World War for the German community Harpstedt for the 80th anniversary. On this day, Canadian and British troops moved into Harpstedt without any significant resistance. According to reports from Kreiszeitung were present around 1,000 soldiers, while the population experienced the troops as occupiers. Dirk Heile, a former municipal director and contemporary witness, reported that there was no resistance to the invading troops. As a result of the line -up, about 30 houses were confiscated, which forced many residents to immediately clear their apartments.

Another contemporary witness, former mayor Hermann Bokelmann, who was 16 at the time, remembered the events and heard the explosions of the bombs that fell in the region during the last fights. He experienced the upcoming end of the war and the subsequent changes in Harpstedt first hand, such as nwzonline reported. It should be noted that the NSDAP officials were interned in the municipality, while the local group leader Wilhelm Fleit flew. Many officials who were actively in the NSDAP were removed from their offices under the pressure of the new regime without references.

The last fights and their consequences

After the war, the consequences of the fighting in the region were noticeable, for example through the mini victims in the velvet community of Harpstedt. In addition, the mass escape from the East German areas led to a demographic change in Harpstedt. An example of the refugee flows is the documented escape from the Hämmerling family from West Prussia, which took 64 days. The stress and challenges of the war left deep scars in the history of the community.