2nd February 2008
Most accounts of Germany after the war, written by British soldiers, administrators, diplomats and journalists, include a paragraph or two describing their first impressions - what they saw looking out of the aeroplane or train window, or driving through the streets of one of the cities.
I wrote about British and US first impressions of Germany in 1945 in a posting on this blog a few weeks ago. I was therefore interested to find, a few days ago, an article in the British Zone Review, in which the author reflected on "First impressions of newcomers to Germany." The article was part of a regular series called "Passing Comment" and dated 22nd June 1946, just over one year after the end of the war:
"First impressions of newcomers to Germany are always of interest. Older members of the Control Commission are accustomed to the bomb-blasted ruins of industrial centres such as Essen, Dortmund, Hamm, Munster and intervening smaller towns as seen from a leave train. The new arrival, however, reflects upon B.B.C. news bulletins which during late war years spoke of the tremendous effect of our bombing. He realises that returning friends who said to him, 'You have to see it to believe it' were right when they also intimated that, by comparison, Britain's industrial areas had been much more fortunate. This may be difficult to believe by workers of London, Coventry, Plymouth, Southampton, and the rest of Britain's scarred cities and towns; but it is true that nowhere in Britain is it possible to travel for hours at a time through built-up areas which, as far as the eye can see, show literally no building without its scars, and the majority just acres of roofless, tottering shells. Such is the picture of the new arrival. He looks out of his compartment in vain hoping to see perhaps one small group of houses untouched. He notices too, the yellowish tinge on people's faces, and wishes his acquaintances in Britain, who frequently repeat how a second cousin of 'so-and-so' says the Germans are well-fed while Britons gradually become more under-nourished by each new cut in their rations, could see for themselves."
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