# WW2: were post-surrender attacks on occupying US troops a problem? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 14, 2018, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-were-post-surrender-attacks-on-occupying-us-troops-a-problem/826113 "2018-12-14T12:36:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-were-post-surrender-attacks-on-occupying-us-troops-a-problem/826113/21 "2018-12-17T03:33:04Z")
My dad dealt with surrendering Germans after it ended. He said it was scary because there was a long line of troops surrendering to a handful of Allied troops. They could easily have been overrun. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-were-post-surrender-attacks-on-occupying-us-troops-a-problem/826113/22 "2018-12-17T21:12:13Z")
One of the few instances of German resistance: The German city of Aachen was captured in late 1944, and the Allies appointed a local man, Franz Oppenhof, as mayor. In March 1945, while the war was still on, but after this part of Germany was firmly under Allied control, a group of SS and Hitler Youth assassinated the mayor. > **[Franz Oppenhoff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Oppenhoff)** > > Franz Oppenhoff (18 August 1902 – 25 March 1945) was a German lawyer who was appointed mayor of the city of Aachen after its capture by Allied forces in World War II. He was subsequently assassinated on the order of Heinrich Himmler. > Born in 1902, Franz Oppenhoff received a law degree from Cologne University, and worked as a lawyer until World War II. Oppenhoff was an expert on Nazi law, had been legal representative for the Bishop of Aachen, Johannes Joseph van der Velden, and had defended som... ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-were-post-surrender-attacks-on-occupying-us-troops-a-problem/826113/23 "2018-12-17T21:56:46Z")
My Dad was on occupation duty in southern Germany until November ‘45 or so, and there didn’t seem to be any problem with resistance. There seemed to be free movement of American forces - one guy found a trove of stolen art the Nazis had hidden. My father, with restaurant experience, ran the Officers’ Club, and had former SS people working for him. Being Jewish, he enjoyed that a lot. So if even they didn’t make trouble, probably not a lot of trouble to be found. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2018, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-were-post-surrender-attacks-on-occupying-us-troops-a-problem/826113/24 "2018-12-18T03:57:09Z")
I know more about the conditions in Japan then in Germany after the war, but I presume Germany was fairly similar. In Japan people were starving. Just getting the basic necessities was very difficult. My ex-wife’s parents grew up in the war, and talked about how terrible the conditions were. The cities were in ruins, transportation system was destroyed. So many men were gone. People were tired of war. It was what it was, and they just wanted to go on with life. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-were-post-surrender-attacks-on-occupying-us-troops-a-problem/826113/25 "2018-12-21T16:42:06Z")
> [@robby](#): > > …Apparently they had been driving around the countryside, looking for an American Army officer they could surrender to… > > So that’s the story of how my grandfather “captured” 20 German soldiers. I recently read of an incident during the 1864 Atlanta campaign in which eight near-starving, bedraggled Confederate soldiers surrendered to a lone Wisconsin infantryman, even though his rifle was broken. During the First Gulf War, dozens of Iraqi soldiers tried surrender to a spotter drone from one of the offshore U.S. warships. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-were-post-surrender-attacks-on-occupying-us-troops-a-problem/826113/26 "2018-12-21T17:49:41Z")
John Keegan pointed out that surrender on the battlefield is a tricky business. It is a difficult and dangerous transaction. The surrendering party must offer their foes something of value – persuade them that accepting the surrender reduces the chances they themselves will be killed, despite the considerable risks involved in exposing themselves to accept the surrender (and, of course, the risk of treachery). Treachery doesn’t even have to happen – all it takes is the _rumor_ that the other side faked a surrender and opened fire for “our” side to reconsider risking themselves for any of Those People. In an environment where the flick of a finger can eliminate the approaching enemy force --white flag or no – it takes nerve as well as compassion to take prisoners. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-were-post-surrender-attacks-on-occupying-us-troops-a-problem/826113/27 "2018-12-21T19:20:43Z")
Even more specifically, it’s not treachery, but perfidy: [Perfidy - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfidy) ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-were-post-surrender-attacks-on-occupying-us-troops-a-problem/826113/28 "2018-12-22T09:50:45Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I recently read of an incident during the 1864 Atlanta campaign in which eight near-starving, bedraggled Confederate soldiers surrendered to a lone Wisconsin infantryman, even though his rifle was broken. > > During the First Gulf War, dozens of Iraqi soldiers tried surrender to a spotter drone from one of the offshore U.S. warships. Another First Gulf War story I heard was a pilot had to eject from his aircraft and landed in the middle of nowhere. Just as he landed he saw a group of armed Iraqi soldiers approach him and just as he thought he was done for they all threw down their guns and surrendered. He took one of their AK-47’s just in case and asked them where the nearest town was and walked with them in tow to it. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-were-post-surrender-attacks-on-occupying-us-troops-a-problem/826113/29 "2018-12-22T14:20:01Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Another First Gulf War story I heard was a pilot had to eject from his aircraft and landed in the middle of nowhere. Just as he landed he saw a group of armed Iraqi soldiers approach him and just as he thought he was done for they all threw down their guns and surrendered. He took one of their AK-47’s just in case and asked them where the nearest town was and walked with them in tow to it. Keep in mind a lot of front line recruits (as opposed to the core elite troops) didn’t want to be there, had no loyalty to Saddam, and probably had been cut off from central command and did not receive necessary supplies (considering any supply convoys would be favourite targets too). As POW’s they’d be fed, kept safe, and eventually returned to their families. Most likely too they’d seen or heard about units that fought back (or just got in the way) and were wiped out. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-were-post-surrender-attacks-on-occupying-us-troops-a-problem/826113/30 "2018-12-22T14:42:22Z")
As well as all the reasons listed above. “Asymmetric” warfare is way less effective when you’ve just lost a long costly conventional war. 270k Americans died fighting for the US in Europe, in the campaigns that ultimately led to the occupation of Germany. Even if you could convince enough Germans that it was a good idea to lead a guerrilla campaign against the US. The number of US troops you could conceivably kill in that campaign would be a drop in the bucket compared to the number killed prior to the occupation. There would be no advantaged gained, if the US people we willing to send 100s of thousands of their “boys” to die in the invasion, why would a handful more after the invasion convince them to pull out and let the Nazis come back. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-were-post-surrender-attacks-on-occupying-us-troops-a-problem/826113/31 "2018-12-22T14:52:43Z")
Another post-WW2 occupation story from my grandfather (An engineer in the British army during WW2 and Korea). He was also stationed in Germany during the occupation (or possibly soon afterwards). His family traveled with him, and my uncles were placed in a local boarding school as was typically the case for British officers. What (at the time) was inexplicable was many of the German children my uncles got to know at the school had fathers who were in South America and not able to return. At the time they just thought “mmm that’s strange” and thought nothing of it. In retrospect there is probably a more sinister explanation as to why their fathers had to flee to South America and not come back. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ww2-were-post-surrender-attacks-on-occupying-us-troops-a-problem/826113.md?page=1)