Figure 1.--These Hitler Jugend (HJ) boys were captured by American soldiers near Giessen (March 29, 1945). Giessen was a small town in Hessen. It had been heavily bombed (19444). The Americans were about to complete the encirclement of the Ruhr Pocket. The HJ boys were 14 year olds and according to a press report serving as part of the Volkssturm. The Volksstrum was compulsory for boys brginning at age 16 years. Many younger HJ boys, like the boys here, were drawn into the fighting by diehard NAZIs. They are wearing Lufwaffec uniforms. We are not entirely sure if there were Luftwaffe Volkstrum units or the Luftwaffe was also recruiting children.

The great prize immediately east of the Rhine was the Ruhr--the ibdustrial heart of Germany. And herec was located about 430,000 German soldiers of Army Group B (Heeresgruppe B) which consisted of 21 divisions. This was the Wehrmach's last significant force in the west. While a substantial force, the Wehrmacht at this stage of the War was largely immobile. The Allies decided to avoid the heavily wooded Ruhr region in the center of their lines, apparently learning from the experience in the Hürtgen Forrest. After crossing the Rhine, the first Allied objective was the Ruhr. The Ruhr was the industrial hearland of Germany. The Ruhr had been heavily damaged by the strategic bombing campaign, but some factories were still functioning. Without the Ruhr, Germany could not wage war. After crossing the Rhine Allied forces rush to surroud the Ruhr. British and Canadian units crossed in the north and American units crossed in the south. Imeeduiately after crossingb the Rhine, the Allied forces drove eastward into the Reich, encountering only limited resistance. The U.S. First and Ninth Armies within days of crossing the Rhine executed a giant pincer moveement. The American First and Third Armies drove eastward south of the Ruhr. The First Army then shifted north through Giessen and Marburg to make contact at Paderborn and Lippstadt with the American northern pincer (April 1). Montgomery drove his British and Canadian forces east. Frech and American forces also headed east, but the 1st and 9th American Armies proceeded to reduce the Ruhr Pocket. The coordinated operations to take the Pocket section by section. They succeeded in dividing the Pocket into a western and easter section (April 12). The maller, eastern section surrendered (April 13). General Bayerlein unconditionally surrender the LIII Armee Korps (April 16). He called further fighting futile and would result in "useless bloodshed." The larger western section held out a few more days, but surrendered (April 18-21). The commander Field Marshall Walther Model did not believe German Field Marshall's surrendered. He shot himself in a forest south of Duisburg. More than 325,000 German soldiers surrendered in the Ruhr Pocket. The American First Army then moved further east toward Kassel and Leipzig. German POWs were confined in the Rheinwiesenlager. The task of caring for such a sizeable number of men proved daunting. There were some deaths from starvation and exposure.

Created: 9:11 PM 6/26/2013
Last updated: 9:11 PM 6/26/2013