Figure 1.--This photograph was taken in late-April 1945. The press caption read "Teen-age prisoners: Three 14-year-old Nazi boys were part of a large group of prisoners taken near Berstadt, Germany, by the 4th Armored Division of the U.S. Third army. It was boys like these that Hitler threw into the defense of Berlin firing 'panzerfusts' rockets capable of disabling a tank. They fought with fanatical courage and a great masny were killed." The boys here are two young for the regular Wehrmacht, but are fully uniformed--unlike many Volksstrum boys. Click on the image for more information about these boys.

General Eisenhhower as Allied Supreme Commander the drive into Germany had three poweful army groups under his command. He initially intended to use General Montgomery's 21st Army Group in the north as the main invasion group. He then changed his mind and shifted the main weight of the Allied drive to General Bradley's 12th Arny Group. He strengthened Bradley by detaching the American Ninth Army from Montgomery who had commanded it since the Bulge. Eisenhower also inserted the new Fifteenth Army into Bradley's command. It was tasked with holding the western edge of the Ruhr Pocket along the Rhine while the Ninth and First Armies who had executed a massive pincer encirclement, squeezed the remaining Germans in the Ruhr Pocket. Following the German surrender in the Ruhr, the Fifttenth Army was asigned to take over occupation duties while the Ninth, First, and Third Armies were freeded to drive east into the heart of the Reich. Simpson's Ninth Army in the north committe the XIX and XIII Corps in a drive for the Elbe, toward Magdeburg, north of Leipzig. Simpson hoped he would be ordered to Berlin. Hodges' First Army in the center drove due east toward Leipzig and the Elbe River. Patton's Third Army was to drive east to Chemnitz, about 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Leipzig, but well short of the Elbe. The Third Army took Frankfurt and then drove east toward Eisenach and Erfurt. Patton paused to allow the rest of the 12th Army Group on his flanks to catch up (April 4). At this time near Merkers, the 90th Infantry Division found a sealed salt mine containing a large portion of the German national treasure. The treasure hoard included vast quantities of German paper currency, stacks of priceless paintings, piles of looted gold and silver jewelry, and household objects as well as an estimated $250 million worth of gold bars and coins of various nations. Included in all this was the gold filled teath of Jews murdered in the death camps. The 4th Armored Division and elements of the 89th Infantry Division entered the small town of Ohrdruf, near Gotha. Here they found the first concentration camp to be encounterted by the western Allies. The Third Army reached the shatered city of Dresden in the east and then finalled turned south toward Czechoslovakia and Austria.

Eisenhower's Decision

General Eisenhhower as Allied Supreme Commander the drive into Germany had three poweful army groups under his command: British 21st Army Group (British and Canadaian) in the north, American 12th Army Group in the center, and the American 6th Army Group (French and American) in the south. He initially intended to use General Montgomery's 21st Army Group in the north as the main invasion group. He then changed his mind and shifted the main weight of the Allied drive to General Bradley's 12th Arny Group, the most poerful of the three groups. He strengthened Bradley's command consisting of the 1st and 3rd Armies by detaching the American 9th Army from Montgomery who had been given commanded during the Bulge energency. Eisenhower also inserted the new 15th Army into Bradley's command.

Ruhr Pocket

The 15th Arny was tasked with holding the western edge of the Ruhr Pocket along the Rhine while the Ninth and First Armies who had executed a massive pincer encirclement, squeezed the remaining Germans in the Ruhr Pocket. Following the German surrender in the Ruhr, the 15h Army was asigned to take over occupation duties while the 9th, 1st, and 3rd Armies were freeded to drive east into the heart of the Reich.

Drive toward the Elbe

Simpson's 9th Army in the north committed the XIX and XIII Corps in a drive for the Elbe, toward Magdeburg, north of Leipzig. The lbe of course was to be the border between the Soviet and Western Allied occupation zome. Simpson hoped he would be ordered to Berlin. Hodges' 1st Army in the center drove due east toward Leipzig and the Elbe River. Patton's 3rd Army was to drive east to Chemnitz, about 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Leipzig, but well short of the Elbe. The Third Army took Frankfurt and then drove east toward Eisenach and Erfurt. Patton paused to allow the rest of the 12th Army Group on his flanks to catch up (April 4). At this time near Merkers, the 90th Infantry Division found a sealed salt mine containing a large portion of the German national treasure. The treasure hoard included vast quantities of German paper currency, stacks of priceless paintings, piles of looted gold and silver jewelry, and household objects as well as an estimated $250 million worth of gold bars and coins of various nations. Included in all this was the gold filled teath of Jews murdered in the death camps. The 4th Armored Division and elements of the 89th Infantry Division entered the small town of Ohrdruf, near Gotha. Here they found the first concentration camp to be encounterted by the western Allies.

Harz Mountains

The Harz Mountains are located near the geographic center of Germany betweem the Salle and Elbe River. This was not a heavy industrialized area. German industry was concentrated in the Ruhr. As the War continued and the Allied Strategic Bombing Campaign hammered the Ruhr, the Germans began transferring priority arms projects to the Harz Mountains. Many wre located in undrground facilities and were operated with slave labour who toiled under horendous conditions. Thus SS began locating cincentration cmps in the area. The Harz mountains became the location of several hundred forced labour camps and KZs. The deadly KZ Dora near Nordhausen was located in the South Harz. KZ Mittelbau-Dora (Dora-Mittelbau / Nordhausen-Dora) was a subcamp of the infamous Buchenwald KZ. The SS under inhuman conditions forced inmates to expand existing tunnels and staff Mittelwerk Ltd., in Kohnstein near Nordhausen. This is where the V-2 balistic missle and the V-1 flying bomb were assembled. The SS constanly hanged workers and left them dangling from the rafters. Missle genius Wernher von Braun had blueprunts of his missled hidden in an abandoned mine shaft in the Harz. [Cadbury] Just before the Allies crossed the Rhine SS Reichsführer, Heinrich Himmler, ordered that the Harz Mountains become one of Hitler's fortress areas--the Harz Fortress (Harzfestung) (February 1945). It was an effort to defend central Germany. The headquarters was at Blankenburg. There was not much left to man the fortress. The primcipal garrisom unit was the badly depleted Wehrmact 11th Army. They were supported by units of the Waffen SS and the Volkssturm. The American 1st Army was the first to reach the area. They discovered Nordhausen in the southern Harz. Most of the picturesque villages in the Harz surrendered. When they advanced northward they met some resistance in the hills around the towns of Ilfeld and Ellrich. This was a rare stand after the llies crossed the Rhine. The last units of the 11th Army and Waffen SS in the Harz surrendered (May 7). A few Volkssturm troops fought on even after the NAZI surrender.

Turn South

The 3rd Army reached the shatered city of Dresden in the east and then finalled turned south toward Czechoslovakia and Austria.

Sources

Cadbury, Deborah. Space Race (BBC Worldwide Limited: 2005).

Created: 2:24 PM 2/2/2011
Last updated: 11:45 AM 12/26/2017