Postwar Germany: Surviving and rebuilding after 1945

NARRATOR: Germany 1945 - a wasteland of ruins. Almost every second home destroyed. Fourteen billion cubic feet of rubble to be cleared away. Every available hand is needed. Many men are dead or still in captivity. In Berlin alone, 50,000 rubble women are at work.

ELISABETH VON HARDER: "Groups of women were organized and we had to fill in the bomb craters. Many had never held a shovel. Older ladies, too. I was young, so it wasn't so hard for me. Often till 9 at night with no payment, no extra food or any other compensation."

NARRATOR: Hunger and scavenging for food typify daily life. The occupying forces can only supply the German people with the barest essentials. Food is strictly rationed. Often only 800 calories a day.

URSULA SCHNEIDER: "Everything was precisely portioned out. My father often cried at the table and said 'Mother, just give me one more slice.' 'No,' she'd say, 'then we'll have nothing for tomorrow.'"

NARRATOR: In the winter of 1946, temperatures drop to -20 degrees. The people in the bombed out cities are hit especially hard. More than 1,000 freeze to death in Berlin alone. Pure desperation leads to looting. For many, it is the only chance of survival.

INGE DEUTSCHKRON: "Suddenly, there was a rumour. 'They’ve got sugar and jam over there.' Then everybody took off with a cart or whatever they had. There were some dreadful scenes, when someone took what someone else wanted because everyone wanted more."

NARRATOR: Millions of people have lost their homes and are seeking refuge. In Berlin, tens of thousands pour in daily - refugees and displaced people from Pomerania, East Prussia, Silesia and the Sudetenland. Unwanted rivals in the fight for survival.

HELLMUTH KARASEK: "No one took us in because my mother had a baby, and we were four children already. Families like ours found no shelter."

NARRATOR: In the end, up to 14 million of the displaced must be accommodated in the occupied zones. Often the authorities of the allied powers force the locals to take in their fellow countrymen from the East. Hardly anyone wants to share their living space.

GISELA MIKOLAJEWICZ: "Just imagine the jostling for the toilet and the bathroom. We children had to vacate the children's rooms, we had to sleep with our parents, so the refugees could have our rooms and it was the same in the kitchen. And then it was agreed, I'll cook from 12 to 1 and I'll cook from 1 to 2. And then it got a bit tiresome."

NARRATOR: In the years after the war, the rubble is cleared. Despite the deprivations, hope and faith outweigh the horrors of war. The allied powers try to improve the stability of supply. The help to rebuild comes mainly from the West. Most of the German people want to leave the past behind as quickly as possible.