WWII Bombs

I have to take a moment and go back to my previous hockey home, Germany. Last week they found numerous WWII bombs that were buried and had not been detonated. One in particular was found in downtown Munich, a place that Justin and I frequently visited on our time off since it was only a 40 minute train ride from Augsburg. It's amazing to think that these bombs still exist in such populated areas. It is a sad reminder that not that much time has passed since the war that will haunt Germany forever.

Construction crews found the 550 pound bomb while demolishing an old pub that was set to go down. They found that it not only had a classic detonator, but also a chemical detonator. Which made the bomb even more unpredictable. Justin's teammate here in Japan played in Munich last year, and said that he had been to that pub a couple times. Not many people can say that they got "bombed" on a bomb!

I couple of years ago a similar bomb was found in Germany, and the bomb squad tried to move the bomb which led to it blowing up and killing some of the crew. So, Munich decided to do a controlled explosion. Below is the result...pretty crazy to see what one bomb can do. I could not imagine being in Germany when all the bombing was happening!

 

 

On Thursday two more bombs were found in Oranienburg, Germany, just outside of Berlin. They were found near the main train station. They were able to disarm one of the 550 pound bombs, but had to do another controlled explosion for the second bomb. Over 22,000 bombs were dropped on this city. Since Germany started looking for undetonated bombs in 1990, 138 have been found through out the country.

 

Smoke rises over the roofs of Oranienburg, Germany after a controlled blasting of one of the WWII bombs was found near the train station.

 

When we left Augsburg last year our flight path was from Munich to Amsterdam, then Amsterdam to Minneapolis. Little did we know that we were in the presence of another WWII bomb. On Wednesday they found yet another unexploded WWII bomb right at the Amsterdam airport. Thus shutting down one of Europe's busiest hubs. They found the bomb during routine construction work.

It's amazing to think that the past is still a part of the present.

The site at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam where the WWII bomb was found

 I feel very naive to think that most of the repercussions of the war were over with, and that I was so close to so many WWII bombs. I am sure these are not the last to be found either. I wish all my friends in Europe a very safe hockey season!