Evening star., 1943-11-25
Bonbed-Out BerIiners Unable
7oFind Homes, Travellers Say
BY EDWIN SHANKE,

lorna 7OmeSx
By EDWIN SHANKE,
Associated Press Foreisn Correspondent.
STOCKHOLM, Nov. 25.-NaA
flreflghters and rescue squads still
labored to bring order out OF chaos
in Berlin today as eyewitness ac-
counts from the German capital
disclosed new details Of almost un-
believable destruction wrought by
two successive nights of intensive
Raj assaults.
Vast areas Of the great sprawling
metropolis. including many historic
landmarks. literally have been OBJ
liberated, these accounts said, with
block after block wiped out by ex-
| plosives and fire. Much of the city
simply no longer exists.
Rainfall was reported to have
helped the work of firefghters ma
terially, but the destruction of wa
ter mains left many sections of the
city at the mercy of the flames.
Fugitive's Clothes Singed.
The following picture of destruc-
ton was given by the latest hag-
gard, red-eyed arrivals from Berlin,
many of whom still were wearing
clothes singed as they walked
through streets walled by fire:
IF you look at the map start
ing at Ruhleben, which has ceased
to exist, great arc of destruction
gashes Berlin from the west to the
east. So many houses have been
destroyed in the Spandau northwest
suburb that it is estimated at least
IS per cent of it will have to be
evacuated.
There is simply not room enough
for ell those bombed out. To the
north the industrial districts Of
Tegel and Reinickendorf, and in
the northeast Pankow and Weis-
sensee, are all badly mauled. But
the heart of Berlin, centering
around the governmental quarter on
the Wilhelmstrasse, is the worst OF
all.
Luftwaffe Office Hit.
"Since the Monday night raid,
when sticks of bombs and incendi-
aries destroyed or damaged virtu-
ally every building on the left side
of the Wilhelmstrasse, from Will
helmsplatz to Unter Den Linden,
with the exception of the Reich
chancellery, additional buildings re-
ceived heavy blows.
DIR. Alfred Rosenburg's staff
building for ruling the Occupied
East, located in the former Russian
Embassy on Unter Den Linden, was
badly aged Reichsmarshal
Hermann Goerings Luftwaffe build
ing, which was damaged in raids
last March, was hit again by incen-
diaries and explosives. The nearby
Gestapo headquarters on Prtnz Al
brecht -Strasse was damaged.
I'm the Wilhelmstrasse, the evac-
uation of many government build
ings insofar as it was not done
earlier, started Wednesday morning.
This was true of the Foreign Once
and the Air Ministry. where trucks
began carting off records"
Rail CenterS Battered.
The eyewitnesses said Berlin rail-
way centers were so badly mauled
that virtually the only way out Of
the city by train was to the east.
The Friedrichstrasse station was
badly torn up. On a nearby field,
great piles of stores for use this win
ter were slowly burning.
Tracks leading to Humboldt
Hafen were torn and twisted by
explosives. Far to the west the i'm
portant switching yard at West
Kreuz was out of commission. and
big squads of workers were rushing
repairs because traffic into Berlin
from Western Germany comes by
that route.
The Yorck-StraSse railway station
south of Potsdamer Bahnhof, where
only the charred walls were still
standing, was wrecked, and the Hill
ton railway bridge over Innsbruck
erplatZ was broken in the center.
Some Areas Burned Out.
Fyewitnesses said the areas where
the fires were most serious were
cordoned off and the flames were
allowed to burn out because the fire.
fighters were unable to cope with
them.
Trucks crowded with firemen from
neighboring cities were seen enter
ing Berlin after the first raid. But
the problem they faced was demon
strated by the fact that Berliners
had difficulty even finding water
with which to wash their hands be-
cause Of the broken mains.
Prisoners of war and even pris-
oners from the concentration camp
at Oranienburg were pressed into
the rescue and clearance work, one
eyewitness said. Rain late yester-
day helped quench the fire which
was said to be still burning flercely
in the Mittelstrasse and Friedrich
strasse.
In the midst of the chaos after
the Monday night raid Propaganda
Minister Paul Joseph Goebbels-also
gauleiter of Eerlin-called a meet
ing of all responsible leaders In the
capital to discuss necessary emer-
gency measures.
May Pull Back Planes.
A person who came from Berlin
yesterday said Goebbels was report
ed to have told the officials, I'VE
must do everything IN our power to
prevent Berlin frem becoming . Sec