| Original caption: “This Nazi officer is eating his words, and a can of C-rations, in the ruins of Saarbrücken. The day we hung our washing on this Siegfried line stronghold, we of the Seventh linked up with Third Army armor west of Kaiserlautern. Was that a day!” Original caption: “Captured German officer morosely dines on K-rations while awaiting transfer from the Saarbrücken area by his United States Seventh Army captors. Still arrogant and haughty, he remains very much the Nazi.” An Ordnungspolizei Meister (literally “Order Police Master” – uniformed police officer) captured in Saarbrücken eats canned rations near what is today the Saarländisches Staatstheater (“Saarland City Theater”) on Schillerplatz. He was 1 of 1,274 prisoners captured by the United States Army 70th Infantry Division in March 1945, mainly at Saarbrücken. They were held nearby until they were sent over pontoon bridges, their hands on their heads, and back to France for incarceration in Prisoner of War camps. The architect Paul Baumgarten (June 25, 1873 – February 26, 1946) was chosen by Führer und Reichskanzler (“Leader and Reichchancellor”) Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) to renovate the Saarländisches Staatstheater. The venue officially opened with Richard Wagner’s (May 22, 1813 – February 13, 1883) Der Fliegende Holländer, as the Gautheater Saarpfalz, on October 9, 1938, with Hitler and other leading Nazis in attendance. The following year, on May 16, 1939, Hitler attended a performance of Karl Millöcker’s (April 29, 1842 – December 31, 1899) operetta, Die Dubarry, at this location. The actors were not allowed to bow after the performance, as instructed by the regime, but had to respond to the audience’s 1st applause with the Hitlergruß, the Nazi salute. Renamed Gautheater Westmark in April 1941, the theater burned during the night raid by the Royal Air Force (RAF) of July 29-30, 1942. The Nazis attempted to rebuild with the original architect, Paul Baumgarten, commissioning a new chandler from Stuttgart, but the war prevented major renovations. An alternative venue, Alt-Saarbrücker Neumarkt, was used for Saarbrücken operas until air raids on May 27 and in June 1944 damaged that venue as well. The performers fled the basement of Alt-Saarbrücker Neumarkt just before it was destroyed. All theatre performers and crew were compelled to work in munitions factories after July 1944, and all theaters were closed. Gautheater Westmark was again damaged in the October 5, 1944, air raid and by artillery damage in March 1945. The foundations of the theatre building formed part of the Westwall’s substructure along the Saar River. On the ground, Saarbrücken was defended by the Nazi German Heer 347th Infantry Division commanded by Generalleutnant Wolf-Günther Trierenberg (June 18, 1891 – July 25, 1981) in 1945. The United States 70th Infantry Division was tasked with punching through the Siegfried Line and taking Saarbrücken. As the fortifications were powerful, it 1st had to take the Siegfried Line fortifications on the French heights near Spicheren overlooking Saarbrücken. The Spichern-Stellung (“Spichern Fortifications”) had been constructed in 1940 after the French had fallen back on the Maginot Line during the Phony War. Spichern-Stellung was part of the Westwall defensive line. The 276th Infantry Regiment attacked Forbach on February 16, 1945, and a fierce battle ensued, halting the American advance at the railroad tracks cutting through Forbach on February 22. The 274th and 275th Infantry Regiments took Spicheren on February 20, 1945. When the 274th Infantry Regiment captured the Spicheren Heights on 23 February 1945, after a heavy battle on the previous day, the Germans counterattacked for days. Still, by February 27, 1945, the heights were entirely under American control. A renewed attack on March 3, 1945, allowed units of the 70th Infantry Division to enter Stiring-Wendel and the remainder of Forbach. By March 5, 1945, all of Forbach and significant parts of Stiring-Wendel had been taken. However, fighting for Stiring-Wendel, especially for the Simon mine, continued for days. After the German defenders of Stiring-Wendel fell back to Saarbrücken on March 12-13, 1945, the 70th Infantry Division still faced a substantial segment of the Siegfried Line, which had been reinforced around Saarbrücken as late as 1940. After having the German troops south of the Saar fall back across the Saar at night, the German defenders of Saarbrücken retreated early on March 20, 1945. The 70th Infantry Division flanked Saarbrücken by crossing the Saar north-west of Saarbrücken. The 274th Infantry Regiment entered Saarbrücken on March 20, 1945, and fully occupied it the following day, thus ending the war for Saarbrücken. The 70th Infantry Division’s last casualty of the war, Lieutenant Theodore Heck (March 28, 1922 – November 11, 2016) of the 275th Infantry Regiment, was accidentally shot using an M1 carbine as a handhold to get up while crossing a destroyed, half-submerged bridge. The rifle went off, knocking him back, slightly wounded. Heck recalled, “The bullet skipped through my insides like a flat rock thrown on a river.” The Saarländisches Staatstheater was reopened on March 6, 1948, with a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) Die Zauberflöte. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0998.jpg |
| Image Size | 875.14 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2967 x 2401 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | Office of War Information |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | March 22, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | Saarbrücken |
| State or Province | Saarland |
| Country | Germany |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NWDNS-208-YE-145 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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