“We’re in Berlin!”
Written by Soviet soldiers on a column in the Reichstag
German women cleaning up rubble in Berlin following the end WWII.
Many women were called upon to help in these efforts due to the fact that a large portion of the male population died during the war.
Berlin, Germany - 1945.
Damage to the Reichstag building following the Battle of Berlin.
“This combination of three photographs shows the reaction of a 16-year old German soldier after he was captured by U.S. forces, at an unknown location in Germany, in 1945.”
Adolf Hitler: Time Magazine’s man of the year for 1938.
A street in the city center of Berlin, nearly two months after the end of fighting in Europe.
Berlin, Germany - July 3, 1945.
“German mothers walk their children to school through the streets of Aachen, Germany, on June 6, 1945, for registration at the first public school to be opened by the U.S. military government after the war.”
(AP Photo/Peter J. Carroll)
The fall of the Berlin Wall, part II:
As word spread out across both East and West Berlin concerning a new travel policy by the Eastern Communist government, thousands of Berliners on both sides of the wall inundated border guards at multiple checkpoints. People started climbing atop the wall and demanded that the guards open the gates.
28 years after its construction (back when JFK was President), the Berlin Wall was now obsolete.
November 9, 1989 - 22 years ago today.
A statue of Martin Luther in front of the Dresden Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in 1958, thirteen years after its destruction during the bombing of Dresden.
The church lay dormant in ruins for decades. After more than a decade of rebuilding it was finally reconsecrated on October 30, 2005.
Legend also states Martin Luther pinned his 95 theses to the door of the All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517 - 494 years ago today.
A German officer eating army rations, surrounded by the bombed out ruins of a city.
Saarbrücken, Germany - Spring, 1945.
