Five Brothers and a War

Operation Manna/Chowhound

Parachute Division. Plocher had been awarded the very high honor of the “Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross” one week after this meeting, on May 8—the day after Germany surrendered. (He was also unique in that he re-emerged in 1957 to become the Deputy Chief, then the Chief, of the Joint Staff of the new German Air Force.) The remainder of the German party, which totaled 24, were various Staff Officers and the Reichskommissar's private secretary, his constant companion, described as a “young doll”. There were Seven Dutch civilians included in the party who represented the various civil departments that would be engaged in the supervision of the distribution of food. As the various Allied participants arrived at the St. Jozef School, they awaited the star of the show, Arthur Seyß-Inquart. When he arrived, all eyes moved to watch the most hated man in Holland walk in, with his trademark limp, which was caused when he broke his own leg to free his foot after it became caught in a crevice while rock-climbing years earlier. He had been angered to see his car, with Prins Bernhard casually leaning against it. When the meeting began, Gen. Smith asked Air Commodore Geddes to outline the proposed plan to feed the people of western Holland. It took an hour and a half for him to describe how supplies would be brought in by air, rail, road, ship and canal. He then went through the Allies' plan to medically treat those suffering from starvation. Seyß-Inquart seemed to be satisfied with what he heard, so the group split into breakout sessions, with the various components of the plan being discussed by officers of both sides, along with the Dutch civilians who would be responsible for the implementation of the food distribution program.

the war

This photograph is astonishing for several reasons, not least of which was how it came to be. While photographs were not permitted, the neighbor of the school (and Church behind it) happened to still have a camera, with film, and shot this from his second-floor bedroom window, across the street. The characters include Seyß Inquart right-most, in the back, and Gen. Schwebel who is walking directly behind him. The person leaving the school, at the door, on the right, was Gen. Reichelt.

Five Brothers and a War

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