Ruhr Pocket

At a prisoner-of-war enclosure near Remagen, Germany, one of the Rheinwiesenlager, a U.S. soldier takes part in keeping guard over thousands of German soldiers captured in the Ruhr area.

General notes: Use War and Conflict Number 1093 when ordering a reproduction or requesting information about this image.

Churchill tanks of 6th Guards Tank Brigade carrying paratroopers from the American 17th Airborne Division pass through Dorsten in Germany, while an Achilles tank destroyer waits, 29 March 1945. Churchill tanks of 6th Guards Tank Brigade carrying paratroopers from the American 17th Airborne Division pass through Dorsten, 29 March 1945. On the right is an Achilles 17-pdr tank destroyer.

Churchill tanks of 6th Guards Tank Brigade carrying paratroopers of the 17th US Airborne Division, Germany, 29 March 1945. Churchill tanks of 6th Guards Tank Brigade carrying paratroopers of the 17th US Airborne Division, Germany, 29 March 1945.

Crossing of the Rhine

Encirclement of the Ruhr

Gedenktafel "Zur Mahnung" am Polizeipräsidium Düsseldorf: In diesem Hause der Polizei waren 1933–1945 "zur Verfügung der GESTAPO" (Geheime Staatspolizei im SS-Staat) für Stunden oder Wochen insgesamt 7101 Männer und 851 Frauen eingesperrt. Viele wurden von hier aus in "Konzentrationslager" gebracht, andere töteten sich selbst, weil sie die Folterungen nicht ertragen konnten. Todesnot litten sie alle. Auch der Kommandeur der Schutzpolizei, Oberstleutnant Franz Jürgens und die Bürger Knab, Kleppe, Weill und Andreesen waren hier am 16. April 1945 inhaftiert, weil sie versucht hatten, die Stadt Düsseldorf kampflos an die Alliierten Befreier zu übergeben, um Tod und Zerstörung Einhalt zu gebieten. Nach einem standgerichtlichen Mordurteil in der Nacht zum 17. April 1945 wurde Jürgens mit seinen Getreuen im Hof der Berufsschule an der Färberstraße erschossen und verscharrt. Ein Düsseldorfer Schwurgericht erklärte 1949 jenes Mordurteil für rechtens. Dem hat sich 1952 der Bundesgerichtshof angeschlossen. "Der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland" (Paul Celan)

Julius Nierstenhöfer (Jg. 1886), Hohenlimburg, Oegerstr. 79, war Sozialdemokrat und kandidierte bei der Stadtverordnetenwahl im März 1933 auf der Liste der Hohenlimburger SPD. Wegen Tätigkeit in einer kommunistischen Widerstandsgruppe wurde er 1936 zu vier Jahren Zuchthaus verurteilt. Denunziert und verhaftet am 9.2.1945. Ermordet im April 1945 im Rombergpark/Dortmund. Verlegter Stolperstein Oeger Straße 79 nicht mehr vorhanden.

Am 30. Mai 2015 enthüllte Plastik Friedensstele 70 Jahre Frieden in Letmathe seit dem 16. April 1945 (Cortenstahl, 55 cm x 30 cm x 220 cm) im Park von Haus Letmathe in Iserlohn-Letmathe, Hagener Straße 62. Künstler: Frank Haase aus Hemer.

Photo of Major General Maurice Rose, scanned from Post WWII 3rd Armored division government publication "Spearhead in the West", published by the Division in occupied Germany.

Nachrichten für die Truppe, Nr. 358, Montag, 9. April 1945 (alliiertes Propagandamaterial)

Map of the reduction of the Ruhr Pocket, 4–14 April, 1945

Map of the Ruhr Pocket

Company K, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division. Photographer: Pfc. Jerome P. Musae, 166th Signal Photo Co.

737th Tank Battalion and Company K, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division. Photographer: Pfc. J. P. Musae, 166th Signal Photo Co.

11 March, 1945. 3rd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division. Photographer: Pvt. Keen, 165th Signal Photo Co.

12 April, 1945. 5th Infantry Division. Photographer: Pvt. Joseph A. Jones, 165th Signal Photo Co. Photo Source: U.S. National Archives. Digitized by Signal Corps Archive.

8th Infantry Division. Photographer: T/5 Ernest Braun, 165th Signal Photo Co.

... the Germans bring entire mass of equipment to a plaza in Sehrlohn, Germany. 16 April, 1945. 7th Armored Division. The Germans are of the 512. Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung. Photographer: Pvt. Charles Herr, Jr., 165th Signal Photo Co.

95th Infantry Division. Photographer: Pick. Photo Source: U.S. National Archives. Digitized by Signal Corps Archive.

German nurse assists a Ninth U.S. Army medic treat a wounded German SS trooper, [sic] captured during the battle for Unna, Germany. Unna is located in the industrial Ruhr valley pocket and was defended by a large number of German SS troops before its capture by 9th U.S. Army troops. 11 April, 1945. Note: The German soldier in the photo appears to be a member of the Heer, not the SS as the original caption states.

Left to right: Private First Class Stanley Barhok (Astobula, Ohio); Staff Sergeant Mivhael Kollin (715 E. 99th St., Cleveland, Ohio); Private First Class James M. McGoldrick (West Plains, MS); and Pfc. Norman Dwelle (209 4th Ave. SW Jamestown, ND). HQ Co., 3rd Battalion, 194th Glider Infantry, 17th Airborne Division, First Allied Airborne Army. Photographer: Tec 4 C.M. Pletcher.

City of Siegen (Westphalia, Germany): Educational signage about the mining adit Hainer Stollen, located in the east side of the Siegberg mountain. During late WWII, this centuries-old iron ore mine was specially prepared in a secret operation of the national socialist regime. In 1944, it was used to host important cultural artifacts and pieces of art of Westphalian churches and museums as a protection from air raid damage. Among these items were the Aachen Cathedral Treasury (Aachener Domschatz) and the casket with the remains of Charlemagne (Karlsschrein). In April 1945, the treasury in the adit was detected by U.S. troops who returned the contents to their original places in May 1945.

This file was uploaded with Commonist. Hier wohnte Ferdinand Jahny, Jg. 1903, KPD-Mitglied, verhaftet 1935, ermordet 13. April 1945

Ehrenmal Vellinghausen-Eilmsen, Soldatengräber