Karl and Adolf’s Perilous Journey March 1945
Karl’s Report – Part 3
Only once did we get to know the Soviet air force. A ‘Rata’, an awkward looking, slow airplane, was shooting at the trek on the road leading to the West. Near us a woman lost her infant, whom she carried on her arm. We quickly looked for cover to evade further attacks. Once we had a chance to hitch a ride on a hauling truck, which pulled a huge artillery gun. At close range we could observe how the battery moved into position at dusk. We stayed nearby in order not miss a possible ride later on. Then it became clear what was going to happen: a tank attack in the immediate vicinity. I still remember the howling of the tank engines and the noise of the chains. In the flashes of the gun barrels I could watch the gunner load, how he slid the big, heavy shell into the barrel, stopped his ears, waited for the recoil, then picked up the next shell, about three or five times. To the right in the background I saw exploding tanks. The gun towers all-aflame flew up and to the side. The remaining tanks turned and withdrew into the night. Later on I found out that night aiming devices were in existence. I also have been contemplating, as to why I can still visualize so vividly this scene. It was the unshakable calm of the gunner and steadiness of his movements: industrial work at the machine, prepared by ‘Refa’. We were not fast enough; the battery with its three or four artillery guns had disappeared during the night.
In one of the next days and nights we stayed in a more westerly located village. I observed a group of our soldiers, who were giving someone a lecture. One asked, “Where do you have your gun, Frenchman?” One needs to know that very many western Europeans under German occupation volunteered to be enlisted in their own units to fight against Bolshevism. The fear of being overrun from the East since the revolution in Russia was great. Almost all countries east of Germany developed into authoritarian and dictatorial regimes, Germany of course also and even more so. Thus, French people entered the German army. The scenario makes me ask: Was it German arrogance or realistic assessment of the French fighting spirit?
A short time later at the same spot we listened, as a battle at close range developed with the Soviet infantry. When tracer bullets were shot over our heads, we threw ourselves behind a manure pile, and we could see now close to our left and right the trails of light flashing by. The Russians were shouting “Hurrä”; in the counter offensive it was responded to with Hurrah. A German soldier lost his nerves. For several minutes he was dancing with his gun in his arm from one leg onto the other. Much later, sitting in relative safety in the train, I retold my observation to another refugee. Thereupon a sergeant severely reprimanded me, “One does not talk about these things in such detail.” The aforementioned attack therefore was repulsed. My brother and I were looking for better cover in a trench. An officer brandishing his pistol startled us and asked us to identify ourselves. He was a so-called hero-nabber (Heldenklau), whose job was to get after cowards and deserters or simply to bring the scattered bunch of his soldiers together again.
The military operations were pushing us again to the coast. Coming out of the dunes we saw an endless tapeworm of people moving west, military personnel as well as civilians, whom we joined. Soon we saw on the left the ruins of a church in the dunes. The village of Hoff lay ahead, a distance of 15 km to the eastern branch of the Oder river, the Dievenow. My grandmother had a picture of these ruins hanging in the hallway, which I had always looked at with great respect. I had spent the first two grades of my schooling in Stolpmünde. Now I saw the remainder of the church that had been destroyed by storm tides in previous centuries under such circumstances before my eyes.
To be continued …
What an absolute horror! Children and young people should not have to experience this!
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At 16 my brother Karl would have been drafted to be trained as soldier. Fortunately, the training centre he was supposed to report to was already overrun by the Red Army.
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But they still could have “shanghai-ed” him during his flight. I don’t think that they were into formatities that much at that point. Good it didn’t happen.
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In my hometown 16 year old had to join the last resistance!
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Such practice should be declared a war crime.
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…. this continued story, gives me shivers to read, and what childhood that was, I wonder how your brother survived those traumatic experiences, Peter.
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Believe me, Cornelia, it took some courage to publish the gruesome details of my late brother’s report on his flight from the Red Army.
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The story of the French joining with Germany army to fight the Russians is fascinating. I’ve never heard that before. And your brother’s description of that battle scene is harrowing, starting with the mother who lost her child.
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Which was the greater evil Hitler’s Germany or Stalin’s Soviet Union? There were no good choices. It seemed that the fear of communism drove many Europeans to join the German Army. Did you know that an entire Russian army was fighting against their home country in WW2? Thank you for following this part of my blog, Amy, even though it is not always pleasant to read.
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Sad, that only a few read the answers, in general.
Some of the history’s details are hidden or not well known.
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Hard to believe it’s real and that people in your family experienced these things.
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It took me a while till I found the courage to publish Karl’s horrific report on his flight with his 14 year-old brother Adolf.
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This was so real that it was almost hard to read! It’s horrific to think of anyone going through that, much less children. And that poor mother who lost her infant…. But I’m glad you’re sharing it. We need to remember there’s a reason people say, “war is hell.”
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In the end it’s the common people who have to pay the price for those who start a war. My brother Karl passed away at the age of 90. I am so thankful to him for his report.
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I understand this!
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This is one of the words I really “like”: Heldenklau.
They found words, that made it even worse.
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What can be said… 😦
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