After the flush of victory has gone, the bombs come. From 1941 on, allied air raids intensify in numbers and impact. Fake buildings on the Alster Lake are aimed at confusing British bomber pilots. Yet, it did not take long until English newspapers had reported this trick.
Searchlights and flak-canons become part of everyday life – and so are POWs and other forced labourers. In 1941, about 9,000 of them work in Hamburg where they are accommodated in larger theatre houses, e.g. the opera house “Schilleroper” at Neuer Pferdemarkt.
By order taking effect that summer, all sports clubs have to cease the publication of club journals as paper gets in short supply. Instead, letters sent via the army postal service shall maintain the connection between the clubs and their members at the front.
Timeline General
- 27 May: The British Navy sinks the German battleship “Bismarck”.
- 22 June: German troops invade the Soviet Union without prior declaration of war. They are followed by special forces (“Einsatzgruppen”) which systematically murder Jewish citizens, Communist Party functionaries, Sinti, Roma and POWs.
- 19 September: By police order, all Jewish citizens are forced to wear a yellow star.
- 23 October: On order by Heinrich Himmler, all Jewish citizens still living in Germany are forbidden to leave the country.
- 11 December: Germany declares war on the United States.
Timeline Hamburg
18 August: After repeated police reports about the “Swing and Hot disease” in Hamburg, propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels orders the Gestapo to implement serious reprisals. The “Secret State Police” instantly begin to oppress the Swing Youth in Hamburg with brutal force, disrupting concerts by raids and takes hundreds of youngsters into custody.
- 25 October: The first train with Jews from Hamburg departs to Eastern Europe. Before departure, the deported must lock their flats, set up lists of left property and deliver their keys to the police.
- 16 December: The movie “Quax, der Bruchpilot” with popular actor Heinz Rühmann premiers.
Timeline Persons
- January: Peter Jürs is sentenced to death by the Hanseatic special court for “Wehrkraftzersetzung” (undermining the defence power). The sentence, however, is changed to 15 years in “Zuchthaus” (penitentiary) five months later.
- 1941 After his deployment to Berlin, Karl Miller begins to play for the local Luftwaffensportverein (Air Forces Sports Club (LSV)).