The History Hour
Apr 14, 2025
8th May 1945 was a day of rejoicing in Britain, the US and many other countries: Germany had surrendered, and World War II was over, at least in Europe.
Yet it was not a day of celebration for everyone: for the vanquished Germans, it marked the end of bombings and of Nazi rule. But it was also a time of deprivation and chaos, fear and soul-searching. Millions of ethnic Germans had fled their homes to escape the approaching Red Army.
In this documentary, Lore Wolfson Windemuth, whose own father grew up under Nazi rule, unfolds the stories of six ordinary Germans who lived through that extraordinary time, through their memoirs and diaries. Amongst others, we hear from:
Siegbert Stümpke, a 12-year-old schoolboy who was used as a runner by the German Wehrmacht in the final days of the war;
Lore Ehrich, a young mother from East Prussia (now Poland) who had to flee with two small children across a frozen lagoon;
Hans Rosenthal, who was Jewish and had survived the Holocaust hidden in a Berlin allotment colony before very nearly getting shot by the Soviet liberators;
Melita Maschmann, who got hooked on Nazi ideology aged 15, became a youth leader and took years to acknowledge her share of the responsibility for the crimes committed by the National Socialists.
Narrator: Lore Wolfson Windemuth Producer / Editor: Kristine Pommert Research: Katie Harris
A CTVC production for the BBC World Service.
