"The Americans also did things during the war that weren't all fine and honorable..."

"The American bomber attacks on Salzburg provoked a deep sense of shock among the populace. These were quickly termed `terror attacks' in the Nazi terminology. And, of course, the destruction of the cathedral was put to good propagandistic use. But also the use of timed detonation bombs created strongly negative feelings towards the Americans. I saw this myself at the main railroad yard, the way the Nazis used prisoners to remove these bombs and they were blown up in the process. The general feeling was: `This is the work of the people who presumably want to liberate you!'

These timed detonation bombs can't just be explained away with a phrase like `We want to liberate you'. These American attacks on train yards like Bischofshofen also provoked deep resentment among the railway workers. During these attacks, dive bombers pursued and hunted down fleeing individuals on the ground. The Americans also did things during the war that weren't all fine and honorable. The lust for killing was also to be seen on their side. And these dive bombers and time detonation bombs at a time when the end of the war was already in sight certainly had the effect of producing a certain distance on the part of the populace."

Wilhelm W., born in 1930, then a railroad worker in Salzburg (Boltzmann-Institut/Steinocher-Fonds Interview Archive, Salzburg)