Editing Cologne (section)

===World War II===
[[File:Koeln 1945.jpg|thumb|The devastation of Cologne, 1945]]
During World War II, Cologne was a Military Area Command Headquarters ({{lang|de|Militärbereichshauptkommandoquartier}}) for [[Wehrkreis VI]] (headquartered at [[Münster]]). Cologne was under the command of Lieutenant-General Freiherr Roeder von Diersburg, who was responsible for military operations in [[Bonn]], [[Siegburg]], [[Aachen]], [[Jülich]], [[Düren]], and [[Monschau]]. Cologne was home to the 211th Infantry Regiment and the 26th Artillery Regiment.

The Allies dropped 44,923.2 tons of bombs on the city during World War II, destroying 61% of its built up area. During the [[Bombing of Cologne in World War II]], Cologne endured 262 air raids<ref>{{cite web |author=koelnarchitektur |url=http://www.koelnarchitektur.de/pages/de/home/news_archiv/823.htm |title=on the reconstruction of Cologne |publisher=Koelnarchitektur.de |date=15 July 2003 |access-date=24 July 2009 |archive-date=1 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220201103749/http://www.koelnarchitektur.de/pages/de/home/news_archiv/823.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> by the Western [[Allies of World War II|Allies]], which caused approximately 20,000 civilian casualties and almost completely wiped out the central part of the city. During the night of 31 May 1942, Cologne was the target of "[[Operation Millennium]]", the first 1,000 bomber raid by the [[Royal Air Force]] in World War&nbsp;II. 1,046 heavy bombers attacked their target with 1,455 tons of explosives, approximately two-thirds of which were incendiary.<ref>Tourtellot, Arthur B. et al. ''Life's Picture History of World War&nbsp;II'', p. 237. ''Time'', Inc., New York, 1950.</ref> This raid lasted about 75 minutes, destroyed {{convert|600|acre|ha|0}} of built-up area (61%),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/worldwar2/theatres-of-war/western-europe/investigation/hamburg/sources/docs/6/|title=The National Archives &#124; World War II &#124; Western Europe 1939–1945: Hamburg &#124; Why did the RAF bomb cities?|first=The National|last=Archives|website=www.nationalarchives.gov.uk|access-date=28 January 2021|archive-date=7 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207102245/https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/worldwar2/theatres-of-war/western-europe/investigation/hamburg/sources/docs/6/|url-status=live}}</ref> killed 486 civilians and made 59,000 people homeless. The devastation was recorded by [[Hermann Claasen]] from 1942 until the end of the war, and presented in his exhibition and book of 1947 ''Singing in the furnace. Cologne – Remains of an old city''.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Claasen, Hermann | author2=Hoyer, Franz A | title=Gesang im feuerofen : Köln; überreste einer alten deutschen stadt | date=1949 | publisher=L. Schwann | edition=[2. aufl.] | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/14736437 | access-date=6 September 2018 | archive-date=28 July 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728173754/https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/14736437 | url-status=live }}</ref>

Cologne was taken by the American [[First United States Army#World War II|First Army]] in early March 1945 during the [[Western Allied invasion of Germany|Invasion of Germany]] after a [[Battle of Cologne (1945)|battle]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gYDN-UfehEEC&pg=PA1644|title=World War Two in Europe|last=Zabecki|first=David T.|date=1 January 1999|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-8240-7029-8|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Knight-2015">{{cite web |title=Cologne Cathedral is perhaps the single most famous tank duel? |url=https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/cologne-cathedral-tank-duel.html |first=Jack |last=Knight |publisher=War History Online |date=21 August 2015 |access-date=15 October 2019 |archive-date=15 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191015034716/https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/cologne-cathedral-tank-duel.html |url-status=live }}</ref> By the end of the war, the population of Cologne had been reduced by 95%. This loss was mainly caused by a massive evacuation of the people to more rural areas. The same happened in many other German cities in the last two years of war. By the end of 1945, however, the population had already recovered to approximately 450,000.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Cologne-Germany |title=Cologne – History |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=9 June 2020 |archive-date=24 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200624090051/https://www.britannica.com/place/Cologne-Germany |url-status=live }}</ref> By the end of the war, essentially all of Cologne's pre-war Jewish population of 11,000 had been deported or killed by the Nazis.<ref>Kirsten Serup-Bilfeld, Zwischen Dom und Davidstern. Jüdisches Leben in Köln von den Anfängen bis heute. Köln 2001, page 193</ref> The six synagogues of the city were destroyed. The [[Roonstrasse Synagogue|synagogue on Roonstraße]] was rebuilt in 1959.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sgk.de/index.php/historie.html |title=Synagogen-Gemeinde Köln |publisher=Sgk.de |date=26 June 1931 |access-date=8 August 2010 |archive-date=29 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629113231/http://www.sgk.de/index.php/historie.html |url-status=live }}</ref>