On 20 April 1944, Germany celebrates the “Führergeburtstag” (Führer’s birthday) in big style for the last time. There are celebrations inside Hitler’s party, speeches about the “Endsieg” (final victory) and songs of the movement are broadcast throughout the Reich and all occupied countries. Even at places where everything is in rubble, people pay tribute to the “Führer” with flags and banners and pledge allegiance to him.
Still, many people hope that he will get an idea to make tables turn again and to bring about a victorious end to the war. The rubble is removed by an ever increasing number of forced labourers. They are heard and seen working with their hammers on the Heiligengeistfeld, too. Their task is to produce new building material from the rubble of the destroyed houses.
Timeline General
- May/June: 430,000 Hungarian Jews are deported to Auschwitz.
- 6 June: Begin of “Operation Overlord”.
- 20 July: An assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler in his headquarters “Wolfsschanze” fails.
- 18 October: The first “Volkssturm” (people’s storm) units are formed. In this militia, all male Germans between 16 and 60 shall serve to carry out construction works and to defend smaller towns and areas.
- 16 December: The “Ardennenoffensive” (Battle of the Bulge), the last big counter attack of the Wehrmacht, collapses after only a couple of days.
Timeline Hamburg
- 13 May: The Gestapo carries out a large raid and mass arrests in Hamburg’s “Chinesenviertel” (Little China) in St. Pauli. 130 Chinese men and some German women are taken into custody.
- Autumn: Thousands of KZ prisoners are deployed to remove rubble, repurpose stones on the Heiligengeistfeld and to work for the war economy.
- 8 September: Reich Governor Kaufmann orders 500 KZ Neuengamme prisoners to be put at the disposal of Blohm & Voss shipbuilding company.
Timeline Persons
- 1944: Karl Miller reaches with the Air Forces Sports Club Hamburg the final of the last German championship to be played during the war.
- 1 July Herbert Müller is conscripted to the infantry air defence battalion 52 in Delmenhorst (North West Germany) where he serves as loader for flak-canons and driver.
- 25 October: After Himmler ordered that so-called mixed-blooded Jewish shall be immediately deployed for work efforts, Gau economics advisor Otto Wolff, on a meeting of an industry committee, stresses that “there shall be no exceptions”.