Chapter 14 The Last Days of the Nazis: American Soldiers Enter the City

I mentioned above many times what happened after the American soldiers occupied Göttingen in 1945, which seems to be contrary to the chronological order; but in order to describe one thing completely, I have to.Sequentially speaking, it is time to describe the entry of American soldiers into the city. When the time came to the end of the spring of 1945, the war situation took a sharp turn for the worse.At this time, the German side could no longer talk about any resistance, only the power to parry, not even the power to fight back.Twenty-four hours a day is an alert period.The common people rumored that British and American planes no longer carry bombs.They could fly in whenever they wanted, and shoot from the planes with machine guns.Somewhere a bullock cart was swept over, and the cow was beaten until its intestines flowed out.And so on, and so on.However, on the surface, the common people did not panic, they were quite calm, but obviously a little numb.

The German nation is an extremely diligent and intelligent nation, and is famous all over the world for its thoroughness in doing things and studying.The cultural achievements they have created in a short period of one or two hundred years shine brightly all over the world.However, politically, their level is not high.When I first arrived in Germany, they were bewitched by the fascist leaders, and they were a little carried away, seeing their future as a sunny road with only roses and no thorns.Then came the war, which seemed to have no effect on their thinking.During the long war, their spirits were sometimes high and sometimes low and depressed.When the armies of Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union pressed the border from the east and the west, they seemed to feel that the situation was not good.However, on the whole, their emotions are still calm.A few years ago, the scene of dancing and dancing after listening to the so-called "special report" is completely gone now.

In silence, they seemed to be waiting for something. What they had been waiting for came true.This is a sea change.In order to preserve the real situation at that time and to reflect my true thoughts and feelings at that time, I simply copied the diary for a few days without changing a single word; this is much more authentic and reliable than what I write from memory now.My personal three-day experience can only be regarded as a very small point; but a drop of water can see the ocean, a grain of sand can see the universe, and a point can see the whole, everything is left to the reader to comprehend.

April 6, 1945 Last night, I went to the Keller (referring to the cave for growing fresh mushrooms-Xianlin note) and sat down.They (referring to the Germans who took refuge here) all fell asleep.I couldn't sleep no matter what, it was cold inside, and I was sitting helplessly.After a long time, came the Entwarmung (disarm the air raid siren).But they didn't leave, so I had to accompany them, my legs were frozen like ice, my thoughts were full of thoughts, and I couldn't laugh or cry.The siren outside made mischief again, with only a few short bangs.So people start guessing.Some say it is Alarm (alarm), some say it is not.Listen carefully, there are really planes outside.In this way, we waited until after 4 o'clock before the three of us came home.I lay down and woke up at almost 9 o'clock.Just eating breakfast, I heard the sound of planes outside, and it was a big bomber.But immediately came Voralarm (former alarm), followed by Alarm.We panicked again, picked up our things and ran out.The sound of the plane shook the whole mountain.Standing outside that Keller for a while, I heard the sound of the machine again, and people rushed to squeeze in.As soon as I entered the door, the city of Göttingen was full of bombs.I thought to myself: Today is finally my turn. It was like thunder in Keller, and even the wooden chairs shook.Some people knelt on the ground, and some cried.Fortunately, it only rang for a while before it quieted down. At 11 o'clock, I was thinking about the hot water boiled in the kitchen, so I went out and went home alone.Soon came the Vorentwarnung (ex-disarming).Eat breakfast and light the stove.Yi Gang (Zhang Wei) came and left immediately.Had lunch, lay down, couldn't fall asleep.Another Voralarm. At 5 o'clock, just about to listen to the news, I heard the sound of the plane again, and the Alarm came immediately.Go out and stand outside the Deckungsgrsben (bunker air-raid shelter) for a while.The alarm goes off, and it's back.After dinner, came to Voralarm at 10 o'clock.I didn't want to go out; but every now and then a plane flew by in the sky, and then another one, which lasted for three hours.My nerves seemed to explode.This is simply a sin of death.It was almost two o'clock before the alarm was lifted. April 7, 1945

I got up in the morning, had breakfast, and went to the city to buy a piece of bread.Went to several bakeries, none of them.Later, I finally bought it at a store when it was crowded.I went out to the wounded soldiers' hospital to see Storck, and then came home after a meeting.British and American reconnaissance planes circled in the sky.After lunch, the Alarm came again, and I went out to run to the Pilzkeller (the cave where mushrooms were cultivated).Fortunately it was not serious, and the Vorentwarnung soon followed.I sat in the sun for a while, but I was afraid to come home.I waited until after 5 o'clock, thinking that there would be nothing more to do, so I came home slowly.Not long after sitting down, I heard the sound of an airplane and ran downstairs quickly.Bombs were already ringing outside before sirens were heard.Walking down the street, I looked up and saw the planes lined up in the sky.After dropping a bomb, I took advantage of the gap and ran forward for a while.When I arrived at a Keller, I went to avoid it once, ran up again, and finally ran to the Pilzkeller.Batches of bombs are still being thrown at the city.The Grossangriff we've all been dreading is finally here.After a long time, the outside became quiet.When we came out, we saw a big fire around Xicheng Station, with thick smoke rising into the sky.Vehicles carrying ammunition were hit, as were gasoline vehicles.The sound of bullets in the fire is one piece, which can be said to be magnificent. Come home before 8:00.After dinner, I sat in the dark for a long time, feeling extremely uneasy, like ants on a hot pot. Finally, I took my things and went up the mountain to Pilzkeller.

April 8, 1945 It was very cold in Keller, and I sat there with a blanket around me, just couldn't sleep.I wondered why there were so many people inside, and they squeezed in one after another.Later I heard that the party headquarters had announced that women and children had to leave Göttingen.I was startled, and of course I wouldn't fall asleep again.At any rate, I looked forward to dawn, hurried home to eat something, moved a batch of books to Keller, and went back.In the distance the guns blared loudly. It's a mess in Keller.Some said that the German army was going to defend the city; some said that the city was going to surrender.Suddenly, a five-minute-long siren sounded in the area, indicating that the enemy was approaching the city.I was shocked again. My own fate and the fate of my brother city were about to be decided in a short period of time, and the sound of the guns felt close. In front of Keller ran the scattered German troops.After a long time, the outside suddenly became quiet.Some people went out to watch and saw American tanks.It became even more chaotic inside, and no one dared to come out, for fear of American soldiers shooting.As a result, I went out with a German lady, found an American soldier, and told him the situation.Go back and inform everyone, and then come out one after another.I was very happy in my heart, I couldn't stop myself, I ran to the front of a tank and chatted with the American soldiers.I forgot that this was still a state of war, with the guns pointed at me.It's 3 o'clock when I got home.Suddenly thinking of Shixin and his wife, I thought they were blown up by a bomb, because their area was heavily bombed, and there was no news about them.So I can't eat anymore.Soon Yigang brought his wife and children.Their house was taken over by American soldiers.After talking with them, my heart was in a mess, happy and excited, and I couldn't tell what to do.After dinner, we talked with Yigang before going to bed late at night.

Göttingen was thus liberated. The above is the diary I wrote in the critical three days alone, it is a simple and unadorned sketch. The city of Göttingen is only a point in Germany, and this cave where fresh mushrooms are grown is only a point in the city of Göttingen, and I am even a small point in this point.The sentient beings in this small dot can represent the situation of the whole of Germany when zoomed in.Isn't that so?  In any case, this is a great turning point.Since then, Göttingen - and, I believe, the rest of Germany as well - has turned a new page in history.Fascism is all over.They are domineering, rebellious, arrogant and arrogant, and they are safe now!Ordinary Germans didn't react as violently as I thought.They rarely talk about it.They seem to have been hit in the head; they seem clear and confused; they seem to reflect, but they don't;My overall impression is dazed, numb, ignorant, and silent.An extremely talented nation has become a defeated country and a nation at the mercy of others overnight in a daze and inexplicably.Regardless of what the Germans themselves think, as a foreigner who has lived in Germany for ten years and has deep feelings for the German people, I really feel like crying.

For me personally, it seems a little uninteresting that the most brutal war in human history ended like this.When I talked about the outbreak of the Second World War above, I once said: "However, I never expected that this rare drama in human history would have such a mediocre start." It was so flat.Could it be that the beginning and end of events that many descendants in history considered to be shocking, weeping ghosts and gods were so flat? However, for the Germans in Göttingen, no matter how numb their reaction was, it was by no means flat, and it still hurts some people.In the history of mankind, there are many records of the victorious countries entering the defeated countries and "massacring cities", and China has many of them.However, after the United States entered the city, there was no "slaughter of the city", and on the surface, it seemed to be very civilized.I never saw "Uncle Sam" insulting Germans on the street.The relationship between the victorious country and the defeated country seems to be quite harmonious.I also didn't see the Germans hostile to the American soldiers and engaged in any sabotage activities.What I saw was a scene of some German girls walking around the American soldiers, which seemed to be a bit peaceful.

Not quite.American soldiers also have an account. They got a " list" from nowhere, and all kinds of Nazi leaders in Columbia are on the list.The American soldiers followed suit, and one day they found Mr. Schmidt's house opposite my house.One of his daughters was the head of a Gau (district) of the Nazi Young Women.The husband was not at home, and his fat lady panicked, trembling with fright, knocked on the door for help.I had no choice but to walk over. The American soldiers were probably surprised and asked me what I was doing.I said it was a Chinese, an "alliance", and I came to help him as an interpreter.The American soldier didn't speak any more, so I acted as an interpreter.He didn't ask many questions, and his attitude was upright and peaceful, not vicious at all.Anyway, the fat lady's daughter had already gone into hiding, and the mother just said she didn't know.The interrogation ended, and the American soldiers never came again.

In addition, American soldiers also occupied some civilian houses.They traveled across the ocean and traveled thousands of miles.Entering the city, without proper barracks, they occupied the houses of German residents.Many houses with separate buildings and beautiful gardens were selected.My teacher, Professor Waldschmidt, also failed to escape the "selection" of the American soldiers in a small building newly built at the foot of the mountain outside the city. The couple were driven to some place to live temporarily, and a group of American soldiers Live in it proudly.Although I only lived there for a few days, I changed defenses and moved out. However, the magnificent and antique furnishings have already suffered some damage.There are a few classical chairs, usually the couple love them like treasures and handle them with care, but some of them broke their legs at this time.After the American soldiers moved out, I went to his house to see him.The professor pointed it out to me, with a wry smile on his face, he didn't say anything, and he could only feel the feeling in his heart.The professor's wife was not so calm. She told me that the American soldiers drank and danced all night long, stomping the floor loudly.The exquisite and slender chair legs are endless!Neither the old couple uttered any bad words.It shows that they are very self-restraining.However, they have tasted the taste of subjugated slaves deeply, which may exceed their assumptions.

Of course, this is not the only house that is occupied.In those tense days, I walked on the street and looked at the beautiful houses on both sides of the street, and the rooms facing the street. As long as I opened the windows, I would often see the indoor windowsills, densely packed and neatly lined up. The soles of the big leather boots were removed, not lying flat, but standing upright.Of course not to dry the boots, so the soles of the boots will not be upright.After careful deduction, there will be boots behind the soles; feet behind the boots; legs behind the feet; body behind the legs; and finally, a head behind the body, which is probably resting on something. place.However, at this time, "removing the complex and simplifying the three autumn trees" deleted everything from the boots to the head (only the appearance, of course not actually deleted), and only the soles of the leather boots came into my sight.At first glance, I was taken aback for a moment, and then suddenly realized that I could only laugh out loud at such a grandiose scene. This is the American soldier lying there resting, putting his feet on the windowsill.The American soldiers are all young, and some are tall and tall, very handsome.But it always gives people the impression of being foolish.They saluted the officers, and they were not as serious as the German soldiers. They always made people feel playful and laughing.It is said that their salute is not very strict. Lieutenants only salute above the rank of school officer, and the same level does not respect; soldiers do not salute to soldiers, no matter what rank they are.These are all different from Germany.In addition, the style and wasteful habits of American soldiers are also very surprising.They eat, mostly canned food.A can of chicken, fish and duck meat is often thrown away after eating less than half of it, and it becomes garbage.When refueling the car, a barrel of oil is often less than half full, so he becomes impatient, kicks his big leather boots, and rolls to the side, the oil in the barrel is still gurgling out, flashing a trace of white light.Even more astonishing was their feat of cutting communication cables.After the US military entered the city, cables needed to be erected for the convenience of communication.In order to save trouble, instead of erecting telephone poles, the cables are hung or placed on the branches on both sides of the street.At first there were only a handful of cables, but later probably due to the increase in organs, the demand increased greatly, and the number of cables also increased day by day. Some branches were actually covered with more than a dozen or dozens of cables, and they were pressed together. A lot of black.After a while, some U.S. troops withdrew, and cable communications were no longer needed.According to my thinking, it seems that they should remove a thick pile of cables from the branches one by one, roll them up, transport them away, and use them elsewhere.However, it did surprise me that the American soldiers were unwilling to bother with it, and would not leave it to the Germans.They simply cut the cables right at each tree.As a result, the green trees along the street add to the wonder: the branches of each tree are heavily hung with cut cables.Electric cables, as well as the canned food and gasoline I spoke of above, were flown in by plane or ship from as far away as America.However, the upstart big country of the United States and its young masters and soldiers don't seem to have even thought about this point. They never seem to talk about frugality, extravagance, and squandering.This is very different from our traditional education in China. What can I say? On it I wrote miscellaneously about the American soldiers entering the city and the Nazis' downfall.This is just me, and what a foreign individual sees and thinks in his heart.I believe in such a great nation as Germany, but at the same time I hate the perverse behavior of the Nazis.On the one hand, it never occurred to me that, after living in Germany for ten years, I would be able to witness the collapse of the Nazis.This is really lucky for three lives, and there will be no regrets.On the other hand, I am saddened by the humiliation suffered by ordinary Germans.When Germany and France turned against each other, Germany temporarily gained the upper hand.The great French writer Al Doude wrote a famous novel, which has become a famous patriotism in world literature.Today, things have changed and stars have moved, and Germany is at a disadvantage.In the vicissitudes of life, the rapid and uncertain changes in the world are surprising.However, there is no writer in Germany who has written a second article. Is it because there is too little time?Or is there another reason?Can't help but feel sorry.