| Archive for Langeleben Internet forum for Langeleben Reunion Members. |
| Froomie |
Kinderheim Memorial - outside the gates at Langeleben?Does anyone have a photo, or know what the German memorial outside Langeleben/the Kinderheim says please? I believe it is reference to a British Bomber that inadvertantly bombed the original Kinderheim during the war and killed all the evacuated children and the staff. Any details at all would be of interest and certainly a photo of the plaque. So if any of you going out there take your camera's I'd very much appreciate it. Many thanks. Phil. |
| jr |
The story I was told was that in the last days of the war a British bomber flying over the Elm spotted some German tanks or troops and dropped a stick of bombs on them. The bombs hit the childrens' home, and a nurse and (I think) nine children were killed.
I'll be driving over to Helmstedt next week, so I could oblige with a photo. PM me your e-mail address and I'll send it over. |
| Rodney Goddard |
From what I can remember, the children there at the time had been evacuated from Berlin. American bombers were flying back from a raid on Berlin and jettisoned their bombs over what they thought was an unpopulated area and about 40 children were killed. Additionally, you can find the names of those killed on the Bell outside the home.
Rod goddard 
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| Rodney Goddard |
When I think about it the bell has been moved to Berlin.
Rod |
| jr |
Hi Flod, missed you at the Reunion this year.
I stick by my version, which is supported by the entry in the freenet dictionary: http://lexikon.freenet.de/Langeleben this roughly translates as: in the last days of the war a tragic incident took place. One day before being occupied by the allies, on 11th April 1945, American dive bombers attacked Langeleben. They destroyed the building of a country pub and killed 53 in an attack which lasted only a few minutes. Among the victims were 35 children aged 4-6 years old and two nurses from the childrens' home. The children had been evacuated to the Elm from the orphanage in Braunschweig to protect them from bombing.The victims were buried at the scene and in 1953 a memorial was erected. Hope to see you next year in Slutter. |