134th Infantry Regiment Website
"All Hell Can't Stop Us"
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134th Infantry Regiment Website"All Hell Can't Stop Us" |
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Liberating Gelsenkirchen (liberating-gelsenkirchen.de)
This is an on line exhibit commemorating the 75th
Anniversary of the liberation of Gelsenkirchen and its suburb of Bismark from
Nazi control. The exhibit's website is in German and the following is an English
translation:
"Major global political events cast their shadows in
the spring of 1945 on the small Westphalian town of Bismarck, which had been a
district of Gelsenkirchen for over four decades. The 134th U.S. Infantry
Regiment from Nebraska as part of the 35th Infantry Division, which had fought
in several battles on French, Luxembourgian and Belgian soil since the summer of
1944, advanced towards the Ruhr area in March after crossing the Rhine. This was
the start of an operation that led to what we now see as "liberating"
Gelsenkirchen from the National Socialist dictatorship.
For the German population,
the events of the spring of 1945, which ultimately resulted in the unconditional
surrender of the German Wehrmacht on May 8, were mostly a depressing defeat at
the time. Nevertheless, the Second World War ended with the arrival of US troops
in the first days of April 1945 for the city of Gelsenkirchen, which was
certainly a relief for large sections of the civilian population.
The 134th Infantry Regiment
reached Buer on March 30 and was involved in relatively light combat with little
loss and was quartered in Resse, Herten and Westerholt on March 31. After the
entire Ruhr area had been encircled on April 7, the crossing of the Rhine-Herne
Canal was prepared the following day, which, under attack, began in the early
morning hours of April 9, 1945. At 9:25 a.m. it was reported that
Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck is liberated. The troops apparently had no resistance to
resist, later in the day some members of the 2nd Paratroopers Division (a German
elite unit) were captured, who reported that their company had already moved to
Bochum.
The "liberators" were greeted in the afternoon with
sirens, church bells and whistles. The following day, on April 10, 1945 at 9:45
a.m., Gelsenkirchen's liberation was reported after further operations. In the
course of April 10th, the 216th Artillery Battalion moved to Bismarck to support
the further operations of the 35th Infantry Division in the direction of Bochum
and Ruhr. For Gelsenkirchen, the war was over; for the first time since May 20,
1940 (the day of the 1st bombing on Gelsenkirchen) there was no longer any fear
of bombing.
The liberation of Bismarck is celebrated for the 75th
time on Maundy Thursday of this year. On this occasion we wanted to commemorate
the anniversary in an evening service in the Christ Church. The sponsoring
association of the Christuskirche also wanted to present a small exhibition of
uniforms, paramedics and other historical objects from this period. A service
and a visit to the exhibition are not possible on the occasion, but we can show
the exhibits of the exhibition here.
Witnesses wanted:
Did you or someone in your family or acquaintance
witness the last days of the war in Bismarck?
Do you have memories of that time, maybe even
pictures or objects? Then get in touch : Philipp Siebert, 0209/9389 82 31."