Düsseldorf Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===World War II=== {{See also|Gau Düsseldorf|Bombing of Düsseldorf in World War II}} During [[World War II]], Düsseldorf was the location of a Nazi prison with several [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] subcamps,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1109|title=Strafgefängnis und Untersuchungshaftanstalt Düsseldorf-Derendorf|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=31 March 2024|language=de}}</ref> five subcamps of the [[Buchenwald concentration camp]] for mostly Polish and Russian prisoners, but also French, Dutch, Belgian, Czech, Italian, Yugoslavian,<ref>{{cite book|last=Megargee|first=Geoffrey P.|year=2009|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume I|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|pages=330–336|isbn=978-0-253-35328-3}}</ref> and a camp for [[Sinti]] and Romani people (see ''[[Romani Holocaust]]'').<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1107|title=Lager für Sinti und Roma Düsseldorf|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=31 March 2024|language=de}}</ref> The Rabbi of the Düsseldorf Jewish Community fled to the Netherlands and died in KZ [[Auschwitz]] in 1943.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310937 |title=Israel National News 1 August 2021 |access-date=3 August 2021 |archive-date=3 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803175038/https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310937 |url-status=live }}</ref> The city was a target of [[strategic bombing during World War II]], particularly during the [[battle of the Ruhr|RAF bombing campaign in 1943]] when over 700 bombers were used in a single night. Raids continued late into the war. As part of [[Oil Campaign of World War II|the campaign against German oil facilities]], the RAF raid of 20–21 February on the Rhenania Ossag refinery in the Reisholz district of the city halted oil production there. The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Düsseldorf in mid-April 1945. The [[97th Infantry Division (United States)|United States 97th Infantry Division]] easily captured the city on 18 April 1945,<ref>Stanton, Shelby, ''World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939–1946'' (Revised Edition, 2006), Stackpole Books, p. 174.<!-- ISBN needed --></ref> after the local [[German resistance to Nazism|German Resistance]] group launched [[Aktion Rheinland]]. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page