Suche
Mein Konto
Mammendorf: Courageous uprising saves village from SS horror scenario!
Find out how Mammendorf was saved under the threat of war in 1945 and the dark side of liberation by US soldiers.
Mammendorf: Courageous uprising saves village from SS horror scenario!
On April 30, 1945, American soldiers entered Munich, a crucial moment in the final stretch of World War II. The situation was particularly tense in the town of Mammendorf, known as a Nazi stronghold. The local priest Martin Bauer describes the chaotic conditions in which defensive guns and rocket-propelled grenades were at the ready, and recalls the air raids on April 29th that frightened the population. The SS also threatened to shoot anyone who raised the white flag, a symbol of surrender and peace.
The villagers overcame this fear in an act of courage: an unknown man hoisted four white flags on the tower of St. Nicholas. This courageous act led directly to the surrender of the SS troops and saved the village from further acts of violence. The invasion of American troops in the surrounding towns of Adelshofen and Luttenwang was peaceful, while in Jesenwang an egg grenade fatally injured a resident.
The shadows of liberation
However, the period after the liberation was not only characterized by relief. Aside from the positive experiences of some villagers who received cigarettes from US soldiers, others reported more brutal incidents. In Gernlinden, for example, three women were victims of rape by American soldiers on May 3rd. There was also looting in Maisach and Grunertshofen. There, Italian and Polish looters began to invade the villages and there were reports of a murder of a farmer in Luttenwang.
The ZDF documentary “America’s Dark Secrets” addresses the lesser-known attacks by American soldiers in World War II. In the program, which will be broadcast on May 5th, filmmakers Annette Harlfinger and Michael Renz shed light on the fact that not all soldiers became perpetrators, but many were influenced by the horrors of war. It is estimated that over 190,000 German women were raped by US soldiers in 1944/45, while the subject was taboo for a long time. Historians estimate that several thousand sexual crimes took place in Bavaria alone.
A differentiated view of war
The documentary also looks at the war crimes committed by the Wehrmacht and the SS, and shows the differences between the crimes of Soviet and American soldiers. This differentiation is important because in the past the crimes of the Red Army were often in the foreground. Historians like Sönke Neitzel help to better understand the gray shades of this complex history and call for the events to be clarified.
The US military justice system has only investigated a few cases of war crimes against German civilians and soldiers. Many of the crimes were kept secret, which makes it difficult to come to terms with what happened to this day. Historian Miriam Gebhardt criticizes the lack of reliable data and the fact that German historians often avoid the topic for fear of relativizing National Socialist crimes.
The events in May 1945, the experiences and subsequent damage continue to shape the discourse surrounding the liberation of Germany to this day. Looking at the dark side of liberation is necessary to paint a comprehensive picture of history.