Muhldorf a. Inn 20th December 1999

Dear Mr. William J. Neutzling

Your email arrived us on Friday 10^th December and so we tried to answer your questions and so we must apologize us for answering so late.

THE AIR ATTACK ON MUHLDORF AM INN
19 March 1945 / 20 April 1945

In 1935 (26th June 1935) come into force a new law in Germany, which was called air-raid law. This law says the inhabitations that they must do all commands which have to do the air-raid (Air-raid duty). This law was a very good thing for the NS-regime to make a air raid organization.

Since the law come into force people must do a lot of practice, which founds a lot of indifferent opinions. They learned there the contact with a gasmask, a thing with which you can make out a fire, adjustable water-engine and the contact with a first-aid box. The important protection measure was to keep your windows dark! There was a very big leaflet campaign which shows you a plane with a skeleton, which had a bomb in the hand, on it. The air-raid propaganda poster, which warns you for the punishment says "The enemy see your light – keep dark!!"

A other measure was to make your roof truss empty, because when a bomb fall into the roof is there a large fire and it damage more then it must be.

After and during this time it were built a minority of concrete air-raid shelters and air-raid shelters. The equipment of these shelters must be gaslock, a table and chairs and a kind of toilette and a washing possibility.

In 1944 were built commando-centrales which gives people, who hadn’t a home after the damage a possibility to live. On 17^th August 1939 come into force that you must built a air-raid shelter. These shelters caused sometimes that people fell in swoon because in these shelters were insufficient ventilating. This possibilities to save live have a comprehension of 4000 people and it were 7100 people which must be saved. In the near of the railway was only a less possibility to save your live.

"Your primary object will be a progressive destruction of Germany military, industrial and economic systems, and the undermining of the morale of German people to a point where their capacity for armed resistence is fatally weakende." Say the westposition of power on the "Casablanca conference". This was the foundation/basis of the "Combined Bomber Offensive."

And now the Americans starts the day attacks on the railways and all traffic possibities (e.g. Roads, rails, waggons and so on). The attacks from the US were very detailed planed but suddenly the weather comes into their way and so bombs felt into objects which aren’t there aim to bomb.

At the moment of these news was Muhldorf very worried about a attack on their railway, because they had the biggest marshalling yard and so comes out a leaflet which says "Go to the land", leave Muhldorf". At this time were many people from other cities, which were destroyed, in Muhldorf and so this was the reason for the leaflet.

The first attack from the US was on 4^th November 1942, but this attack miss one’s aim. The bomb felt into the forest of the INN, but it gave no dead people. The next attack was on 19^th March 1945 on 11:38h comes the first wave of bombs. And about 11:10 was the bombing alarm here.

27 planes from the US ones bombed the railway from Garching and five of yours fly back. And so 135 air-plane-bombers bombed our railway. In the time during 11:38h and 12:20h throw 4 bombers bombs to our city in eight waves! That are 760 bombs!

During this attack no plans were attacked by ours.

After 13:00h came no signal of Muhldorf! So many people from a organization of Munich and another organization came to save the corpes and the people who are bad injured.

Over 3000 people came bad injured in the hospitals in the city and around the city. The first attack caused 130 people the live.

The burial were on March the 22th 1945 and someone of the newspaper said they lost their live for our live and "All for one and one for all!" on his funeral.

In Muhldorf began the people very fast to built up the railway, with the help of 3000 prisenors. On the 20^th April 1945 the second bombing of Muhldorf were started. And this second attack caused 20 prisenors the live. These prisenors were from KZ-Mettenheim.

And so the result of this bombing is:

• 40% the living room with 2000 flats were destroyed
• 1200 people had no home (Inhabititions from 1945:8104)
• 114 house were total destroyed
• 309 house were only damaged and
• 99 were not to much damaged
• Over 5000 cubic meters parts of houses lay on the road
• The water pipe has 2000 places with leaks
• 623 m of the kanalization was destroyed
• 8000 m of the electricity was destroyed
• the railway were in a width of 230 m and a length of 1430 m destroyed
• although nearly 328 000 cubic meters of the railway was destroyed

We hope that this are enough from our side of the air-attack on Muhldorf!! Your website is very interesting for us.

Your sincerely,

I.A. Hr. Hamberger, Stadtarchivar

STADT MUHLDORF