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Show Yanks Unfurl American Flag In Berlins Purge Square BERLIN, July 4 The American flag was raised over Berlin Wednesday in the same bloodstained barracks square where Adolf Hitlers enemies were purged in mass executions by the gestapo 11 years ago. Outside the parade grounds of Hitlers own elite body of guards, Berlin lay in ruins, almost destroyed in the war nazism brought to Germany. The capitals sullen, subdued people lined up for food and labored in long work lines. Symbolizes Occupation The raising of the Stars and Stripes symbolized the partial occupation of Berlin by the U. S. army. Old Glory went up beside the red flag of the soviet union. Turning the American occupation zone over to Gen. Omar N. Bradley, commander of the U. S. 12th army group, the Russian commander of Berlin, Maj. Gen. Nikolai N. Barinov, said: The raising of the American flag side by side with that of the soviet union symbolizes not only the unity of the past but in a greater sense the further fight against fascism and for democracy. In brief, terse sentences, Bradley replied: This victory is made possible by all working together. Hope our close relationship will continue so that never again will it be necessary to conquer any nation as was necessary in the case of Germany, which desired to rule her neighbors. Parade Ground Filled The huge Adolf Hitler parade ground, famed in imperial times for the drilling of the kaisers cadets, was jammed with troops. With Bradley was Maj. Gen. Floyd L. Parks, commander of the U. S. First air borne army, who has been named American commander of Berlin, and French Cmdr. Maj. Gen. Geoffrey de Beauchesne. The honor guards were an infantry battalion commanded by Lt. Gen. Robert F. Brockman of 442 Dibbs ave., Indianapolis, Ind., of the U. S. Second armored division, and a Russian Berlin guards battalion under Maj. Vassily Demchenko, soviet hero who forced the crossing of the Dnepr river. In a well modulated voice, stocky Gen. Barinov turned the American zone over to Bradley and Parks and, paying tribute to American aid to Russia, said that the soviet union always felt gratitude for the help given by the United States. Barinov observed that the See Page 2, Column 5 |
