Stunde Null
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Stunde Null is the German language equivalent of "zero hour", a military planning term indicating the beginning of some operation or event. Historically, Stunde Null specifically refers to the capitulation of the Nazi government on May 8, 1945, at midnight, marking the end of World War II in Germany. The period immediately following this time is the Nachkriegszeit -- the "time after the war".
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[edit] Nachkriegszeit
When the Russians (who were the first occupying power) arrived in Berlin, they saw a city devastated by the air raids and street fighting. It was described as a Geisterstadt -- a ghost town.
[edit] The extent of the devastation
- From the 245,000 buildings in Berlin before the war, around 48,000 were destroyed.
- 1/3 of all private apartments were totally destroyed.
- 23% of industrial capacity was obliterated and the rest was dismantled for transportation by the Russians in the demontage (disassembly).
- There were 75 million tonnes of rubble, which equated to 1/7 of all the rubble in Germany.
- All electricity, gas and water supplies were destroyed:
- It was forbidden to wash one's whole body.
- The transport network was badly destroyed:
- The underground stations had been flooded and over 90 of them had been bombed.
- The first buses resumed service on May 19.
- 78,000 deaths:
- 50,000 victims of the air raids.
- 977 suicides.
- A further 4000 died daily in August 1945, because of the cholera and diphtheria epidemics.
- The population shrank and the demographics were significantly altered:
- 4.3 million lived in Berlin before the war, but only 2.8 million afterwards.
- 1/4 of the population were over 60.
- 1 in 10 was under 30.
- 16 women to every 10 men.
[edit] Das Aufräumen: The Clean-Up
The job of cleaning up the city fell to the Russians, as they were there first (the Western Allies arrived on July 4, 1945) to enter the city. According to them, the clean-up operation would last 12 years.
On May 29, all women aged between 15 and 65 were conscripted as Trümmerfrauen (rubble women). In all, 60,000 women worked to rebuild Berlin.
[edit] Rations and starvation
The biggest problem that the Berliners had to face was the threat of starvation. German war-time ration cards were no longer valid. Any remaining rations were either used to feed Russian troops or stolen by hungry Germans.
On May 15, the Russians introduced a new five-tier ration-card system: The highest tier was reserved for intellectuals and artists; rubble women and Schwerarbeiter (manual workers) received the second-tier card, which was more valuable to them than the 12 Reichsmark they received for cleaning up a thousand bricks; the lowest card, nicknamed the Friedhofskarte (cemetery ticket) was issued to housewives and the elderly.
During this period, the average Berliner was around 6 to 9 kg underweight.
[edit] Other sources of food
Due to the meagre rations, the black market came into its own, and 4000 traded on it daily. Payment was either in cigarettes or by bartering. There were even rumours of cannibalism and the trading of human flesh.
Two new words entered the German vocabulary during 1945:
- Hamstern: This meant to travel in to the countryside, in order to exchange possessions for food. Anything from watches and jewelry to blankets and rugs were exchanged for very small amounts of food.
- Fringsen: This meant to steal to survive. This word is etymologically based on the surname of Cardinal Josef Frings, a senior figure in the Catholic Church of Cologne, who famously gave his blessing to those who had to steal in order to feed their family.
[edit] Der Elendswinter: The Winter of Misery 1945-46
The winter of 1945-46 was one of the coldest in living memory. Temperatures plummeted to -30°C and there was no protection from the biting cold in the bombed-out houses. About 40,000 people suffered from hypothermia and 1000 died as a result. The Berlin Magistrat (municipal authority) created official Wärmeräume (warm rooms) for people to warm themselves in.
[edit] Crime
In 1946, Berlin was a haven of crime. There were an average of 240 robberies and five murders a day, and most criminals were the destitute and homeless. In the areas east of the future Oder-Neisse line already Red Army soldiers and Polish nationalists committed terrible cruelties against the German populations. Allied soldiers sometimes harassed German civilians, though the western forces in general were less brutal than their Soviet (eastern) counterparts.[citation needed] Panic and huge uncertainty instantly created much damage in the areas still controlled by the Nazi German Wehrmacht on May 8, 1945 (e.g. western Austria, Bavaria, Bolzano-Bozen (Italy), East Frisia and Schleswig-Holstein).
[edit] Problem of term
As Richard von Weizsäcker said 1985 "There was no "Stunde Null" ("Es gab keine Stunde Null, aber wir hatten die Chance zu einem Neubeginn."[1]) a true and total restart never occurred in postwar-Germany. The term "Stunde null" implies, that the past was over and nothing existing would belong to former times. This is a wrong and tendential perspective, therefore the term "Stunde Null" must be used very carefully not to intend such perspective.
[edit] References
- ^ Dokument: Rede: Zum 40. Jahrestag der Beendigung des Krieges in Europa und der nationalsozialistischen Gewaltherrschaft. Ansprache des Bundespräsidenten Richard von Weizsäcker am 8. Mai 1985 in der Gedenkstunde im Plenarsaal des Deutschen Bundestages
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[edit] External links
- The End As The Beginning: Exhibit at the Deutsches Historisches Museum (in German)
