Precious picture exposure: On May 8, 75 years ago, the witness recalled the German public in World War II.

May 8 is the day when the European battlefield of World War II ended. In recent years, the German public has been devoted to exploring the history of World War II and publishing relevant information every year. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, and the German public has released a number of precious photos.

Text/Bo Wei

1On May 7th, 945, General Jodl, then Minister of Operations of the German Defence Forces High Command, signed an unconditional surrender in Hans, France.

The surrender book reads: "All Germans stopped their military operations at11:00 CET on May 8th, 0945". As a result, the European War of World War II officially ended, and May 8 became the anniversary of the victory of World War II in Europe.

On this special day, some workers and laborers who used to work in the Volkswagen factory in Germany during World War II recalled the whole process of the American occupation of the Volkswagen factory in various ways.

It is worth mentioning that all the historical materials and pictures are provided by Volkswagen, Germany-many of them are published for the first time. In the attitude towards history, German Volkswagen is always worth learning from all Japanese car companies!

Wolfsburg was formed after World War II.

1Before May 25th, 945, the Germans did not have the concept of "Wolfsburg". Because the name "Wolfsburg" can be found in black and white, it can be traced back to 1302 European medieval ancient documents.

In fact, Wolfsburg is now in the south of the Sino-German Canal. At that time, Volkswagen flourished and was called "Stadt des KdF-Wagens", that is, "Volkswagen City" or "KdF" for short.

During World War II, Volkswagen not only provided Nazi Germans with small military vehicles for commuting and investigation, but also owned aviation production departments and infantry equipment production departments.

The aviation production department mainly produces the main wing for Junker Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber. Because the plane needs to be pulled up quickly after diving and dropping bombs, the wing strength and machining difficulty of Stuka bomber are quite difficult. At that time, only companies such as Volkswagen could complete it.

As for the infantry equipment production department, it mainly produces ammunition equipment such as anti-tank mines that infantry can carry.

The war diary of a French laborer

Jean Baudet( 1922- now) from Nice, France, became a forced laborer in the Volkswagen factory from July 1943 to April 1945, and experienced liberation in Neindorf. After the war, he donated a diary of himself to the public museum. This diary records the whole process of Volkswagen's occupation by the US military:

Sunday, April 8: The battle line is getting closer and closer. One rumor after another. Jihorn started to smoke, presumably because the oil pump was destroyed. Fighters chased each other in the air. There are a large number of soldiers riding trucks, cars and even bicycles on the road. My backpack is ready, but there are only clothes inside. I need canned meat, milk, fat, sugar and some biscuits. No matter what happens, I will be ready to go home before, during and after the battle.

On April 10, the weather was clear: gunfire continued. All Germans are drunk. Many uninjured but unarmed (German) soldiers marched by. It's chaos. I don't know when it will end. ...

April 10, at night: there were gunshots nearby, which was impressive. Bombs fell on Brunswick all night. There are always troops rushing by.

April 1 1, 9: 00 am: American bombers were seen flying over the treetops. People say that KdF has been occupied. They have advanced to Barnstoff, which is said to be behind the forest. When we were packing and singing, we heard the sound of machine guns. They must be here now, because the explosion of grenades is getting closer and closer.

April 1 1, afternoon: quiet and sunny. Peace has been restored except for several serious explosions when the highway bridge was blown up. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, a farmer gave us some bacon soup and a piece of bread, but we still don't know what the war situation is like nearby. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, we heard a loud alarm, and we had to evacuate immediately. I decided to hide in the bushes with George Chauvineau, but we were afraid that either side of the war would mistake the enemy for hiding in the bushes and shooting from behind. At 3: 30 in the afternoon, the alarm was lifted and everyone was very happy. We stayed where we were and took out cigarettes and football. The night is quiet.

April 12, cloudy day: all is silent. Is the war over? Where are they (American troops)? What are they doing? Around noon 12, the alarm rang for another five minutes, and fighting began in all directions. We are surrounded by two warring parties and don't know where to go. Cannons, bombs, anti-tank grenades and machine guns have all been fired! Here they come! At 2 pm, the farmers came back and brought us bags of potatoes. I see everything now! At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, I finally saw them (American troops)!

American troops occupied the public in chaos.

According to statistics, during World War II, about 20,000 people were forced to work in Volkswagen, and about 5,000 of them came from concentration camps. During the period of 1944, two-thirds of the workers in the factory worked against their will in an environment of racial discrimination. They include Jews, prisoners of war, conscripted laborers, and people expelled and expelled by European countries under German occupation.

On the day occupied by the US military, about 965,438+000 workers were stranded in the factory, of which more than 7,700 were forced laborers from other countries. More than 3,000 of them came from the Soviet Union, mainly Ukrainian prisoners of war. They were Soviet Red Army soldiers captured in the battle of Kiev in the summer of 194 1. At that time, 650,000 Soviet Red Army soldiers were captured in the defense of Kiev.

In addition, among these laborers, there are French laborers who have been forcibly recruited and even Dutch students, as well as Jews who know technology selected from Jewish concentration camps.

On April 1 1, the US troops advanced from Lesleben, Germany, along the Sino-German Canal to the front bridge of Hesslingen, and encountered no resistance when passing through the urban area. Then, American troops continued to attack Salz Vedel and Elbe River, but interestingly, the maps used by American troops didn't even indicate cities and factories, so that for a long time after American tanks rushed into KdF, they didn't know where they occupied.

Fritz Kuntze, then the power plant manager of Volkswagen, recalled: "I clearly remember that day was1April 945 10. At that time, 50 vehicles (VW82 barreled trucks with Beetle chassis) were assembled and waiting for (Nazi Germans) to come and receive them. But we didn't wait for anyone from the military, but we saw a tank passing by the factory-it was an American tank, but they didn't mean to come in ... "

In fact, the Volkswagen factory at this time was basically reduced to ruins in the allied bombing of 1944. These 50 wagons from Kubber represented the maximum production capacity of the automobile production department of Volkswagen Factory at that time, and were also the last batch of Kubber wagons produced by Volkswagen Factory for the German army during World War II.

So far, the number of vehicles produced by Volkswagen in wartime has been fixed at 66,285. These vehicles are basically Cooper Wagan and Schwimm Wagan (VW 166 amphibious vehicles) modified from Beetle chassis.

Fritz Kuntz refused to obey the orders of local Nazi leaders to blow up power plants and bridges. He called two other engineers who spoke good English and later became a Catholic priest Antonius Holling, and drove to the US military camp in Fallersleben. They persuaded American soldiers that "they should show the necessary military presence" ...

This situation that "the Germans command the American troops to occupy German territory" is not uncommon in the German battlefield at the end of World War II. In the Battle of Kuyt Castle, some German Wehrmacht even joined forces with American troops against SS.

Before the US military came, the SS and Volkswagen's own security forces had retreated, and the militia or reserve "People's Emergency Force" was dissolved on the spot, resulting in a temporary power vacuum in the area where Volkswagen was located. Under the dual effects of hunger and long-term unfair treatment, the laborers and prisoners of war who ended their suffering finally released their pent-up anger and fear, which led to some looting, destruction and violence.

Henk't Hoen( 1922-2006) was a Dutch student worker. He worked in Volkswagen Factory from May 65438 to April 945. He recalled:

"When the first American troops arrived in Rossler via neighboring France, the situation of KdF was in chaos. Our students and some French prisoners of war set up a temporary picket to stabilize the local security. The picket team obtained some weapons and vehicles in the factory and used the fire station of the factory as its headquarters. "

"When the U.S. army directly advanced from Farsleben to the Elbe River, it completely ignored KdF at first because it was completely unmarked on the map. We must establish contact with Americans in various ways. After some persuasion, we finally let several American tanks into the city. When the curfew was imposed, we even drove a Kubelwagen and patrolled in front of the US tanks.

"Soon after, the US military set up the city headquarters office, and we were ordered to hand over all weapons, and the labor picket was subsequently dissolved. Some student laborers who first established contact with the US military soon disappeared. They couldn't wait to return to the Netherlands, and the official demobilized vehicles arrived later. "

The public after the American occupation.

In April 1945, 1 1, the US military completely occupied KdF. On April 15, Americans really took over KdF.

The US military established Germany's first local government "KDF- Wagens" in Wolfsburg, which was composed of the city chief executive and the city council. At the first meeting of the local government on May 25th, it was decided to rename the city "Wolfsburg"-this name appeared in 1302 European medieval ancient documents.

In the Volkswagen factory, the US military logistics department first set up a repair shop for its military vehicles. In the factory and surrounding areas, the US military found a large inventory of spare parts, and immediately assembled an "American-made" Watson car under the guidance of the rescued workers.

By May 1945, some automobile production lines of Volkswagen Factory resumed production, and the first batch of Watsons off the assembly line were provided to the then allied occupation authorities. These cars are called "Volkswagen Jeep", that is, "Volkswagen Jeep" to distinguish them from the "American Jeep" Willis MB in the Allied Forces at that time.

By May of 1945, the report of the 9th Army Command of the US Army said that the Volkswagen factory had resumed the assembly work of the "Volkswagen Jeep", when there were only 200 workers on the production line. At first, Americans appointed Rudolf Brauman as the manager. Under extremely dangerous conditions, this production line assembled a total of 133 kubowagan to meet the maneuvering needs of the US military. This indicates that Volkswagen began to resume production and gradually changed from a wartime "military factory" to a real automobile factory.

In April 1945, the allied forces completed the occupation and rescue of laborers in two stages. In the next two months, Americans worked efficiently, laying the foundation for rebuilding KdF.

1 In June, 945, the US military handed over the Volkswagen factory to the British occupation forces, and the British restarted the production of Volkswagen1Beetle cars after Christmas in 1945 under the extremely difficult situation of spare parts supply.

Americans use the suburb near Gifford in Wolfsburg as a gathering place for repatriating laborers and prisoners of war. 1945 In April and May, the first train consisting of gondolas left Wolfsburg Station and began to be officially repatriated. However, those repatriated Soviet prisoners of war had a hard time. They were labeled as deserters or collaborators and suffered discrimination and persecution.

Sarah frenkel-Bath (1922- now), a Jewish woman from Poland who lived in Antwerp, disguised herself as a Catholic nurse during the war. She worked in the labor camp hospital of Volkswagen Factory from March 1943 to April 1945. After being repatriated, she said a famous saying, which represented the voice of all war victims.

"You have no hometown. You've been looking for what you lost, but you can't get it back. It's all over ... "

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.