July 21, 1945 – War Telescope – NBC Radio – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
News from Berlin this day was about a city laid waste and a country coming to grips with defeat. Conferences between the three Major allies were being held to determine what those next steps were to be. Talk of prosecuting war crimes; where and how soon those would take place. Communication – setting up radio networks and publishing newspapers to keep the population informed – all those elements of an infrastructure needed to come together. The de-Nazification process – locating officials who were not affiliated with the Nazi party, or who were ousted at the onset of Hitlers rise to power. They needed to be found in order to establish peacetime governments on a local level. Every level of government from Mayors down to trash collectors needed to be cleared of Party affiliations in order to participate in the herculean reconstruction process.
Some, even those living on the outskirts of Berlin, were miraculously unaffected by the final days of the conflict; with homes and lives reasonably intact. But the vast majority comprised the army of the displaced – homes obliterated – lives torn apart – reduced to carrying whatever possessions they were left with in carts on foot, to wander aimlessly for basic needs.
Meanwhile, cracks were starting to appear in the close relationship between Britain, the US. and the Soviet Union. Notably, what was to happen to Berlin and how was occupation to be administered. Newspapers printed in German by the Soviet occupation forces gave a decidedly different picture of the war than the reports the Western allies were printing. It was a glimpse of things to come.
In the Pacific, the war was looking to be in its final weeks. Even Italy declared war on Japan, much to the bemusement of some in Berlin.
And that’s a small slice of what went on, this week ending July 21, 1945 as reported by NBC’s War Telescope.
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