Steve, the German people in 1933 were still reeling from the economic catastrophe dumped on them by the disastrous Versailles Treaty of 1919. The social upheavals and riots were used by the Nazi party to persuade the middle class that they could install a government powerful enough to restore order. Some very powerful American industrialists agreed, and joined forces with German industrialists to quietly back Hitler. Some of them, like Henry Ford, also admired the virulent anti-semitism promoted by Hitler. What rallied the German people was Hitler's insistence that they would not let themselves be "pushed around" by the Allies. He broke the restrictions imposed by the Treaty, and told the Germans the Allies would do nothing about it. And they didn't, proving to the Germans that he truly was "The Leader."

Steve, you are absolutely right to condemn the Lebensraum expansions of the Third Reich, which uprooted populations in 1938 and 1939, forcing peasants from their lands so Germans could take over. The reverse was to be expected when the tide turned. The Sudeten Germans were forced out and driven into Germany, where they were not welcomed. The survivors became part of the millions of displaced persons (DPs) which the U.S. Army unexpectedly found on its hands. The Russians insisted that all DPs from Russia and Eastern Europe be returned to them. Many resisted and even committed suicide -- and the Russians killed some as soon as they were handed over, in sight of the sickened Americans.

I don't blame those Russians a bit. Germans made such a mess with their expansion and with their behavior to set themselves next to God, that there was a hateful sentient throughout the whole Europe. The postwar communist establishment is directly related to the war. That was another 40 years of dictatorship of communism which was born in Germany. I just hate them to this day. If you would want to give me the most expensive German car, I would not take it. I call it Nazi car. I would not set my foot on German soil. I do not associate with any German. I will die with my hate for Germans.

Steve and William, I can appreciate the depths of your feelings regarding the terrible events you both experienced in and after the war. But they are not appropriate for this thread, which deals with the American Army families in Occupied Germany. I discussed some of the problems of displaced persons in an earlier post on Jan. 28 (DP Liberators become DP Jailers in Occupied Germany), and I expect tp discuss the DP problem again in a later post. So I must ask you both please to save your arguments for that posting. Thank you.

Richard Q - Almost a year before families of American soldiers started arriving in Germany, US military personnel were housed in German family homes and apartments that had been "requisitioned" by the US military.

American troops arrived in my German War Bride's hometown of Weinheim, Germany, (near Heidelberg and Mannheim) in late March of 1945. Her town had escaped any bombing or damage during the war. Too, there were no Geman troops or military facilities in her hometown.

After abandoning their tent compound initially set up in a large park area, the American troops moved to German family homes and large apartment complexes in the town, after the German families were summarily kicked out.

Several months later, I arrived in Weinheim, Germany, as a US soldier, to join the HQ 15th Constabulary Regiment Headquarters (formerly a part of Patton's 3rd Army). I had an army bunk in the small upstairs bedroom of a German family home located on the Wienkoopstrasse (strasse = street) in Weinheim. (see pictures) Several other US military personnel also lived in the home.

All home facilities, including bathrooms, were available to us except kitchen facilities, so we all ate in the military messhall, formerly a large living|dining area in another residential home.

A residential mansion formerly inhabited by one of the town's rich businessmen, Carl Freudenberg, (earlier the beloved Jewish owner, Hirsch, had been kicked out and, wisely, moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin) became our Constabulary Headquarters, and I served there in several clerical capacities until our unit was transferred to nearby Seckenheim where we occupied former German military facilities.