Battle of Stuttgart
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Battle of Stuttgart was air campaign done with strategic bombing during World War II. The bombing did major damage to the City of Stuttgart and killed many of the city's citizens. The damage was so total that US Troops did not enter the city till July 1945, after the war had ended. Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allied forces on 8 May 1945, known as VE Day. US Troops and Free French forces battled Nazi Troops on the outer parts of the city, in Augsburg, on April 28, 1945.[1]
Bombing of Stuttgart
[edit]Stuttgart was key Nazi industrial hub, as such, the city was heavily targeted by Allied bombing. Some of the major industrial plants targeted were: Bosch, Daimler-Benz, and SKF.[2][3] The bombing severely damaged these and other factories. Stuttgart produced: military parts, tanks, and engines. [4][5]
Forced labor
[edit]Due to German labor shortages, many of the industrial plants had moved to forced labor, often referred to as Ostarbeiter. Most were from Eastern European nations and were held in very poor conditions. Even the Technical University of Stuttgart (now the University of Stuttgart) used forced labor.[6] The outlining parts of the city, like Hagesüd company in Stuttgart-Feuerbach, also used forced labor. By May 1945, the forced labor concentration camps had been liberated.[7][8]
Post war
[edit]At the end of World War II, the US Army installed a military presence in Stuttgart. Stuttgart later became the headquarters for the United States European Command (EUCOM). The United States European Command coordinates forces across 51 countries. Which reduced in size, there are still over 20,000 U.S. personnel and family members stationed in five installations in the Stuttgart area. The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) is also headquartered in Stuttgart.[9] [10][11]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Stuttgart Soldiers visit post-WWII Augsburg". www.army.mil. January 10, 2011.
- ^ "Daimler-Benz in the Nazi Era (1933 - 1945) | Mercedes-Benz Group".
- ^ "75 years ago. New start at Bosch after World War II". Bosch Global.
- ^ "Der Burgholzhofturn" (in German). City of Stuttgart. 10 March 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
- ^ "Missions". 38bg.info. 388th Bomb Group. Archived from the original on 2017-08-12. Retrieved 2017-05-28.
- ^ Hohmann, Christina (November 1, 2000). "German universities used forced labour". Nature. 408 (6812): 504–505. doi:10.1038/35046237 – via www.nature.com.
- ^ Most of the forced labor and concentration camps are liberated, 9 May 2025
- ^ "War economy and forced labor in Stuttgart 1939-1945". State capital Stuttgart.
- ^ "United States European Command".
- ^ US European Command. "History of EUCOM". US European Command Web Site. Archived from the original on 22 January 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ^ "United States Africa Command". www.africom.mil.
- Astor, Gerald (2015). The Mighty Eighth: The Air War in Europe as Told by the Men Who Fought It. Penguin Publishing. ISBN 9780425281574.
- Bowman, Martin W. (2015). The Night Air War. Pen and Sword. ISBN 9781783831913.
- Caldwell, Don; Muller, Richard (2014). Luftwaffe over Germany: Defense of the Reich. Frontline Books. ISBN 9781473896970.
- Coles, Robert C. (28 September 2011). For the Record: Memory and the Second World War Paintings of Carl Schaefer, RCAF (MD thesis). Concordia University. Retrieved 12 May 2018.