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3. Increased Resistance
- State University of New York Press
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3 INCREASED RESISTANCE Heidelberg, which we pass through on the last day of March, is not an archeological remnant; its buildings are not tortured, twisted skeletons. But its bridges, including the one built in the eighteenth century, have been destroyed by retreating German troops. Otherwise, the city is virtually undamaged. Even the store windows are intact. It has been a long time since I have looked at colorful displays. Because it is a vast hospital center, the city was not subjected to Allied attack, and for this reason also it was surrendered to the 7th Army without a fight. We hear that the capitulation provoked Hitler into a rage-he believed that all Germans should resist to the end, and he has sworn to recapture the city by April 20, his birthday. A few well-dressed Germans on the streets, apparently unaware of Hitler's threat, wave at us in a friendly manner. I am surprised to see them because in other freshly captured German cities there were very few people on the streets, and those I did see were unsmiling, their dejected spirits seeming to match the drooping white sheets that hung from windows above. Another difference: here Nazi slogans are not painted on the walls. We are told that seven American soldiers are supposed to be patients in one of the German hospitals in Heidelberg. We locate the hospital and are greeted by a German military physician , a colonel, who wears a handsome full uniform and shiny boots. He clicks his heels and welcomes us with an instinctive, smart Nazi salute-but the automatic "Heil Hitler!" is gone. The American soldiers were in his hospital, but are now gone; they were picked up earlier by another American unit. He tells I 25 us that the German Army is collapsing because it has no more shells for its guns and no more fuel for its airplanes. A few German soldiers are wearing Red Cross brassards and carrying holstered guns, and the CO sends a messenger to Battalion Headquarters describing the situation. A quick reply says that their people are too busy to take care of the guns. We should collect and destroy them. So they are collected, and one of our men is assigned the task of destroying them. I am sure a few more souvenirs are now available. The last day of March is the day of the false armistice, celebrated wildly in Chicago and New York. After hearing the news, we vicariously join in the festivities by gorging ourselves with cheese, salami, sardines, chocolate, and liquid refreshment. No hot food because we are moving again. There is no sign of an armistice here during the next few days, and at least one German airplane has enough gasoline to strafe our troops. We celebrate by drinking more champagne and wine, all marked "for the Wehrmacht only, not to be sold." No one would think of selling these treasures. Our antiaircraft gunners have recently become ineffective. Their reflexes seem slow, probably because they have imbibed too much. I wonder whether the enormous caches of the juice of the grape in this region were deliberately planted by Hitler for this purpose, and I speculate whether they are his rumored new secret weapon. In our unit there has been too much drinking and the CO has locked up the liquor. Later, one of the battalion aid stations is lost. The CO prepares to hunt for the station , and asks me to come along. We find the missing unit without too much difficulty, and talk with its overwrought ranking officer. We decide that his unsteadiness is not from the aftereffects of too much champagne or wine, but the result of too much cognac. We are also unhappy because one of our aidmen has been shot three times, in the back and shoulders, despite the visibility of his Red Cross markings. Other aidmen and litter bearers have been wounded in the past. About a month ago we were shelled by the respected, effective German 88 millimeter guns, notwithstanding the bright red crosses on the building. Despite these infractions , everyone wearing the Red Cross emblem continues to be unarmed, as prescribed. 26 I The Beginning Now spring is arriving and the hills and valleys beckon, the magnolias and apple blossoms seem to wave at us. The end of the winter comes at a favorable time for the DPs. As we move deeper into Germany, we pass a field where hundreds of DPs are camping...