Community Background Picture

Heimathaus Levern

April 4th 1945

April 4, 1945 is regarded as the fateful day for tranquil Levern, which until then had remained largely unscathed. In the last turmoil of the war there was a devastating battle here.

Heimathaus Levern

April 4th 1945

Table of contents

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Table of contents

Heimathaus Levern

April 4th 1945

The portrait of the young soldiers

After the Allied troops had conquered Osnabrück in early April 1945, they moved into Levern on April 4. The night before, young, barely trained soldiers had received orders from Kreisleiter Ernst Meiring to defend Levern. They opened fire on the advancing British tanks. Bloody battles ensued. On this day at least 22 people lost their lives in Levern. 48 buildings were completely destroyed, many others damaged. The fighting of April 4, 1945, has gone down in Levern history as senseless slaughter. The photo, which is now in the Levern Heimathaus, shows some of the young German soldiers after their capture by the British.

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History

Heimathaus Levern

The young soldiers

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Audio

Heimathaus Levern

April 4th 1945

People who experienced April 4, 1945 in Levern have this day written in their memory: Irmgard Lohrie, née Rodeck (*1935), then living in Hügelstraße. After her father's death as a soldier in Russia in 1942, Irmgard Lohrie lived with her mother with her aunt Emma Aschemeier and her daughter Carola in Hügelstraße. Her uncle Wilhelm had been drafted as a soldier and so there was also room in the small house for Irmgard and her mother. Read by Karin Klanke

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Eyewitness reports

Heimathaus Levern

April 4th 1945

People who experienced April 4, 1945 in Levern have this day written in their memory: Fritz Kramer (*1932), at that time living in Hügelstraße 32. Fritz Kramer had the day off from school. Together with his family and neighbors, he hid in the cellar of his apartment building. Read by Heinrich Rust

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Eyewitness reports

Home Levern

4 April 1945

People who witnessed April 4, 1945 in Levern have this day written in their memory: Gerd Langenberg (*1942), at that time living in the Stiftshaus der zu Grappendorf, called "Langenbergsche Gärtnerei ". Gerd Langenberg was only three years old at that time. Especially the stories of his sister and relatives keep Gerd's memory of that day in Levern alive until today: Read by Helmut Gude

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Eyewitness reports

Heimathaus Levern

April 4th 1945

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Gallery