"They didn't tell us that the Austrians were any different from the Germans..."

"No, we had no special instructions. For us, this was simply a continuation of our operations across France and Germany to Austria, without any explanation that Austria was a different country. We only found that out once we were here. They didn't expressly tell us that the Austrians were any different from the Germans. We assumed that they were one and the same, although we soon found out that the people here were different. And then, of course, there were our orders - no fraternization! So, with certain individual exceptions, we did not approach them in a friendly way, and the Austrians were also not outwardly friendly to us."

US General Hallet D. Edson, interviewed for "Österreich II", a documentary film series for the Austrian Television Network (ORF) by Hugo Portisch and Sepp Riff, 1985.