After the Shooting Stopped

In the anarchy and devastation in Germany of the immediate post World War II period, millions of non-German refugees poured out of German factories and off German farms and out of concentration camp system. They needed food, shelter, and medical care. Caring for these refugees was the daunting task of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). Hundreds of quickly recruited UNRRA workers streamed into Germany in the months after the shooting stopped, driven to help the millions in need, and fired by zeal to rebuild the continent and the world. Susan Pettiss was one of the first American women to enter Munich, scant days after the city fell. Hers is the story of UNRRA and the displaced persons she worked with for three years.