The Colmar Pocket was in the heart of Alsace, where most of the citizens spoke French and German. The Allied soldiers found it increasingly difficult to tell whether they were still in France or already in Germany. Towns had German names, swastikas adorned buildings, and shopkeepers accepted German Reichsmarks.[1] Because of the German feel to the area, and the antagonism of the locals, for the first time in the war, the men began to feel more like conquerors than liberators.[2]

On top of this, German resistance was growing fiercer and more fanatical by the day. Phil and his men placed the blame directly on the back of the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau, Jr., a confidant of President Roosevelt.

The longtime treasury secretary had authored the “Morgenthau Plan,” which would subdivide Germany into separate independent states once victory was attained, and intentionally wreck all its factories and industrial capabilities. This would force a return to a pre-Industrial Revolution agrarian society.

In effect, Morgenthau was proposing the wholesale destruction of the German economy and widespread deaths in a population that wouldn’t be able to produce enough food to feed each other or themselves.

Even worse, President Roosevelt was reported to have approved the plan, which was leaked to the press, causing a public firestorm.

German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels seized the opportunity to fire up the German people and soldiers, saying that Morgenthau—a Jew—was set on turning Germany into a wasteland and starving many millions of Germans.

At 30th Regiment headquarters, Ross Calvert threw a cut-out newspaper article on the breakfast table.

“Got this in the mail from home,” he said to Phil. The headline of the op-ed piece screamed, “Stop Helping Dr. Goebbels.”

“Damn politicians,” Ross grumbled. “You know, if the Krauts believe they’re facing complete destruction when they lose this damn war, they’re just going to fight like hell—even harder than they even are now.”

Phil’s friend took a sip of coffee and continued venting. “I’ve heard the War Department’s pissed off. They’re telling Morgenthau that the German reaction is like throwing thirty divisions at us.”

Phil lit a cigarette and measured his words. “If you think the War Department’s mad at Morgenthau, you ought to talk to my guys,” he commented. “Hell, we’re the ones facing these fanatical bastards. Ross, it’s probably a good thing the Secretary doesn’t come visit the men on the front.”

He had this to say in a letter home:

From the way things look now, it may be some timebefore we finish here. Not that we won’t, because we will.

People who make speeches like Morgenthau aren’t doinganything but causing the Germans to fight more and harder. Why can’t people at home learn to keep their damnmouths shut? Well, I guess I’d better close for now before Iblow a fuse.

Write soon.

The fact that this letter wasn’t censored spoke volumes.[3]

~~~~~

[1] The Reichsmark was the basic monetary unit of the Third Reich, replaced in 1948 by the Deutschmark.

[2] Larimore, At First Light, 185.

[3] Ibid, 185-186.

In case you haven’t read or listened to Dad’s book, you can learn more or order it here.

© Copyright WLL, INC. 2025.