Beating out the Nazis in Mechernich, Germany, 1945

March 15, 1945. The war in Europe is coming to an end. Although Germany’s surrender is just weeks away, its troops continue to put up stiff resistance, as Allied forces advance on Berlin. In the town of Mechernich, Chicago native Theodore F. Kukielski and his buddies take a break to pose with captured Nazi trophies.

The Americans capture Mechernich

Located 55 kilometers southwest of Cologne, the town of Mechernich sits on the edge of present-day Eifel National Park. Containing tall half-timbered houses and a moated castle, the Burg Satzvey, Mechernich is a charming Medieval town, great for a weekend trip. This was anything but the case in March 1945.

On March 6, 1945, the 9th and 23rd Infantry Regiments, 2nd Infantry Division, set off on a wild race to the Rhine River. Initially, they encountered little enemy resistance and made significant progress until late in the day. The Germans were in a general withdrawal, mounting brief and disorganized delaying actions, which did little to stop the Americans.

Eventually, the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry, reached Mechernich. A film crew accompanied the soldiers as they entered the town unopposed, recording them as they cleared buildings.¹

The 2nd Division command post would be located in Mechernich for a single day on March 7. And as quickly as they arrived, these troops departed, following the rest of the division on its drive.

In the days that followed other army units moved into the town.

Posing with war trophies

Amongst the units that passed through Mechernich was the 56th Signal Battalion. For a short time, men from the battalion took up quarters in the town, taking over private residences. Elements of the unit landed on Omaha Beach during the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944, and as a whole, it fought in the Ardennes Campaign. From France, the 56th pushed through Germany, ending the war in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia.

One of its members was Theodore F. Kukielski of Chicago.

Born into a Polish American family, Kukielski lived in Little Village at 4408 West 28th Street. Drafted into the army, aged 22, he began military service on August 7, 1941. Having just two years of high school, his enlistment record notes him being semiskilled in “machine shop and related occupations.”

By the time of the Normandy Invasion, he had reached the rank of Technician Fifth Grade (T/5). This meant that Kukielski had special technical skills but was not trained as a combat leader.

He documented his wartime adventures with a camera and later put together a photo album. Images captured on film included bombed-out towns in Normandy, close quarters combat in Germany and most horrifically, of liberated Buchenwald Concentration Camp. To be sure, he saw his fair share of the war.

Before making their final push through Germany, however, a brief pause awaited Kukielski and his buddies in Mechernich. It was here that on March 15 that this group of men found time to fool around and pose for a few quick snapshots. In their hands were a captured Nazi flag and helmet.

The caption on one photo reads:

Taken in Mechernich Germany March 15th 1945. The house in the rear is where we were quartered. Reading from left to right Gordon, Spalding, [?] + myself. The Nazi flag was taken out of the city hall also 4 beat up SS men.

What ever happened to the trophies is unknown. Nazi flags and helmets were popular souvenirs amongst American soldiers and sometimes, soldiers from the same unit would sign flags.

In the case of Kukielski, he returned back to his job at Western Electric and eventually settled in Lemont, Illinois. He married and had one son. Unfortunately, he did not get to live to old age, dying from a heart attack on February 12, 1962.

1. Combat History of the Second Infantry Division in World War II (Nashville: The Battery Press, 1979), p.124. Available online: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Combat_History_of_the_Second_Infantry_Di/kmB2PCD4ic0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=mechernich (accessed August 8, 2025).