February 22, 1946

Factory photos

     I have just returned from a trip to Essen and Duesseldorf, where I visited what is left of Krupp and saw some big plants, which have been less damaged, and am working again at good speed. The English officer now in charge of Krupps took us to the roof of the only building left in the town center. It was an imposing, but terrible spectacle to look over miles and miles of flattened buildings, Krupps kingdom certainly received good attention by the RAF and US Airforces. All the towns are a terrible heap of ruins, Essen, Koeln, Koblenz, or Duesseldorf, ruins wherever you look. I have the impression that the Germans have recovered from the great shock which the war brought, but that they are losing confidence in any future. I am afraid that the communists will reap the benefit of all this, if nothing is done, although for the time being they are generally hated. The standing of the British was certainly higher than that of any other power, but the recent cuts in food rations are taken very much amiss. I am gaining the impression that the Russians are the only ones who have a clear policy in mind and a clear aim and will make progress. They may be hated in Germany for the time being, but in the long run their efficiency is superior to the indecisiveness of the other Great Powers. The Russians keep their part of Germany completely cut off from the rest, and nobody knows how this country will ever be put on its feet again. My opinion of the Russians has not changed much. I saw factories completely stripped of their equipment, countrysides stripped of their cattle and foodstuff, houses of their furniture.
     We live in German towns amidst ruins, and hear and see the greatest misery. But on the whole, one does not meet any Germans excep on business. Fraternization means one thing only , and one can hardly mix with Germans. We live in a compound behind barbed wires and Germans are not allowed to enter that part of the town, except the women who keep the houses clean. All this is very different in Austria where fraternization means a real interest in the problems of the population and occupying forces and the Austrians have real friendly relations.