battle of cologne world war 2 tank battle

Is there responsibility for the death of one person? I don't think so.' Is there really in a war like the Second World War? There's never been a war like this before, and no again. 'It was a nice friendly meeting, but this is a man who was responsible for taking the life of your great aunt?' asked Doane.

in history, and is a relative of Esser's. 'How should I say? History becomes real,' said Mark Hieronimus, who has a Ph.D. They shared stories, and toasted to her memory. He set up a dinner in Cologne so Smoyer could meet some of Katharina Esser's extended family, including her niece, Leni, who's 83.

But they suffered just like the guys in the modern wars.' 'You don't think a WWII veteran as holding onto something like this. 'And so the more he watches the film, the more he replays it in his mind, the deeper it sinks, and now it's part of him,' said Makos. While working on the book, Adam Makos also developed a friendship with Smoyer, and tried to help the man he sees as a war hero come to terms with the past. The former fighters from both sides were united by the fear they'd been the one who'd killed Katharina Esser. Inside the German tank, which also fired toward Esser's car, was bow gunner Gustav Schaefer, whom Smoyer met years after the war, and befriended. You have German soldiers and snipers moving through tunnels, through the walls of the houses, and then on top of that you have to worry about a German tank coming around the corner.' They're worried about Germans dug into the basement. 'I think there was something about Cologne,' said Makos. 'Clarence had seen a lot of death and destruction, but it was this moment in Cologne that stayed with him,' said Doane. 'He had heard somebody said, 'Hey, they've uncovered the film of the 3rd Armored Division fighting in Cologne and I think that's your tank.' And he plugged it into his VHS player, and the war came back to him.' Historian Adam Makos is author of the book, 'Spearhead' (out in February), which chronicles Clarence Smoyer's battles through Europe. He admits he's a little confused between what he recalls from that day versus what he later saw in that film stored away for decades at the National Archives. He said it was the film that jogged his memory. 'All the time I see her, I see her lying in the street.' Katharina Esser, after the car she was in was hit by gunfire during a tank battle in Cologne, Germany, in the final days of World War II.ĭoane went back to that street, now bustling, with Smoyer.

Battle of cologne world war 2 tank battle