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Moving to a new place was not easy and saying goodbye to Old Friends was even tougher I considered the move to tagel as the first major interruption in my early life that really left a big impression on me by leaving a home behind that encompassed my comfort and
Security the neighborhood the school and most of all my friends the gang on the waterfront were taken away from me it all happened very fast and unexpectedly one day after work after we had just finished dinner my dad told us that he had a chance to fill a vacancy
In a small post office in a Northern District of Berlin called tagel my Uncle Rudolph was there for some time as assistant postmaster and gave his brother the opportunity for a promotion tagel is a small Resort surrounded by Lake tagel the river Harville and a huge
Forest it is also the birthplace of the famous brothers vilhelm and Alexander Von Holt the humal Schloss Humbolt Palace is a 20 acre estate and beautiful garden near Lake teagle teagle is a historical place it was favored by King Frederick II tagel is very proud of having four major schools two elementary
Schools and two high schools the high school for boys is the humbal Schuler and the girls own high school is the Lum the two elementary schools are divided by the two major religions Catholics and lutherans according to my denomination I was now a new pupil at the local Catholic School in teagle the
Schoolhouse was a small two-story Stone building erected around the turn of the century it had a big backyard in a quiet neighborhood adjacent to the Catholic church only two blocks away from Lake teagle most teachers were members of the same parish and were respectable leaders of the congregation contrary to state public
Schools parochial schools have a strong religious overtone in the Christian upbringing of their children a totally new environment from what I was accustomed to when I attended public school before no more pictures of Adolf Hitler in the classroom no h Hitler salute in the morning instead instead
There was a crucifix on the wall a prayer in the morning and supervised Church attendance every Sunday morning however all of this gradually changed and disappeared under the influence of the new regime nevertheless I made new friends and in no time I felt at home in tagel a beautiful sunny apartment with a
Lovely Garden within walking distance to the forest was our new domicile the new school I was going to was much smaller than the old school in wedding I must also say that the curriculum was rter and the behavior of the children more obedient the only problem was the
Distance between the house and the school more or less 2 km each way I didn’t mind walking but it could be miserable on a rainy day or when the road was covered with ice and snow during the winter months it happened quite often that we kids arrived at school with wet feet the
Teacher encouraged us to take our shoes and socks off and hang them over the steam heater to dry each grade had its own classroom and a smaller number of students students compared to Public Schools teachers did not belong to the Nazi party except the principal the new minister of Education made it mandatory
That all principles be members of the party and parochial schools were not Exempted our principal’s name was Bose and his attitude showed no conflict of interest he was a devoted Catholic and 150% Nazi at the same time he became my mentor in religion and Nazi doctrines but as it turned out the latter
Superseded in my mind we were now into the year of 1937 and on January 15th boa announced the opening of the new Adolf Hitler schools the napola and the LBA the first one stood for National politia aun’s anaft the LBA for lra build’s anal there was not much difference between
The two the Napa was an institution to prepare selected boys for political leadership with military discipline at the LBA you found a higher academic standard with less emphasis on political indoctrination the purpose of the LBA was to educate young boys to become teachers both schools had special uniforms and lodging
And other arrangements had the character of a military School sports activities were on a daily basis our principal told us what an honor it would be if someone from our school would meet the criteria of selection for some of us his indication became an enticement to learn
More and get better grades in the month of May a few changes took place in our school the crucifix hanging in the middle of the wall behind the teacher disappeared overnight and the next morning the wall was decorated with a picture of Adolf Hitler in one corner of all classrooms swastika flags were
Posted the hours of religious teaching were reduced and new text books replaced the old ones parochial schools in particular were subject to frequent inspection by an agent of the SS at his discretion he could dismiss any principle he deemed not suitable for membership in the Nazi party
For a long time I could not figure why a man in a black suit would sit in our classroom and listen to the teacher’s lecture I didn’t like the guy he gave me the creeps and reminded me of an Undertaker finally the last day of school arrived and eight weeks of summer
Vacation were ahead of us it all worked out perfectly my father also had his summer vacation scheduled for the same time since Uncle Rudolph died last year we had promised my aunt Erna that we would come and spend next summer with her she lived now in the big house in
Kreman with her daughter ingerborg and my grandmother Rudolph’s mother her place was a new two-story farmhouse on a 10 acre spread near the railroad she would take care of the garden and the Animals while my grandmother did the cooking on an early morning in July we took everything we packed the night
Before to the bus station around the corner my father had to go back to the house and fetch another big suitcase as we could only carry so much the bus arrived on time and the friend friendly bus driver stacked all our gear in the luggage compartment under the bus the
Bus terminal was right in front of the railroad station in tagel while my father purchased the tickets to kreman a porter came and placed our luggage on the train 10 minutes later The train pulled out and we were heading for kreman what a lovely ride the train was
Pulled by an old steam engine and moving along slowly my mother let me have the seat by the window and I was observing everything that we passed by I must admit it was about the first time that I had a chance to see the Open Country everything was blooming and the fields
Were intersected by tiny straight dirt roads making them look like checkerboard squares at this time I was already getting impatient to find out what I would get for my birthday I knew ingaborg must have a notion but according to her she had no idea the only information I was getting out of
Her was the news that erna’s sister alen her husband Eric and their son daa were coming to visit us for coffee and cake this afternoon data was about our age and a nice fellow to be with after dinner the women were getting ready to set the table one more time for coffee
And cake a tradition that is taken very seriously in Germany especially when there is a birthday celebration the grown-ups were lounging in the living room engaged in a vivid conversation showing no interest to go to the dining room finally my grandmother the respected Matrix took over inviting everybody to follow her to
The dining room nobody talked or sat down till grandmother had taken her place at the head of the table and what a beautiful table it was decorated with a white tablecloth shiny silverware and Fine China porcelain placed in the sein tear of the table was a fancy huge three- layer maripan chocolate vanilla
Cream cake on each end of the table were plates with various pastry and diverse confection the scent of lovely blooming flowers and the aroma of fresh brewed coffee filled the dining room with a festive atmosphere behind me on the wall on top of the buffet table I discovered several
Neatly wrapped packages obviously these were my birthday presents finally my mother decorated the cake with eight candles and lit them in honor of my birthday I was very moved and the moment everybody joined in the Happy Birthday song I was overcome by joy that almost
Made me cry this was all new to me I did not know what to think of when I was asked to make a wish and blow out the candles now I was allowed to open my presence the moment I had long been waiting for the big package was my first
Target it contained exactly what I was hoping for an erector set with all the nuts and bolts to build a miniature Eiffel Tower that was what I had been asking my parents for in a long time but my father kept telling me that it was too expensive later I found out that my
Grandma pitched in to make my wish come true the rest of the gifts were smaller but also nice like a book a harmonica candy CES Etc the chocolates and candies I shared with ingerborg and data the older folks were now sitting down to enjoy their Cafe clatch for us kids it
Was hot chocolate and Cake ingaborg could not believe just how much cake data and I were able to swallow the next day I was not too hungry and food did not appeal to me everybody was busy with cleaning or fixing something my father was in the barn trying to get the old
Opal to start the car had not been driven since his brother Di died there was some gasoline left in the tank but the ignition did not make a sound the time the car had been sitting idle in the barn had drained the battery the people next door watched my father
Cranking the motor and offered their help together the men pushed the car on the road then my dad got in the driver’s seat another pushed and the car went down the road with plenty of speed and going farther down the hill he stepped on the clutch put in the second gear and
To everyone’s Delight the engine jumped into action ction he drove the car home under its own power parked it but let the motor running for some time to recharge the battery the following day he pushed the starter button and the motor turned on with no problem for the
Remaining Days of our vacation we now had a chance to drive around kreman go to the market and visit all the stores in town the women in particular appreciated my father for being the chauffeur and taking them places ever so often we passed a small village with a
Church in the middle or surrounded by a forest most of the Vil lgers or small towns were connected with the railroad the train stopped a few minutes passengers were in a hurry to come or go and again the train was on its way early in the afternoon the train
Arrived in kreman we had barely enough time to throw our luggage out of the door and get off the train as it was now in a hurry to get to its final destination on time schwerin the capital of mecklinburg at the end of the barnig platform form the nextd door neighbor’s
Son Fred was waiting with his horse and buggy for us he went to town to buy some material and Aunt Ana asked him to pick us up at the train station as we drove through the gate we saw grandmother Aunt Erna and my cousin ingaborg sitting on
The front porch ready to welcome us after all the greetings were done we entered the house and immediately I could smell the bacon by then I realized how hungry I was and that we had no time to eat breakfast since we left the house early in the morning Aunt Erna asked us
To sit down with them and have a late lunch my grandmother was an excellent cook and what she prepared was the best bow and fr St I ever had a dish of mixed fried potatoes bacon and scrambled eggs served with black bread smoked sausage from mecklinburg and a tall glass of
Cool buttermilk the bread she baked came fresh out of the oven from the huge wood burning cast iron stove in the kitchen as she placed the hot loaf of bread on a wooden board she made the sign of a cross with her C starving knife over the
New bread and started to slice it up that was the beginning of the BR site and everybody began eating after the meal all of us relaxed in the living room and a lively conversation took place sooner or later the subject of Rudolph’s death came up and Grandma started to cry she excused
Herself and went to her room silence filled the room for a few minutes till my father said we should also go upstairs and unpack our things we had a very comfortable room in the Attic it had Fresh Linen on the beds and was ready for us I slept all night till
The rooster woke me up in the morning the women were already up working in the kitchen and my father planned for the day to do some repairs around the house cousin ingaborg who was one year younger than me was eager to show me the place
And we played in the backyard I told her that my birthday would be the following day July 19th but it seemed that it was no surprise to her I figured that they may have planned a birthday party for me sure enough when I got up the next
Morning there was a big bunch of flowers on the table and some birthday greeting cards everybody wished me a happy birthday and my grandma made me my favorite breakfast omelette with brat cofen and sulsa Aunt Erna told us that her sister alen and family would come
And visit us in the afternoon my mother told ingaborg and me that she would bake a cherry pie if we would go out this morning and pick some cherries ingaborg got a basket and showed me where the tree was I climbed up the tree and picked enough cherries to fill the
Basket every day I helped my cousin with her chores around the house and today was no different first we would bring in firewood for the stove then we would get drinking water from the pump outside for the house sweep the sidewalks and take care of the Annie Ms feeding the
Chickens and seeing them produce eggs were most interesting for me for a kid like me born and raised in the city it was very exciting to help gather the eggs from the chicken Coupe she she took me to the strawberry patch in the backyard and we picked some fresh
Strawberries enough for everybody to have for dessert after dinner on the following Sunday since we had not seen the countryside Aunt Erna suggested to drive out to the lake for a picnic a basket with all kinds of goodies was prepared and we were ready to go but at
The last minute Grandma decided to stay home she was not feeling very well as her arthritis gave her some pain and she had great difficulties walking since I could remember she always walked with a cane but today she was mostly sitting in her chair my mother suggested that we
All stay home but Grandma insisted for us to get out of the house and have a good time on the shores of the lake we had mixed feelings about leaving her alone but she would not have it any other way it was indeed a beautiful day
The Sun was shining and inviting us to come and see nature at the lake we find a shady place under the oak trees to stretch out the blanket for relaxation ingaborg and I preferred to play at the beach not wasting much time before we went for a
Swim the day went by fast and then it was time to go home when we arrived at the house grandma was in a good mood she talked on the phone to her brother Irwin who lived with his wife IGA in a new house in rudo in the south side of
Berlin he called to find out how she was doing since they were now living in the big new house without children he suggested that she come back to Berlin and stay with them irn knew that Martha wanted to go back to Berlin after the death of her son Rudolph but more
Important she needed to be in town for medical treatment Aunt Erna was kind of surprised but she agreed to go along with whatever was best for Grandma in a few days our vacation was coming to an end and my father suggested that we take her back to Berlin with us
He called his sister Lucy my grandmother’s only daughter the next morning and she promised to meet us at a certain time at the the train station in teagle to take her mother all the way to rudo the following weekend we visited grandma in rudo to see how she was doing
Sitting in a rocking chair in the Vera covered with a comfortable blanket she seemed to be quite content soaking up the last sun rays of the Indian summer irn told us that she never complained but he noticed that she had great difficulties moving around it was obvious that the deformity of her bones
Kept her in constant pain two weeks after we visited her it got so bad that she had to be hospitalized IGA went to see her every day but most of the time she was sleeping the painkiller she was taking kept her pretty much sedated also her immune system was not doing the best
Job in protecting her the fact that she was constantly grieving over her son’s Rudolph death undermined her health severely one day early in November she contracted pneumonia fell in a coma and died a few days later it saddened all of us my grandma lived for her children and
Was very much concerned not to be a burden to any of them long before she died she had made arrangements for her funeral so with elaborate care and religious ceremony she was buried at the Dorothy and friedhof a Catholic Cemetery in Berlin all I remembered was the beautiful display she had around her
Coffin of flowers and burning candles it was an open casket ceremony I went really close to see her face she looked peaceful of all the relatives Lucy suffered the most she cried over her mother’s body and had to be gently taken away by her two brothers Max and Herbert
In order to close the coffin and lower it into the ground after the funeral we stayed overnight at Irwin’s house and the next morning IGA wanted to dispose of Grandma’s belongings as soon as possible there was not much to give away most of the furniture in her room
Belonged to Irwin and IG anyway nna made it clear that she did not want any of Grandma’s possessions Lucy took some some of her books and my parents claimed her old Singer sewing machine all the family photos my grandma kept were equally divided among the surviving children since I was about to celebrate
My First Holy Communion IGA gave me a little brown purse containing my grandma’s black Rosary to keep it in memory of her I kept it in all the years to come and it is still in my possession one of the few things that survived my childhood another year had passed and we
Were now entering the year 1938 I was very much involved in school work and my favorite subjects were literature and history Not only was I eager to learn about events that happened in the past but I was also excited by contemporary history as I became a witness of it in the early
Years of my life the big guest sensation after Hitler’s election that gave him the first Triumph of popularity was his successful annexation of Austria to Germany on March 13th 1938 every German saw the pictures of a piece peaceful occupation and how the Nazi troops were greeted with flowers by
The Austrian people but it was not known by the average citizen that Hitler jailed shush Nik the Catholic dictator who had succeeded dolus and started the usual massacres and impris onment of Jews and anti-fascists Hitler’s triumphant return to his native land of Austria was a spectacle I shall never
Forget upon his arrival at his hometown of Lin he gave a speech to his Delirious fellow countrymen that he had vowed never to return until he would come as a liberator back in Berlin Hitler also now openly sponsored the aggression against the Jewish population by the members of
The Nazi party the prejudice against the Jews became with Hitler a terrible fanatical disease which led to the massacre of millions of innocent Jewish people the only protest and opposition against Hitler’s barbarism besides quite a few individual mostly unimportant Germans came from the two big leading churches in Germany the the Roman
Catholic church and the Lutheran Church condemned Hitler’s actions under organized leadership by the Vatican and all Bishops consequently many church leaders were arrested and taken to concentration camps at my school teachers would only say good things about the regime and were given the freedom to teach religion at the same
Time before I joined the Hitler Youth the Catholic church was still a domineering factor in my life my grandmother’s wish became reality when on March 31st 19 38 I received my First Holy Communion at the St yosef’s kirka in Berlin tagel living in tagel had also an
Advantage I could now walk to the lake enjoy the beach more often and watch the boats in the harbor across the river Harel which flowed into the lake was a huge Iron Bridge at one time many years ago if somebody wanted to cross the bridge each person had to pay five fenig
Pennies at the gate even though it was no no longer the case people had kept the name sexa Brooker or in English nickel Bridge the bridge was an old landmark and was especially popular among the young folks as tradition has it if a boy wants to IM press his
Girlfriend he has to jump from the bridge to gain her acceptance by demonstrating his courage about half of my classroom were girls the boys were sitting on the left side and the girls on the right side my seat was right next to the middle in the
Back the desk next to me across the lane belonged to a girl by the name gizella she lived just a few blocks from my house and I would catch up with her in the morning and walk together with her to school after school she usually walked with a bunch of other girls but
Past the railroad tracks she walked alone at this point I would show up and offer my service to carry her books I could only describe my desire to be close to her as an attraction to a girl that I had never experienced for any girl before truly an innocent feeling of
Nonsexual affinity it was hard to tell if our feelings were mutual but when I asked her if she would join me for ice cream next Sunday after church she agreed to go with me as soon as she said yes she immediately asked me if she could bring her younger cousin along of
Course I said being The Last of The Big Spenders I had no problem with that financially I was in good shape being the proud owner of a secondhand bicycle put together mostly from junkyard parts I was finally able to get a paper route with the Berliner Morgan post come
Sunday morning I was the first one out of church people didn’t go home right away usually they stayed in small groups before they Departed the men would go to the nearest beer bar for some beer drinks and breakfast and the women would congregate in the church Hall with
Coffee and cake as soon as I spotted gizella talking to some girls I motioned to her and she came toward me with her cousin and off we went to town a few blocks away we entered the Haled stasa or as we call it Main Street which led
Directly to the lake on both sides of the street were fancy shops restaurants hotels a one movie theater and the only ice cream parlor in town when we got there the place was already packed with kids but we were lucky to find a table under a big chestnut tree in the garden
A few minutes had gone by Felix and his girlfriend Ava walked into the garden they had the same problem of not finding a vacant table so I invited them to come and sit down with us no introduction was needed as we all were attending the same school and church Felix was 2 years
Older than I was and I had seen him come to school many times in his Hitler Youth uniform Eva also was a member of the Hitler Youth bond for German girls here in the garden it was self-service after asking the girls what they liked Felix
And I went to the counter took a tray and ordered all the drinks and ice cream Novelties we desired when we finished our ice cream jizel and her cousin talked to Ava and I got involved asking Felix all kinds of questions about the Hitler Youth since I was ready pretty
Soon to join the Yung vulk membership in the Hitler Youth was mandatory for any boy who was planning to attend any of the Adolf Hitler schools Baldor Fon Shirak the leader of the Hitler Youth tried to draw all school boys ages 9 to 10 years old into the Yung folk to
Create an elite youth he ordered every school to report the boy with the best grades at the alementary school to the State Education Office the brightest boys would then be sent into one of the elite National schools the director of our school followed his obligation and
Encouraged me to keep up my grades in order to be nominated for the Nai institution I told Felix about my ambition and asked him what was his opinion he said it must be a great opportunity to get a higher education all paid by the government including
Uniforms board and room as far as I am concerned he replied I want to become a pilot and the Air Force Academy is the ticket for me the girls got tired of our conversation and AA suggested that we go for a walk by the lake everyone agreed
And we left the ice cream parlor heading for the lake a walk would do us good on a beautiful day most people were enjoying the Great Outdoors the nickel bridge over the Harville was now in sight as gizelle’s little cousin was beginning to tease me if you really care
For gizella why don’t you jump from the bridge and show her can’t you think of something more challenging I countered sounds like you want to back out said AA not at all if that is all you ask of me I will get ready for the jump as soon as
We reach the bridge gizella objected not wanting to have any of that nonsense but I assured her there was nothing to worry about on top of the bridge some pedestrian stopped and watched me get undressed now I was in my trunks climbing up the railing taking a deep
Breath and jumping head first into the water so far everything was routine but after I entered the water I couldn’t remember what happened to me something hit my head and the light went out in my brain up on the deck they were waiting for me to come up for air Felix realized
That I was in danger he wasted no time and jumped in the water where I’d cut the surface he explained to me later where he found me unconscious and how he got me out of the water the next thing that came back to me when I woke up was
That I was lying in the grass and gizella was holding me in her arms and kissing my face I was exhausted and in severe pain but soon an ambulance came and took me to the emergency hospital a deep cut in my forehead and a broken Osa frontales below were the unfortunate
Results when my head collided with a big rock under the bridge looking at the bright lights on the ceiling of the emergency room all kinds of thoughts went through my mind as they cleared and stitched up my head I had to think of the gang at Kila stasa and how ATA and
Egon would call me an idiot for not checking out the water before jumping well it was all academic now and I had to pay the piper for being stupid one good thing came out from all of this I was now gizelle’s hero and I knew now
That she cared for me the fact that Felix saved my life made me grateful and dedicated to him and we became lifelong friends my parents however were not too thrilled for what I did and my father punished me by taking privileges away from me for a month altogether the
Incident made me a little tougher providing me with the extra capacity for endurance required to become a member of the Hitler Youth in the month of July 1938 one week before my 9th birthday I was inducted into the Yung folk just as I joined the Hitler Youth my father very
Reluctantly became a member of the Nazi party also in 1938 he was one of many Germans working for the government who were becoming members of the Nazi party they seemed regretful of their membership and seldom wore the round badge with the swaser in public they kept it mostly in the draw
But they were compelled by the Nazi State authorities to join the party to keep their jobs they regarded rightly or wrongly their dual membership in the church and the Nazi party as necessary in order to keep making a living I recalled that I had no feelings of opposition but rather an honest desire
To become a member of the Hitler Youth we were taught by our leaders that it was an honor to serve our country and become mentally and physically prepared to carry out the orders and duties given to us by our furer Adolf Hitler this was what was expect of us and this was the
Alliance we had to pledge under oath following the induction ceremony each of us new members were given the Hitler Youth badge to wear on our uniform part of the uniform were black pants a brown shirt and a dagger with the Hitler Youth emblem in the blade of each dagger the
Slogan blood and honor was engraved after Hitler annexed Austria his next victim was Czechoslovakia he demanded under the threat of war the return to Germany of 3 and a half million sud Germans and the Sudan land they lived in under the cchs the plan was to make it a part of
Greater Germany Chamberlin the Prime Minister of Great Britain wanted to preserve the Peace of Europe and gave in to Hitler’s Demand on the first day of October 1938 the German Army marched into the sudeten land surprisingly Britain and France did not go to war when Hitler pulled the same stunt again
Demanding in his meeting with Chamberlain in Munich the rest of Czechoslovakia this Democratic Republic which had won its independence from Austria Hungary monarchy after it collapsed in 1918 ceased to exist on March 15th 1939 when Germany occupied the rest of the country for the time being the threat of War
Seemed defused of course it was impossible to be absolutely sure about a long-lasting peace the fact that the two dictators Hitler and Stalin negotiated a non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed in Moscow on the night of August 23rd 1939 left little doubt that Hitler was
Still out to conquer more territory in many ways the summer of 1939 was a beautiful summer a time of Carefree living I was enjoying myself tremendously but did not know that there would never be any more Summers like it as a matter of fact it was the end of my
Childhood and the beginning of the oncoming War marvelously there were still ahead for me a few happy summer days a vacation of complete Independence school was over the apartment was locked up my parents were on vacation in Bavaria and they left me for 2 months with an elderly couple in heny a nice
Little Vil lagger next to tagel these folks were very good friends of my parents and asked if I could stay with them since they were alone and had no children they were living in a big two-story house with a large backyard filled with all kinds of fruit trees for
The first time in my life I was sleeping in my my own bedroom upstairs overlooking the nearby lake in the morning I would get up early have some hot porridge and a glass of milk and off I’d go on my bicycle to take care of my
Paper route usually I was back by 10:00 a.m. Mr and Mrs Hugo Schulz were retired for some time they owned at one time a shoe factory with many employees but lost it all during the inflation luckily they salvaged enough money to build for their Golden Years a house in
Hensy Hugo was not the kind of man to retire early so he kept repairing shoes in his new house in a little shop facing the street he had no employees but had all the business he could handle every day when I came back from my paper rout
I went after lunch down to the shop trying to help him since I was getting free board and room I felt like I had to do something to earn my bread and butter when I asked him to put me to work he gave me an old pair of shoes and some
Instructions showing me how to cut the leather and how to swing the hammir it did not turn out too good so he gave me an easier job I was shining shoes now and I polished them afterward with the electric buffer that was an easy job and
Did not take very long with plenty of time to spare Hugo looked at my bike and said I know what you can do your newspaper box at the back of the bike has plenty of room for what I have in mind for you to do he loaded four pairs
Of shoes in the back of my bike and prepared a list of names addresses and the amount of money to be collected he asked me if I could do my new job and I told him that there was no difference between selling newspaper and shoes I
Did it every day delivered the goods and collected the money my first deliveries were close to the house and easy to find I found three of the customers at home delivered the shoes and collected the money but one was not at the house so I returned to the shop with one pair of
Shoes this job went on for some time I enjoyed the outside and being on my bike and I got to know heny Hugo and Paula Schulz were very nice to me Hugo was my mentor and treated me like a grandson I saw him as the grandfather I never had when the
Time Came to Say Goodbye and I had to return home Hugo gave me an almost new pair of army boots unclaimed by a soldier who got his military orders in a hurry Paula also surprised me with a fresh baked Plowman Cen plum cake to take home during the years to come I
Visited the old folks many times they were nice to me and I helped them out when ever I could bad times were ahead for all of us and more than ever we did need each other it all started on August 8th 1939 the day when food ration cards
Were given out to all Germans no longer was anybody able to buy unrestricted any kind and quantity of food by choice nobody could go to a store or restaurant and purchase food items or eat a meal unless you presented a ration card with your name on it only if the proprietor
Clipped out the necessary coupons could you eat a meal or buy some of the food that was available all food items bread potatoes sugar milk meat or fat were measured in increments of 100 200 or 500 G coupons all these coupons had to be pasted daily on a sheet of paper and
Were checked against the inventory by a Nazi officer at the end of the month besides food all other kinds of supplies came under restriction such as soap gasoline and heating material on November 15th 1939 the people of Berlin re received the rice cider carton another strict form of rationing for
Linen clothing and all kinds of garments all organizations of the nsdap from the German young folk the Hitler Youth the German labor front to the last German housewife were instructed to participate in the largest recycling program the world had ever seen suddenly there was no more waste practically everything
From potato peels and table scraps from animal bones and dirty rags and from old newspaper to a complete metal fence were either you used to feed livestock to make soap print books turn into new clothing or what was most important to the Nazis to turn old iron into new
Weapons and ammunition every schoolyard in Germany was converted into a collection center for some of those stinking items each kid received a small folded index card with the names of all items to be collected and every item delivered went on a scale and then was separated and dumped on top of a
Specific pile several boys from an upper grade were in charge of receiving sorting and making the right entry in the credit card of each student in the hallway of the school next to the picture of Adolf Hitler hung a small Blackboard bearing the name of the top
Collector for each month this start had a regular collection Mania as everybody wanted to be the Top Banana pretty soon the academic purpose of the school became secondary as every student was involved to compete for free cinema tickets and had no more time to do homework adding to the problem was the
Fact that the schoolyard was running out of SP space the truck company hired for the removal was not always on time mountains of newspaper were getting wet in the rain or getting blown away by the wind finally the school district came up with a solution paper the biggest item
Must be stored inside in a dry building in our case we had to give up one side of the gymnasium still the truck driver could not handle big volumes of loose material as a result our school received a big press to compact paper and Rags into heavy Square bundles the compactor
Operated manually and required muscle power so again routinely every boy had to stay away from the classro certain hours and report for Duty downstairs to make bundles first four pieces of wire must be cut 12 ft long and held in place at the bottom and the inside walls of
The press after the box was filled a heavy plate was put on top and by cranking the plate from the top downward the material in the Box would be Cal packed before releasing the four removable sides to take out the compressed bundle all four wires on top
Must be twisted and tied together with some heavy pliers it took four boys to manufacture one bundle two smaller boys could evenly fill the box and the two other bigger and stronger boys were needed to turn the crossbar and twist the wires to secure the bundle then it
Took all four boys to push the bundle away it was amazing to see all the different items boys and girls were dragging to school every day some of these objects were quite new and valuable it would be a shame to melt them down and make bullets out of them
One day A boy came with a WWI Cavalry saber he would not tell us where it came from but the saber was in mint condition four boys made one team and they were always working together every time they were scheduled from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. one team was in charge to receive the
Collection separate the items and make the proper deposit entries according to weight in each student credit card after 10:00 a.m. the counter was closed but the same team remained on the job till noon making bales of paper Rags or aluminum cans the team I worked with
Were all boys out of my class Tony Schneider clous Mueller and Ralph Fifer the day we received the saber all four of us agreed not to throw the saber to the Heap of scrap metal instead we con sealed the weapon under the subfloor of the storage building for the time being
We did not have to worry about it till we decided what to do with it our teams stuck together for a long time on days when it was not too busy we would sit around and read old magazines including those that featured pornographic pictures to see those kinds of sexual
Activities for the first time in your life was a hell of a way for a young boy to lose his innocence first it shocked you and then it evoked your Natural Curiosity some strange and rare feelings came over you beginning to impact your mind with an endless inquisitiveness for
The boys already in puberty their early flow of hormones and sexual arousal may be triggered through the influence of pornography Fifer could be described as a cool guy but he was also a daredevil he managed to sneak one of those x-rated magazines into the girl’s Powder Room
Not to discard anything and to recycle whatever possible had become a nationwide Obsession the idea of Ray tying food in peace time made lots of people suspicious pretty soon their suspicion became an ugly reality the German people also could not understand why Hitler was so much in a hurry to get
A non-aggression pact signed between Germany and the Soviet Union Stalin was eager to accept the deal in Moscow on the night of August 23rd 1939 the dictator ysep Stalin out of unscrupulousness negotiated at the same time an alliance with the British and French military delegations in Moscow he
Publicly agreed to stay out of any war that Hitler might provoke secretly the two dictators agreed to divide up Poland but Stalin wanted more he made Hitler agree for Russia’s right to Annex the Baltic states of lattia and Estonia Finland was also on Stalin’s list as it belonged to Russia until
1919 this coldblooded bargain with Stalin enabled Hitler to attack Poland in the morning hours of September 1st 1939 Berlin itself was quiet the German people though worked up by Nazi propaganda about the seriousness of the Polish situation did not expect war in societies like Germany which never had a
Real democracy the Mystique of the dictator’s power was enormous the people believed in the fura and trusted Hitler when he promised them peace and prosperity after the war started in Poland for days people did not believe it they could not imagine that he had actually broken a promise and started
Another War just 20 years after Germany survived the six miserable years of World War I the Sunday of September 3rd was a sunny end of the summer day in Berlin when at precisely 900 a.m. the governments of Britain and France presented Hitler with a 2-hour ultimatum to withdraw his armies from Poland or
Receive a declaration of war against Germany Hitler ignored the ultimatum and in the evening before he departed for the front to command his armies he dispatched a message to Stalin inviting the Soviet Union to join in the attack on Poland after the German armies poured across the Polish Frontier the Luft
Buffer quickly penetrated the skies over Poland and a massive formation of bombers attacked the city of Warsaw the Polish armies were destroyed in less than 15 days on the 18th Soviet and German forces met at breast lovk the Polish government fled into Exile and the Nazi and Soviet conquerors signed a
Treaty affecting the partition of Poland there was now peace in the East but the war with the enemy in the west was about to start that was why the German people were not really in the mood for a Victory celebration over the outcome of the Polish conflict the public was very
Much divided and had mixed feelings about future events at school and the meetings of the Hitler Youth all members of the party were praising the fura and glorifying the German Army no applause was given to the Nazi government when Hitler signed a new law of euthanasia on October 8th
1939 this new law went out as an order to all mental institutions to discreetly dispose of all incurable mental patients the average person did not notice the new law or showed little concern as long as nobody in his family was in danger of being killed in school we talked about
It and the teacher put it to us as if death by putting somebody to sleep with an injection if the patient could never be normal again was an act of Mercy the German people could not stop the barbaric law no more than they could stop the escalating War many years after
The war my Aunt Lucy told me that she had a brother the second born son of of my grandmother Martha by the name alwin he was named after my grandfather on my father’s side he was 14 years old when my grandfather got killed in World War I
In 1917 in France on March 6th 1919 the Berlin Civil War began among the Socialist Party the Communist party and the troops of the government for over a week the streets of Berlin turned into a Battleground at the end of the Revolution 1,200 people had lost their lives the victims were mostly civilians
And one of them was a 16-year-old boy Alvin ful he came from school in the afternoon of March 9th and got trapped in a street battle he could not escape a blow from a rifle Bud hit him in the back of the neck and split his head wide
Open some medical workers pulled him out of the street and drove him to the nearest hospital his wounds healed and after several days he came out of the coma but his speech was not coherent my grandmother cried when he did not recognize her no Rehabilitation could help him and young alwin was permanently
Brain damaged because it was not possible to care for him at home he was placed in a mental institution early in 1940 the vog family received a letter from the administration of the mental hospital vau that Alvin Vogt suffered a cerebral vascular accident and died fllowing a
Massive stroke my father and his brother Herbert went to claim his body he died at the age of 37 and we would never know if he died a natural death or if a Nazi physician killed him overruling the objections of the majority of his generals Hitler carried out the daring
Military occupation of Denmark and Norway on April 9th 1940 Denmark capitulated in 2 hours but the Norwegians helped by the British held out in their mountainous terrain until June England landed troops in the town of narck but were forced by the German Army to evacuate as the war
Started to spread over Europe the early construction of air raid shelters that commenced in 1939 had now reached its peak from a simple fragmentation shelter a high-rise concrete bunker was now in full swing especially in densely populated cities most buildings in Berlin were solid brick and concrete structures with an underground cellar
With a minimum of construction effort and cost the average seller could be converted and equipped as an air raid shelter to protect the tenants a new organization came into to being to educate and Supply the public for protection against an attack from the air that was obvious to come the people
Had a chance to prepare themselves for the bombing offensive which though it had not come when first expected was nevertheless thought to be inevitable air raid precautions were improved prefabricated air raid shelters homemade fragmentation trenches covered with dirt and converted basements mushroomed in the gardens and parks of the major
Cities shop windows were taped in a a dazzling variety of patterns to prevent them from shattering as a result of Bomb Blast and most noticeable of all the blackout was strictly enforced in shops offices and private homes the windows had to be covered with black curtains so
That not a ray of light showed from the outside many people constructed rigid Contraptions to bolt onto the window frame which considerably simplified the nightly ritual of putting up the blackout those who were careless or late risked the humiliating experience of a warden’s stentorian voice roaring for
The whole street to hear the words that quickly became a catchphrase put that light out in case there was no reponse any pedestrian was allowed to throw a stone in the window or many times a policeman would pull out his pistol and shoot the light out repeat offenders had
To pay a fine or in some cases were arrested a uniform system of civil defense was now organized and enforced by the government appointed party members were given police power as air raid Warden they conducted classes for the public to learn all about Air Raids firefighting and equipment for
Protection the Minister of Defense ordered the distribution of one gas mask for every citizen it was made of thin Rubber and a cheap aluminum filter filled with charcoal powder it was now mandatory that nobody could appear in public without carrying the gas mask hanging in a bag over the shoulder in
Several major parts in Berlin huge concrete bunkers were built that could easily provide shelter for hundreds of people anybody living close by or happened to be in the area could take advantage of it traveling and getting stopped in an air raid presented more of a problem the train would stop
Immediately next to the nearest air raid trench long and wide extending far below the surface covered with heavy Timber with about 1 meter of sand over it to protect you from flying fragmentation these were excellent shelters unfortunately bomber Pilots made railroads a selected Target a direct hit
With a 500lb bomb would turn the Deep trench immediately into a mass grave still the best protection for most of the city dwellers was the basement of their house provided that the walls and ceilings were reinforced to carry the load if the house should cave in the conversion was relatively inexpensive
And did save many lives during the war the only problem was to get enough labor to complete the project in a minimum of time most of the Manpower was already serving in the armed forces the rest of men and women were conscripted to the war effort there was only one option
Open put polish prisoners of war and volunteers of the Hitler Youth to work obviously the heavy work was done by prisoners and the rest by the Hitler Youth the whole project was organized and supervised by the organization tot a paramilitary construction unit one day in May 1940 our principal Boza called a
Meeting to order in the auditorium in our school present at the time were all the teachers our Stam furer from the Hitler Youth and the guest speaker who was an officer from the organization taught the emphasis of his lecture was the opportunity of the Berliner Hitler Youth to serve the
Fatherland I had never seen so much excitement and enthusiasm among my classmates in any other meeting before I don’t think there was anyone that evening not willing to sign up from now on all our weekly HJ meetings were only geared to prepare us for our duties divided in several groups we received
Instructions as to what we had to do who our group leaders were and when and where our first job would start except for some single houses on the outside of Berlin the city was a multitude of four-story or more of commercial or apartment house complexes each building
Had a basement with a strong supported ceiling and concrete foundation but it was not designed to protect the basement for a total collapse of the structure to make these buildings air raid safe it was necessary to install under the basement ceiling additional heavy beams supported with strong vertical studs all
Doors had to be replaced with steel frames and heavy steel doors with strong rubber gas Kats to make them gas prooof in a similar fashion the basement windows were to be replaced and in addition a block wall had to be erected in front of them the wall adjacent to
The next basement had to be broken with an open being big enough to escape the hole was then plastered over and the edges mared marked with a big white circle a sledge Hammer was placed on the wall next to the hole sometimes tenants of several houses had to share one air
Raid shelter but by the end of 1940 the project was almost completed and every family was assigned a place one of the delays of construction was not only the primary clearing of all basements but also the clearing of attics or under the roof storage areas which were boarded up
In small cubicles belonging to each tenant loaded up to the ceiling with all kinds of extra Furniture boxes and useless gear before the Hitler Youth was integrated in the regular participation of air raid protection it was our job to clean out buildings in an area each group was assigned to many times tenants
Refused to cooperate and our group leader had to call the air raid warden in charge anything of value the tenant could take to his apartment or place in a public storage facility the rest we sorted out for recycling or took to the dump after the work was done in one
Building we put up sand boxes and plenty of pales of water in the attic to put out a fire if needed after a basement was converted and inspected we had to go back in to place signs of instruction and paint lines on walls and floors with phosphor paint to indicate Escape Routes
From one building to the next each shelter was also equipped with shovels axes flashlights first aid kits chemical toilets and plenty of drinking water once again the Nazi conqueror had struck out and drove in a blitz C across the border of Holland and belg yum deep into
France on May 10th 1940 the campaign was over in 6 weeks Hitler had decided unexpected by the enemy to strike through the hilly heavily wooded Arden forest in Belgium with his great tank armies an armor attack was deemed Impossible by the French and British in a totally wooded sector of the front
German tanks reached the English Channel at abille in 10 days cutting off British and French forces at the same spot and in the same railroad car where the Germans signed the Armistice at the end of World War I in the forest of compen Hitler made the French surrender to him
On June 22nd 1940 the month of June I spent every sunny day I could at heny and at the weekend specifically of June 14th I stayed overnight with my friends the Schultz I felt very much at home in their house and I called Mr Schultz opah
Hugo since I had never seen my natural grandfathers I was very attracted to him being with him in his little repair shop and the smell of leather rubber shoe polish and solvents all became very familiar to me he had a little radio in a corner shelf and all of a sudden the
Music stopped as a surprise message came over the air the announc meant was a news report that Paris had capitulated to the German troops the regular program was further interrupted with March music and speeches by party officials opah Hugo jumped off his little bench and started to whistle pran’s
Gloria I could see how he was pleased with the outcome of the war in the west he closed the shop for the day and we went upstairs to tell his wife about the good news but it did not make too much of an impression on her Mrs Schulz was
The kind of woman that you might call a pacifist Opa Hugo was my age during the war of 1870 to 71 when the Germans defeated the French the first time he had a big book printed in 1885 which he showed to me that was full of War pictures displaying anulan and Ciera in
Their colorful uniforms sitting on tall horses pointing flags and Sabers toward the sky paintings of attacking Cavalry overrunning the French Defenders battlefields of dead Soul dyes and wounded men on the ground with blood soaked uniforms and missing limbs were the highlights of the book bismar riding in a carriage passing by the suffering
Troops was greeted in Jubilation the opponent of bis Mar the French Emperor was sitting on the ground overwhelmed and in disbelief of his defeat but history repeated itself after the German Kaiser Lost World War I it was Hitler now turning the table after opah Hugo closed the book I had the feeling that
He was very pleased with today’s news after all he sofared four miserable years in the trenches of France in World War I for nothing in a way he was also happy that the conflict between Germany and France took a short end with a minimum of casualties on both sides it
Was a blessing that both Mr and Mrs Schulz passed away without knowing that there would be another and final bloodbath before Germany and France would be able to establish a permanent peace between them after compen Hitler at the moment of his greatest Conquest celebrated Victory with his troops in
Paris this eating the grave of Napoleon inflated Hitler’s ego making him believe that he was the greatest commanderin-chief of all times for nearly an hour Hitler gazed at the Tomb of the great French conqueror obviously he now considered himself equal to Napoleon perhaps he became obsessed to do the
Same mistakes on his return to Berlin Hitler received the biggest Victory Parade that ever passed through the brandenburger gate in Berlin all schools and most businesses were closed both sides of the Main Street unen Lindon was packed with people and secured by the SS sa and HJ the parade seemed to be
Endless the bells of the downtown churches kept ringing our HJ Stam tagel was placed west of the Brandenburg gate on on the north side of the hus stasa Hitler approached slowly in his open Mercedes and I could see him standing in his car not more than 20 ft away from me
That was the second and last time I ever saw Hitler in my life Hitler was the hero of the day he had conquered most of Europe only Britain held out against him but with her armies driven from the mainland and her Island virtually defenseless she could easily be conquered