Aerial view of German rubble in 1945

Last evening Germany's ZDF TV station showed a harrowing film of what Germany looked like from the skies in the days immediately after German capitulation on May 7/8, 1945.

The programme relied heavily on film which was taken by the US Air Force in May and April 1945. 

The American project was called 'The Trolley Mission'.

Düren in North Rhine Westfalia was the worst bombed city in Germany. It was so badly destroyed that some believed that a new city should be built some kilometres distant from the ruins.

The programme showed aerial views of Berlin, Frankfurt-am-Main, Cologne. 

In Cologne all that was left standing and with little or no damage to it was the cathedral. The nearby railway station and marshalling yards were obliterated.

Approximately 600,000 civilians, including 76,000 children, lost their lives as a result of allied bombing over Germany in World War II.

The film showed lines of women with buckets removing rubble from the destroyed buildings.

Food and water was at a premium. And the Germans survived and rebuilt.

The film is among a number of programmes being shown in these days to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of Word War II.

Interesting watching the aftermath of such horror and destruction in the world of Covid-19.