A "Vet" story with a twist

[pzrmeyer2]

Now this is not really about veterans per se, but I thought I’d share a story and highlight the sacrifices of Germany’s civilians, especially the women. I hope I don’t bore anyone. Its often said that the real warriors are those that man the home front….
My maternal grandparents and their siblings, were Berliners, with ancestry from East Prussia and Silesia. Working class folks who lived in a small flat in Berlin-Charlottenburg. In fact, the flat has been in the family from 1905, when my great-grandfather purchased it, until 2005, when my grandmother’s sister, aged 98, passed away. 100 years…
My grandmother, or Oma, now 92 years old, had quite the war experience. In 1942, my Opa, a conductor for the Deutche Reichsbahn, was finally called up for the Wehrmacht, first in a BahnPolizei role, then as an infantryman with service all over Russia, and later, the Balkans. Meanwhile, my Oma, my mother (born 1938), and her brother (1936) were evacuated to East Prussia a year later to escape the bombing. They were quartered in a small farm village, Heidemaulen, just southwest of Konigsberg. By early 1945, the situation had deteriorated significantly, and they made plans to flee to the west. In late January 1945, they were issued instructions to make way for Danzig/Gotenhafen and were issued passage on the Wilhelm Gustloff. My Oma remembers this distinctly. As luck (or fate) would have it, she received a message from my Opa, that he was granted 3 days leave, and would meet them in Konigsberg. (Amazing that the Wehrmacht was still granting leave at this time). So instead of the Gustloff, which I’m sure everyone is aware of its fate on 30 January, my Oma, Mom, and her brother, stayed to wait for my Opa. He never made it, as his leave was cancelled.
Disappointed, they returned to the farm. Another family billeted there suggested they depart with them to stay with relatives in Dresden. My Oma considered this, but politely declined. The other family soon departed for the untouched city, unknowing that it would soon be leveled several weeks later in mid February. (Fate strikes twice!). Soon enough, they departed on what my Oma has said was the last train to leave Konigsberg, (fate again) which I have found to be sometime in late Jan/early Feb. I’m unsure of the route it took, as of course much of the territory to the southwest up to the Oder was in Soviet hands. I assume they (and the Dresden family) were taken on a northerly route through Pomerania.
Passing through heavily damaged Berlin, they were billeted in a small house in Seddin, a small village just south of Potsdam. My mother recalls being enrolled in the local school that spring….
Now Seddin, along Reichstrasse 2, was in April 1945 along the main axis of advance of the 4th Guards Tank Army, with main columns passing 5 km south thru Beelitz on their way to the Elbe, and 10 km north, to encircle Potsdam. Keep in mind the entire area was swarming with refugees, and was also the main escape route for the encircled 9th Army at Halbe, only 40 km away. Tens of thousand of soldiers and civilians perished in this entire area, as the "Battle iof Halbe" raged all around. On 21 April, My Oma remembers the first appearance of the Soviets. She remembered this well, as she shares a birthday with the Fuehrer’s the day prior. Luckily, the house was taken over by some sort of HQ, with older officers. Thus, they were spared the fate of her sister, still in Berlin, who was raped 7 times in one day by Soviet troops. My mother s brothers still recalls the Stalin organs (Katyushas) set up outside raining fire on the 9th and 12th Armies. By 25 April, the area was again along the main thrust of the German 12th Army, who were attempting to relieve the encircled Postdam Garrison, and the Garrison itself, which attempted a breakout just km to the west of Seddin. 12th Army was repulsed, and the area remained in Soviet hands, although several columns of 9th Army German soldiers passed through the lines on their frantic way westward. (Much of this I found out from Tony Le Tissier’s book, “Slaughter at Halbe”, and from visiting the area with my mom and Oma 60 years to the day, in 2005, on their first visit to the area. The house is still there, by the way, with the same family occupying it.).
Finally, in May 1945, My Oma and her two children packed up their meager belongings, and walked some 50 km in one day up the R2 back to their flat, which , unbelievably , was undamaged, despite the fact that it sat directly across the street from the S-Bhf Charlottenburg, on the main Berlin rail line. Opa returned three years later, having escaped from Yugoslavian partisans, crossing the Julian Alps with 4 other Landsers, and surrendering to the Brits, apparently around Klagenfurt. (Talk about luck!!!).

I can’t imagine bearing witness to so much fear, terror, hunger, and pain as what these women (of every nationality in that war) went through. The separation, destruction, and desperation…All to protect their families. I still can't beleive how lucky they were, as the decisions my Oma made, if she had chosen the other course, time and time again would surely have resulted in death. Again, just a simple anecdote, hope it wasn’t boring.

[Helmut Von Moltke]

intresting story pzrmeter 2, thanks for sharing.

[Tom Houlihan]

Again, just a simple anecdote, hope it wasn’t boring.

Not by a long shot. Thanks for sharing this.

[Doktor Krollspell]

Hello Pzrmeyer2!

A gripping story indeed! The perspective of ordinary people caught up in the horrors of war is always interesting and important... the burden, the agony and the sheer terror so many people on all side felt during that war. My austrian family's fared a little better than your's. My Oma and my father (aged 5 in 1945) never had to escape since they were in the western parts of Austria at the time of the capitulation. But still, her two brother's both fought in the war as Heer soldiers and the oldest was killed on the Eastern front in late 1941. My Opa also fought in the war and didn't return for many years...


With best regards,

Krollspell

[Annelie]

Thankyou for sharing your grandparents story.
Am interested in anything of that period especially
when it takes place in Charlottenburg.

May I ask please did your Grandfather return to his
job at "Deutche Reichsbahn" on his return to Berlin
after the war?

[pzrmeyer2]

Thankyou for sharing your grandparents story.
Am interested in anything of that period especially
when it takes place in Charlottenburg.

Thanks Annelie...one story I received from my Opa's sister, who passed away in 1999, aged 88...she stayed in Berlin during the bombing, and through the Battle of Berlin. When I visisted her shortly before her death, she said the worst thing she saw, other than being raped repeatedly by the Russians, was something that happened I believe late in 1943. (My dates might be a bit off, as I am reling on my memory of her memory). She volunteered to work in a fire brigade which was located next to some sort of school or orphange. Anyway, if I am getting the story right, during an air raid, they instructed the children, about 80 in all, to go to the basement shelter. A bomb hit the fire station, which must've had some extra water pipes. One of the pipes emptied directly into the shelter, and despite their efforts, all the children drowned...

May I ask please did your Grandfather return to his
job at "Deutche Reichsbahn" on his return to Berlin
after the war

As a matter of fact, he did. I'll have to ask Oma of the exact circumstances, but shortly after his return in 1948, he took a position with the Deutsche Bundesbahn, and the family left Berlin and moved to a small town near Baumholder in Rhineland-Pfalz. 10 years later my mother met my dad, an American soldier stationed there, and the rest was history...

My Opa retired from the DB as a conductor on the Saarbruecken-Mainz line in 1975 and he and my Oma returned to West Berlin....

I still have memories as a child of playing in the railyard and meeting the "Lokfuhrers"....

[Rudi S.]

Hello Panzermeyer2,
for somebody who was not "there" during this period, it would be difficult to believe your post. I am so happy for your family that they were lucky enough to endure and survive these terrible times. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for posting this story.
There are so many people here who just cannot believe what it meant to live in that part of Germany occupied by the Soviet forces. After I returned from the American prisoner-of-war camp, I heard quite a few similar stories from people that escaped from homes when the Russians came; such as German refugees being intentionally run over by tanks, babies being nailed (crucified) on barn doors, raped, etc., etc.
It makes me still shudder.
Mit besten Grüssen,
Rudi S.
NB: Nochmals herzlichen Dank für Deine, obwohl traurige, Post.

I posted a sad story on:

http://www.feldgrau.net/phpBB2/viewtopi ... c&start=15

[chambers]

Thanks, pzrmeyer2 for sharing this. It is a very sobering reminder that war is hell for everyone.

Brooke

[pzrmeyer2]

I am so happy for your family that they were lucky enough to endure and survive these terrible times.

truly, it is amazing that nearly all of them survived. My Opa had three siblings, 2 sisters who lived to their late 80s, and a younger brother. He was wounded (at Kursk, I'm told but can't verify) and died in the 1970s. I'm told that he became an alcoholic and was in constant pain from being shot in the stomach. The sisters were in Berlin fo rthe whole thing and survived...

My Oma had a sister, who as previously stated, survived to her late 90s and a brother who passed away in 2003.
Now here is the thing that amazes me about him: He was 20 when drafted by the wehrmacht in 1939. He took part in the Polish invasion, France, and Barbarossa. He was wounded 7 times and had malaria. He was highly decorated for a young NCO, having won both the EK I and II. A real stud...He finally gave up when Germany capitulated in May 45 in Czech. So, he must have been one of a mere handful who was still alive that fought through all SIX years of the war (!). Quite the achievement by itself...

Of the spouses, the only fatality was an in law, married to my Opa's sister and the only one who was SS, apparantly Allegemeine. He survived the war, but foolishly remained in Berlin. In June/July 45, before the Western Allies consolidated on the city, he was asked to "come in for questioning" by the NKVD. He was never seen again by the family, although, his wife and sister in law were approached in 1949 and 1953 that he was seen in the now Soviet KL Buchenwald. No trace after that. I wonder what the details of his fate were...

...can anyone provide info? please PM me for details.

[pzrmeyer2]

ohh..and by the way..none of them ever lost their gratitude for the actions of the United States after the war. They never forgot the Airlift, and they never forgave the Russians for their actions...

[Dirlewanger]

A very good read, well written and not in the least boring! Amazing story of how many of your relations survived those perilous times when in the thick of the action. Thanks for sharing their stories with the forum members, a generous and gracious gesture on your part.

[kordts]

Very nice contribution. Thanks for sharing your families' story.

Jeff

[Gary B]

For an even greater understanding of the civilian experience in that time and place, I highly recomend: German Boy by Wolfgang WE Samuel. Recently published, this is a remarkable autobiography of a young boys experience in the last months of the war and in the years immediately following. The author was 10 or 11 when the war ended. His father was "missing" in the west, and the boy his younger sister and mother were to become homeless refugees in the eastern zone. Very well written. Told with the full and honest accounting of life as a refugee and an awareness of the sacrafices a mother will make for her children...

[pzrmeyer2]

Great book, Gary. I read it a few years back. By coincidence, would you believe that my grandmother's family originated in the same town, Sagan, as Samuel? She herself was born in Berlin...

Another great one, this one about the experiences of a Sudeten boy, is Valley of the Shadow by Helfert.

[Rudi S.]

Another book by Wolfgang W E Samuel

The War of Our Childhood: Memories of World War II
By Wolfgang W E Samuel


Written by survivors of the war, these accounts bear witness to the unimaginable horrors German children endured during World War II.
26 photos

Rudi S.