Operation Annie - January 26, 1945

Recorded Sound | Digitized | RG Number: RG-91.0526

Overview

Description: 0:00: Trojan Horse theme. Radio 1212.
1:05: Daily from 2-6, every hour on the hour. This is Radio 1212, with news for the Rheinland. We bring reports from the Front and homeland for residents of the Rheinland District and the Saar Palatinate.
1:35: Radio 1212 with today's dispatch from the Front. The battle of Strasbourg has ended; on the Ruhr, German allies are withdrawing to the east bank; the planned withdrawal to the Eifel [forest] is nearly complete.
2:22: Reports from the East. Königsburg is in danger; fighting in the streets of Breslau; Gleiwitz [Gliwice] was lost yesterday.
2:32: Dateline: Alsace. The battle for Strasbourg has begun. German and American tank divisions are engaging in the region between Haguenau and the Harthwald. Localities cited include Schweighausen, Dauendorf, Colmar, Nordhausen.
4:20: Ruhr sector. German allies have withdrawn to the right bank of the river. English slowly advancing. Localities cited include: Lieck, Kirchhoven, Schaffhausen [Schaffhouse-près-Seltz].
6:20: Eastbound transports attacked by American bombers between Hamm and Bielefeld; 230 trucks destroyed, 60 locomotives damaged.
7:00: The Eastern Front. The flood has reached Breslau; Königsburg is threatened. Breslau Gauleiter Obergruppenführer [Karl] Hanke orders troops to fight to the last man. Gleiwitz and Kelz (Kielce) must abandon the "elastic defense"; the same destiny awaits Ostrow [Ostrów Wielkopolski] and [?]Schalow. German-Soviet tank battles in Posen [Poznań]. 300,00 dead or missing in Breslau.
8:12: Withdrawal maneuvers. Talley of transport vehicles and railcars destroyed in bombing raids. This concludes news from the Front. In a few minutes Radio 1212 will broadcast news for military personnel and the civilian residents of the Rheinland.
11:40: Repeat of news headlines from 1:30-2:30. Radio 1212 broadcasts daily from 2-6, every hour on the hour.
13:09: Jazzy music (poor sound).
13:43: Unidentified orchestral music (violin solo over electronic hum).
14:35: This is Radio 1212 with news for military personnel and civilian residents of the Rheinland. Reports on action in the Western Front, tank battalions, Volksgrenadier units and Infantry divisions.
16:06: Dateline Berlin. Statement on Luftwaffe status and tank deployment. Names cited include Reichsmarshall Hermann Goering, [Field Marshall Erhard] Milch, [Waffen-SS General] Karl-Heinrich Brenner. Training course for "Wehrmachthelferin" [female military auxiliaries] announced.
17:09: Dateline Essen. Evacuations, Volksturm activities, situation on the Western Front. Statement by Gauleiter [Fritz] Schleßmann (summarized).
17:48 Dateline Berlin. Dr. Goebbels on the situation in the East. "Today the German people stand alone, abandoned by the entire world. Yet we will prevail."
18:20: Dateline Magdeburg. The French Gelegenheitsarbeiter (day worker) Max Pempe (?) was brought to trial. For the past 2 years he had been speculating on cigarettes, buying for 20 marks, and selling for 30, and continuing this illicit enterprise despite warnings. Recently, he acquired an SS uniform and pretending to work in the Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service) confiscated 30,000 cigarettes from a merchant in Berlin. Verdict: the death penalty. Name cited: SS Gruppenführer [Leo] Petri.
19:23. Dateline Berlin. SS Reichsführer Himmler has decided to sell livestock from his 5000 hectare estate near Bergstadt [Żerków], Wartheland [region of Posen/Poznań]. On offer are 1500 cows and bulls, 2500 hogs, and 800 breeding horses, including one purebred Arabian horse. Himmler is willing to sell this livestock to Aryan peasants affected by the war in central and western Germany. Those interested may apply care of this Berlin address [address provided].
20:59: Radio 1212 has brought news for military personnel and the civilian population of the Rheinland.
21:20: This is Radio 1212. Special report on the fate of the Volkssturm, "born in Germany's most difficult hour, now receiving its baptism by fire." Localities cited include: Rastatt, Danzig, Bromberg [Bydgoszcz], Kalisch [Kalisz], Magdeburg,
24:48: Trojan Horse theme. Radio 1212 now concludes its reports from the Front and homeland for military personnel and residents of the Rheinland and the Saar Palatinate. We broadcast daily from 2-6. Some music to close. (No music ensues). Trojan Horse theme (signoff).
Date: 1945 January 26
Credit: Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives & Records Administration

Physical Details

Language: German
Genre/Form: Radio broadcasts. Propaganda.

Rights & Restrictions

Conditions on Access: You do not require further permission from the Museum to access this archival media.
Copyright: Public Domain
Conditions on Use: To the best of the Museum's knowledge, this material is in the public domain. You do not require further permission from the Museum to reproduce or use this material.

Keywords & Subjects

Topical Term: Propaganda, American. Radio broadcasting, American--Germany. Radio in propaganda--Germany. Radio, Military. World War, 1939-1945--Propaganda. Radio Broadcasting
Corporate Name: Radio Luxembourg Radio 1212

Administrative Notes

Legal Status: In Process
Recorded Sound Provenance: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum acquired digital copies of Record Group 165: from the National Archives and Records Administration in March 2019.
Recorded Sound Source: United States. National Archives and Records Administration
File Number: Source Archive Number: RG-165-69

Record last modified:: 2024-02-21 07:30:13
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn722573

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Also in Operation Annie broadcasts

Operation Annie (also known as "1212", the frequency on which it broadcasts) was a covert Allied "black propaganda" radio station which began broadcasting in late 1944 from a secret location in Luxembourg and purported to be pro-German, playing patriotic traditional German songs. Over a period of 127 broadcasts, the station built up a loyal following of both German civilians and soldiers. By early 1945, the Allied forces were advancing on Germany and, under instruction from General Dwight Eisenhower, the radio station began broadcasting false information about Allied positions and implied a major assault into Germany was under way. This had the intended effect of making German civilians flee from their homes, which in turn hampered the retreat of the German army. Source: http://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Operation_Annie_(1946)

Date: 1944-1945

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