Original WWII US Army Propaganda for German Soldiers – March 7th 1945 – “One week: 100,000 give up!” – Rare

Description

This is a WWII propaganda leaflet styled as a newspaper called “Feldpost” (Field Mail).
It was issued by the American Army in Western Europe in March 1945, shortly before the collapse of Nazi Germany.

(March 7, 1945 – Nr. 30 / 12 HG)

Headline:
“Eine Woche: 100,000 machen Schluß!”
(“One week: 100,000 give up!”)

Reports on the collapse of German resistance in the Saar and Rhineland Palatinate (Rheinpfalz).

States that between March 14–21, 100,000 German soldiers surrendered in the Saar region.

Says German troops are being split into small encirclements (“Kessel”) and destroyed systematically.

Lists U.S. Army advances: capturing Saarbrücken, Zweibrücken, Kaiserslautern, Pirmasens, Homburg, Landau, Worms, Mainz.

Mentions U.S. troops pushing into Ludwigshafen and Neustadt.

Notes the bridgehead at Remagen was expanded.

Includes a map showing the U.S. advance across the Saar, Palatinate, and toward the Rhine.

Side column news (“Verbotene Welle”):

Rundstedt dismissed as German OB-West (commander in the West), replaced by Kesselring.

Scotland Yard hunts war criminals.

Queen Wilhelmina returns to liberated Holland.

Roosevelt announces 8.5 million American soldiers overseas.

Gestapo HQ in Copenhagen bombed by RAF, completely destroyed.

Page 2 (March Nr. 7 – Feldpost)

Bombing statistics:

Shows two maps with bombing weight:

Jan–Feb 1944: 104 million kg.

Jan–Feb 1945: 214 million kg.

Emphasizes that Germany is being crushed by massive Allied bombing.

Articles:

Neue Sowjet-Offensive:

Reports new Soviet offensives near Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland) and around Danzig (Gdańsk) and Königsberg (Kaliningrad).

Notes heavy German losses (45,000 captured).

Claims Germans are retreating in the Sudeten mountains.

Von der Kompanie:

Features sarcastic reports about German officers making excuses, showing the hopelessness of Wehrmacht leadership.

Highlights that German soldiers themselves doubt new miracle weapons or Luftwaffe effectiveness.

Worüber spricht die Truppe? (What the troops talk about):

Discusses German soldiers’ skepticism and complaints about propaganda promises.

Notes soldiers question where the Luftwaffe is, why German planes are not stopping Allied bombers.

Bottom propaganda box – “Ei surrender!”:

Shows cartoons teaching Germans how to surrender in English:

“I surrender!”

Phonetic German pronunciation guides (“Ei sörender”).

Emphasizes that 110,000 German soldiers surrendered in the West in one week.

Message: Surrender is safe and common — urging German soldiers to give up.

Purpose of this leaflet/newspaper:

This was psychological warfare, meant to: Demoralize German troops by showing huge surrenders and unstoppable Allied progress. Undermine faith in Nazi leadership (dismissal of Rundstedt, Gestapo bombed, Luftwaffe absent). Highlight Soviet advances to create despair on both fronts. Encourage surrender by showing it’s safe, common, and even providing English phrases to use.