ZGram - 11/13/2004 - "I could have been Heidi" / Part III

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

Zgram - Where Truth is Destiny:  Now more than ever!

November 13, 2004

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Continuing the first-person account of the last weeks of WWII as 
experienced inside Germany:

[START]

February 24, 1945. The flight of the German people from the advancing 
RussianArmies was already in full swing. Hundreds of people were 
boarding the coaches. When the train left the Bodenbach station at 
two o'clock that afternoon our coach was completely filled.

      We felt sorry for our little Helga, with the sad circumstances 
in which we were forced to celebrate her second birthday. So ahead of 
time, we gave her the little farm set I had had made for her in 
Wuppertal. The two little girls played happily with the animals I had 
painted.

      Sometime after midnight, we arrived in Eger, the end station for 
this scheduled run. Thousands of people were camped down here in the 
huge Eger station, all waiting to catch a train to somewhere. Most 
everybody wanted to be in the American zone at the end of the war. 
Friends of ours from Tetschen camped here also, so we could help each 
other and give words of encouragement.

      The next morning we boarded a passenger train to Plauen/Saxony 
only about 50 kilometers, so it wouldn't take too long. However, our 
train was forced to come to a halt before it actually reached the 
Plauen station because the city had taken a severe bomb attack the 
night before. We were told that if we chose to continue by train, 
passenger coaches would be at our disposal on the other side of the 
demolished city. But, this meant that we had to walk clear over to 
the other side of the city.

      My wife pushed the pram with Helga in it, and I held Heidi's 
hand and we found the main road through the city which had been 
cleared hastily; rubble and debris were piled on both sides. Long 
lines of people streamed in both directions. We made our way like 
everybody else, down the middle of this dangerous, make-shift road. 
We had to be constantly on the lookout for sure footing as well as 
for stones or burning beams which fell from the bombed out houses. 
The smoke stung our eyes.

       Just once I let go of Heidi's hand to help my wife with the 
pram over some debris, taking for granted that Heidi would follow a 
few steps behind us. But when I turned around to take her hand again, 
she was no longer there. I was frantic, and I ran back the same way 
we had just come. When I finally found her again she was unconcerned, 
strolling with the wave of people going in the other direction. To be 
sure, I did not let go of her hand again.

      Finally, we reached the other side of the city and took a train 
to Gera in Thuringia. Thousands of people camped out here at this 
train station also. Hereafter, our journey went only for short 
distances at a time, stops and transfers occurred at almost every 
station. The stations were Jena, Weimar, Erfurt, Gotha, Eisenzch, 
Bebra- and I saw Heinebach again - Kassel, Warburg, Brilon. And 
always the same at every station; wait and wait for the connection 
for the next stretch. Conditions had so worsened in the ten days 
since I had left Wuppertal for Tetschen. Almost every station had 
been bombed and then haphazardly cleared of rubble. And the closer we 
got to the Ruhr area, the more intense the destruction from our 
enemies aircraft.

      We finally reached Wuppertal on February 28. It had taken four 
days to make the trip back, where as it had taken me 24 hours to 
travel to Tetschen to get my family, even with all its adventures. 
How Germany had deteriorated in so short a time, it was all so 
overwhelming.

This is the first time my wife had seen Wuppertal, and she certainly 
must have had a bad impression from this bombed out field of ruins.

     The lady I rented from, Mrs. Hildebrand, received us graciously 
and took the children in her arms. Her sympathy did us much good. 
Afterwards, the Hildebrand's left their little house to us and 
journeyed to stay with their relatives in Kierspe, near Meinerzhagen. 
We freshened up and for the first time in four days we slept straight 
through until the next day. I acquainted my wife with the Shellenbeck 
neighborhood which by now was mostly evacuated. Most women had taken 
their children to stay in the country with relatives, while most men 
were off fighting the war.

      My normal workday began in the factory right away, my only free 
time, Saturday afternoons and Sundays. I shopped for groceries every 
day and brought them home after work. As for nightly bomb attacks we 
didn't have to worry. Settlements like Shellenbeck were not worth it 
for the heavy four-motored bombers. However, during the daytime 
hours, so-called fighter bombers with machine guns, flew overhead, 
and hunted down and shot at individuals. Therefore, we could not 
allow Heidi and Helga to wander out onto the street. We allowed them 
only a few steps into the garden. An advantage for our household's 
nourishment was that I could obtain fresh milk every day from the 
Isenberg family, and also some items from Mrs. Ronsdorf and her 
fourteen year old daughter. One Sunday afternoon, we invited Mrs. 
Rondorf and her daughter for tea served with sugar rusk and biscuits 
with butter and and grey sugar. A significant social occasion in the 
Wuppertal of that day, made possible only by using Heidi and Helga's 
ration cards.

     We sent mail to my wife's Mama, to my father and sister in 
Tetschen, but since we received no mail in Wuppertal, we lived our 
days in anxiety and worry for our loved ones, who likewise probably 
never received our letters. Our connections with them were completely 
cut off. 

Almost two weeks after our arrival in Wuppertal, the more or less 
improvised harmony of our life underwent a sudden interruption, when 
on Monday, March 12, 1945, at the noon day hour, a heavy bomb attack 
took place. Our firm Erbsloh received several light hits, but above 
all the attack damaged our training hall to a great extent. Every 
hand was needed to put out the fires. I worried for my wife and my 
children, but I couldn't call her, the telephone system had been cut 
off. I told myself that my wife certainly would have heard the 
air-raid warnings and taken the children to the basement, which to be 
sure was no protected basement, but a walkout, flush with the ground 
and the garden.

      About four o'clock, when the most important fires were 
extinguished, I stormed up Kreus Street in a long distance race to 
see if Schellenbeck had taken any hits. The hilly region was plainly 
visible from where I stood and I could see that no apparent danger 
existed to my family. So, I ran back to the factory to finish with 
the clean up from the air strikes.

      When I finally arrived home it was already nine o'clock.  My 
wife had seen and heard the thundering fire spectacle of the bombings 
and when I walked through the door that night, she was completely out 
of order from the experience. This was understandable; she had never 
experienced such formidable war sounds before.  In any case, she no 
longer wanted to be in strange surroundings where she had to be alone 
all day, and she reminded me that she was alone in Shellenbeck 
because almost every other woman and child had been sent to stay with 
relatives or acquaintances in the country.

     This was a dilemma, because I had no way of knowing how long the 
air attacks would continue, however, I could assume that they would 
become heavier in the days to come. Certainly, I had to be present in 
the factory, so I couldn't be home with my wife and the children to 
comfort them when they needed me. Granted, I wanted her and the 
children with me as much as I wanted anything in the world, but I 
understood her feelings. So right then, I agreed to take them back to 
Tetschen.

      The next day, I spoke with Mr. Erbsloh, who was by no means 
enthusiastic about a repeated leave of absence for me; each man was 
needed in the factory as the war began the step up to its ending 
phase. However, Mr. Erbsloh had compassion for my wife, whose nerves 
couldn't tolerate such horrible war events and he granted me the time 
off to take my wife and children back to Tetschen.

March 1945. In our returning to Tetschen, I had to reckon that there 
would be even more destruction to the railroads from hostile bombers 
than we had encountered on our trip to Wuppertal and it was entirely 
possible that we would have to travel long distances on country 
roads. For this distress I needed a sturdy wagon because the children 
could not master long roads with their little legs. And therefore, it 
was only because I stood with my family under the force of danger to 
life, that I made the decision to borrow the Hildebrand's large wagon 
for the journey to our homeland.

     As for our preparations for departure it was clearly evident that 
only the most necessary clothing could be taken along, but then we 
didn't have much anyway because our packed belongings which I had 
taken to the train station in Tetschen for shipment to Wuppertal had 
indeed never arrived in Wuppertal. And furthermore, it was absolutely 
necessary to keep adequate space for the children in the wagon as 
well as space for food supplies. And because I readily knew that the 
greatest danger to us from enemy aircraft lurked in the more densely 
settled regions of Wuppertal and most certainly in the vicinity of 
the railroads, I asked a friend of mine, Mr. Uelfer, to drive us a 
few kilometers out of Wuppertal where we could take a country road 
leading out of the area.  Naturally, Mr.Uelfer had no gas for his 
car. I therefore went to the Wuppertal chief of police and introduced 
myself as an armed-SS man on leave and described my problem.  The 
chief of police gave me a receipt for 10 liters of fuel which would 
get us as far as the other side of Hagen.

      It was Monday, March 19, 1945, St. Joseph's Day, a week after 
the bombing attack, when at a very early hour Mr. Uelfer came to pick 
us up in his car. We loaded the wagon and our meager belongings onto 
the top of the car and tied them down with straps. We settled my wife 
and the sleeping children in the back seat and drove away from 
Schellenbeck It was now the break of day, and the short trip through 
the destroyed industrial areas of Wuppertal was not an encouraging 
sight. And then, on the other side of Hagen, Mr. Uelfer dropped us 
off on the road to Hohenbimburg-Iserlohn. Reluctantly, he drove away 
and left us to our fate. We were in God's hands now.



[End]

Tomorrow:  Conclusion