The rise and fall of the Nazi state. Part V: The Disintegration of Germany.

The rise and fall of the Nazi state. Part V: The Disintegration of Germany. Four captured boys prove German need for manpower - Four young German boys, battle-weary, dirty and wounded, wait on the steps of an altar somewhere in western Germany for transportation to a prisoner-of-war camp. Many of the prisoners taken by the Allies during the fighting in Europe were young boyw of 15, and in many towns children of 12 were hastil;y armed by the harassed military authorities in a futile attempt to prevent Allied capture of the towns. During the almost six years of war, the great number of prisonors taken by the Allies and the mounting list of German casualties created a grave shortage of manpower in the German war machine. Old men and young boys were forced into the army, given little training and frequently told to find weapons for themselves on the battlefield. As German unit after German unit was dismembered, surrounded of annihilated, even women and children were impressed as combatants.