BLANCO COUNTY WW2 MUSEUM

 

                                          “ENDE”   

                                Germany -  May 1945                                                                                                                                                                                

With the Western Allies closing in from the West and the Russians from the East, the Nazi regime was reduced to desperation and scraped the bottom of the manpower barrel forming Volksturm (People’s Army) units comprised  of old men and young children.  Many of the Hitler Youth had already been serving as Flak Helpers on Anti-Aircraft guns since 1943 and were embedded with a fanatical belief in the cause.  While a lot of the older soldiers merely melted away, the Hitler Youth fought fanatically especially against the Russians as they closed in on Berlin in the final battle of the war.  In one minor engagement in that battle Hitler Youth knocked out 33 Russians tanks in less than 30 minutes with Panzerfausts. 

The Volksturm were generally poorly equipped with antiquated weapons, limited ammunition, and minimal training.  In the waning day of the war Volksturm units were deployed to delay the inevitable advance of the Russians and the wave of atrocities that came with them.  By and large there were ineffective, but a slogan of the day “a terrible end is better than terror without end” had many regular German units and Volksturm perishing on the Eastern Front in delaying actions so that others could escape to the West.

The Volksturmer here represents the typical older Volksturm defender. He is wearing the standard army overcoat and a WWI reissued helmet as there was little available stock to outfit these formations.  Many were not even provided any uniform and only a Volksturm armband as this man has on his left arm.  Despite all, with a Panzerfaust at ready, he still represents a serious threat to any armored vehicle on the battlefield.                                                                       What's the theme of this page? Do you have supplemental information you'd like to share with your visitors? Unique details about your business that don't seem quite right for your other pages?

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