Möller, J. Flak im Endkampf - Leuna 1945

The book is published as a revised new edition of the documentation "Die Besetzung des mitteldeutschen Chemiezentrums Schkopau - Merseburg - Leuna durch das V. US Corps im April 1945" published by Arps-Verlag Weißenfels in 2005 and complements the series of previously published books on the V. US Corps in Central Germany.
When the American units of the V. US Corps of the 1st US Army reach the Saale on the line Schkopau - Merseburg - Leuna - Weißenfels, they unexpectedly meet massive resistance after days of rapid advance. No one had warned them about the anti-aircraft belt that had been built to protect the central German industrial centres from the Allied air raids. The flak guns of the flak belt put the approaching tanks under fire and slowed down their advance for several days. In addition to depicting these combat operations, the documentary deals with the devastating connection between the existence of these anti-aircraft emplacements and the events of the war in Central Germany during the last days. The comparison shows that it was mainly in the vicinity of these batteries that fighting took place, with high casualties on both sides in some cases, while other regions were almost completely spared. The fighting and the deaths of the mostly bloody young German anti-aircraft soldiers were able to delay the American advance for a short time, but they could not stop it.