The Guards Shot Us After We Escaped From Captivity…

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So here we are outside the campground Gates July was surprisingly sunny and warm sweat was running down the faces of the Prisoners the Convoy with dogs was hurrying the gaunt prisoners had an incredibly hard time walking they traversed the cobblestone streets of the city entered the suburbs and finally

Made their way outside the city women prisoners of war and there were 30 of them doctors nurses orderlies Cooks were built separately and squeezed somewhere in the middle of the column they walked 3 4 kilm suddenly on the order of the Convoy officer they stopped the whole

Column and took the women out of it two Convoy guards together with a German interpreter and an officer took this group of female prisoners of War to a small Grove not far from the farm we became worried what do they want to do with them shoot them after 10 15 minutes

Minutes the command was given to continue moving and we set off again a few minutes later the officer the escort and The Interpreter returned Through The Interpreter we found out that allegedly the women were released to the nearest farm but the officer had previously taken their word that they would not

Fight against the Germans again we did not hear any shots so we could not shoot them the situation was not the same an artillery canonade was clearly heard from the west and southwest the Convoy were in a great hurry to rush the column they were helped by sheep

Dogs where did the Germans get so many specially trained dogs during two or 3 Days of our journey we could hear the Rumblings of the approaching front we had the impression that both the Germans and we were in some kind of a semi environment a semi- ring we wandered

Westward under the escort of guards with a pack of specially trained dogs weary exhausted sick and wounded knocking and raising dust with wooden blocks slaves of the Third Reich doomed to death the stragglers who could not go any further were shot and the conoyer was calmly finishing his sandwich after the

Execution there was absolutely no emotion on his face empty tin colored eyes he walks and chews holding a machine gun at the ready shots are often heard from behind the column they are killing the exhausted the stragglers they destroy them though behind the column of the doomed there are a dozen

Half empty trucks with a shift and a reserve of the same guards palaces clear sunny weather changed to cloudy rainy we traveled through the westernmost regions of Ukraine for the night we were driven into large empty Collective Farm cattle yards a little Dawn breaks and again the formation another March tired and hungry

In rainy weather we marched hard and slowly we entered the territory of Po Poland the bread given out by the dry rations had long ago run out we drank mostly from roadside ditches on one of the highways we saw a rather large column of German soldiers mixed with CAC

Volunteer units convoys shouted at the column of prisoners of War to the side to let the Germans and cacs with their wagons with equipment through the soldiers were drunk there was a traffic jam on the road drunken voices in German and Russian somewhere they began to fight swearing and matey two cacs come

Staggering up to a German field officer one of them yells field feble why did you hit me the decomposition of the troops was evident it was the Panic of the retreating enemy during the further movement of the column of prisoners of War we noticed that many farms and Villages were packed

With retreating German military units on separate accumulations of German troops our Aviation made strikes every day to go in a column became more and more difficult some prisoners could not stand such a March and fell down under the threat of the muzzle of an automatic rifle they get up again by themselves or

With the help of comrades and March again Neighbors in the column continue to support them under their arms some completely exhausted fall right on the road and do not get up although they are still alive these unfortunate people do not react to the threat of a machine gun

Because they cannot get up let alone walk in the Farms Ukrainian women asked the officer of the Convoy to take such unfortunate people to their Hut the officer did not give his booty to them the Convoy officers dragged such doomed people behind the yard of the nearest

Hut or a ditch sometimes shots were fired and sometimes not it is not known what happened to them perhaps they were bayonetted it was was getting harder and harder to walk there was not enough air to breathe suddenly I also fell down and was no longer able to get up although my

Brain was frantically prompting get up get up otherwise death but I was saved probably by a bandage on my sleeve with a red cross the escort comes up and yells doctor off stain doctor stand up two prisoners of war came up picked me up and dragged me they dragged me

Because my legs couldn’t move on their own but the thought worked clearly go go after a few minutes I began to move my legs but my comrades were still helping me to walk supporting me under their arms suddenly the column stopped an hour’s rest was announced here I

Finally caught my breath the unexpected stop had saved my life and the lives of many other prisoners of War for the fourth time in captivity death looked me in the eye at a very close distance the first time was in the constantini camp when I was sick with typhus the

Second time during the evacuation from the din prop petrovsk Camp during an unsuccessful escape attempt the third time in the Venit prisoner of war camp when I was sick with dentry and now the fourth time bony let go for how long so day after day the column like a ghost

Passed countless Farms Villages towns and cities up to the eastern border of Germany only by the Ukrainian and polish towns separately preserved in my memory I can reconstruct the hard exhausting way of our column lavau gorodok peramal chestoa the rest of the cities and even smaller settlements have long ago been

Erased from my memory and we went not in a straight line but in zigzags bypasses the speed of movement was uneven we moved very slowly stopping every 4 4050 minutes then the Germans forced us to make a quick march on the fourth or fifth day of the way we met

Low mountains someone said that they were Spurs of the carpathians it was especially hard to cross them one climbed up Breathing heavily with a pounding in the temples and then descended again around some hills the column made a circular movement on the principle of screw this went on several times maybe

In peace time the Carpathian are really beautiful but for us they were cursed Short Stops did not give us a chance to rest it was raining incessantly torn clothes got wet it was getting cold especially in the high mountainous areas somehow before reaching Chester shower

The column was ordered to stop it was in the evening it was pouring fine rain exactly passed through a Civ it turned out that we would spend the night in the open air not far from the halted column about 500 100 m away there was a Manor House a beautiful white two-storied

Brick house surrounded by pyramidal popplers and a garden around the house all sorts of outbuildings from the house A well-dressed beautiful woman came up to the escort a middle-aged Soldier and asked in German where can I find Mr Officer Mr Baron is just next door the machine gunner replies he was indeed

About 15 M away from us while she was walking towards the officer I asked the escort ver is z who is she poisha gitarin polish land lady as soon as she approached the officer in charge of the Convoy my ears perked up she also offers him in German

Mr Baron if you will stay with the prisoners for the night I invite you together with your officers there were four or five of them in all to spend the night at my house a bath of warm water and a good dinner with decent wines will

Be prepared for you the escorts who are off duty can warm up and rest in the warm utility room the baron in the rank of major gladly replied thank you honorable Madam we will definitely come thank you very much the Polish landl did not ask the German about the prisoners

Nor did she offer to take them under the roof of the numerous barns bastard it was boiling in my chest if I had had a machine gun in my hands I would have killed not the German officer but her we were outraged not by the fact that she invited the baron into the

House that was her business but by the fact that she was indifferent to the fate of the exhausted hungry half-dead Soviet prisoners of war the baron left for the whole night and the rest of the officers took turns leaving for an hour and a half we on the other hand huddled

Together under guard and stayed out in the rain until morning early in the morning again barking harsh shouts and profanity or Stan Entre loss Donna wind stand up form up forward forward forward Thunderbolt you we were also convinced that many Germans swear splendidly and two or three story Russian Matt we often

Heard y opt for you mat whether they understood the meaning is unknown in the first days of August 1944 our column of tired and exhausted Soviet prisoners of War entered the enemy’s land it was the easternmost part of Germany the land of the enemy Nazi Germany what is it like what

Does it represent there was a kind of curiosity we wandered slowly for some reason the Convoy don’t seem to be in a hurry Villages Farms settlements good brick buildings covered with tiles and none under an iron roof houses built for centuries but how monotonous they are similar to each other like

Twins so are the out buildings all the buildings are intact not destroyed no signs of bombing there has been no real war here yet the dreary look of rural settlements is slightly brightened up by the gothic style kershes the streets are clean and tidy on the way of the column

There are small Groves parks and well-maintained ponds trees are thoroughly cleaned trimmed leveled and licked this is not the bransk forest in bellarus roads and paths streets and alleys are asphalted yes there was no war here but soon there will be there are quite a few passes by they say hello

To the guards Morgan gut and Morgan they answer them softly and mutually many bicycles on them both old and young each bicycle carries a basket suit suitcase or other cargo the composition of passes by also attracted attention they are mostly old men old women and children there are no young middle-aged or even

Relatively elderly men this is as it should be as a result of total mobilizations they have all been swallowed up by the moloc of War Unleashed by The Mad fura there are many disabled people without an arm without a leg in wheelchairs we look into the eyes

Of passers by what do they Express nothing eyes like eyes thinking indifferent sometimes empty sometimes sad sometimes happy eyes like any people in the world after the war I had to read and hear a lot about the attitude of the German civilian population to Soviet prisoners of War most authors claim that

In 1941 1943 the German population especially young people not only looked at the Soviet pus with hatred but also pelted them with stones rotten eggs logs insulted them that was how it was then in reality and now why today they look at us with different eyes and do not

Allow any attacks against us the fact is that it was already August 1944 and ordinary Germans began to think more and more about the course and outcome of the war and if our column had been driven through the same settlements in August 1941 the reaction of the population

Would have been more angry but despite the outwardly calm attitude of civilians towards us we never saw a piece of breed a kot or a potato thrown at the colon yes this is not Ukraine don’t wait they won’t give it to you that was the first

Impression of the Germans and it was not a pleasant one at 7 a.m. on the outskirts of a small village we noticed an incomprehensible action on a small platform girls about 15 17 years old surrounded a flag or Banner of red color with a swastika in a white circle the

Flag resembled a church flag the flag was slowly raised and lowered the girls walked slowly around the circle and sang or said something they were all dressed in the same uniform white blouses and dark brown skirts they had the same haircut this procedure lasted about 5 minutes I was puzzled what is this

Baganza yes this is Hitler mean Hitler’s Youth paramilitary Organization for girls apparently they had some kind of obligatory ritual in the morning after another day our column was let into some huge Transit camp located in the suburbs of a city unknown to us 70 90 kilm from Berlin this Camp resembled the biblical

Babylon prisoners of War of various nationalities countries and peoples were herded here Soviet prisoners of War British Americans French African blacks Indians belgians Dutch yugoslavs poles and even Italians but some invisible force distributed the flows of prisoners of war in the camp in a strictly regular way the British and Americans were in

Blocks separated from the Soviet prisoners of War by three rows of barbed wire the French belgians and Dutch were also isolated the Italian group of prisoners of war was separate from all the others we were temporarily placed in Barracks with two tier bunks we began to come to our senses during this multi-day

Crossing more than a dozen people died we rested a little after a couple of days we began to look closely at farinas it turned out that they received food Parcels of the International Red Cross once a month the parcels were different but here is the usual content of the

American Red Cross Parcels that American prisoners of War received monthly in 1943 22 beef stew 1 can 340 kons coffee or cocoa 1 can 113 dra pork stew 1 can 340 CL raisins prunes one pack 450 forg liver Pat 1 can 170 chocolate two bars salmon 1 can 226 biscuit one packet milk

Powder 1 can 454 orange 1 can 13 Olive margarine one can 45 for cigarettes two packs sugar one pack 2266 soap two bars Soviet prisoners of War were deprived of receiving parcels and food Parcels in spite of our complete isolation from foreign prisoners of War we still often talk to

Them through the barbed wire in broken German in any case if we needed to communicate something important we understood each other well they were better informed about the situation on the fronts the Americans British and French treated us Soviet prisoners of War very well we paid them the same of

Course they looked much fatter than we did sometimes they managed to throw over the fence a piece of bread a breadcrumb a gallette etc since August 1944 the Germans began to establish some contacts with the Americans and British for example German soldiers off duty every evening weather permitting played soccer

With the Americans and British Changing Times as in other camps the daily ration was standard Banda and a small loaf of airat spread for six men this loaf was divided with great care and precision the most experienced of the six was assigned to cut it into equal slices

Which were laid out in one rad then came the second stage it was advised from which portion to add a little less and to which to add then one of the six would turn away and and the other pointing to the ration of bread would ask to

Whom such a careful division of bread took place in all the camps of Soviet prisoners of War so that not a single crumb could be lost without a trace I lived in this camp for about a week one day the chief doctor of the sanitary unit a Russian prisoner of war informed

Us that the prisoners of War would soon be distributed among the work camps and that a doctor would be sent to each such large camp and a paramedic to the smaller ones a list of the entire Camp medical personnel Reserve was in his possession and he was in charge of the

Distribution the Germans did not interfere in this process if the Germans needed a doctor or a paramedic in a Work Camp they informed the head doctor the Germans did not care whom he sent whether it was Dr Petro or paramedic siderov as a result of the evacuation

And liquidation of many camps the there were quite a lot of doctors and paramedics in the transit Camp all of them were in the reserve of the chief doctor of the sanitary unit of the Russian section of the camp some prisoners from the transit Camp were

Taken for a day for temporary work those who got to agricultural work harvesting were lucky they sometimes managed to eat fruits and vegetables in the farms and in the evening returning from work they brought some more food bread potatoes onions Etc such lucky people had better food than we reservists the nursing

Staff was not sent to work and we were content with just a ration of Banda and aats bread one day the head doctor whose surname I unfortunately can no longer remember came into our Barracks looked for me and said balv and I am your fellow countrymen also from the gorki

Region he asked me more about my place of residence what I did before the war then he continued would you like me to send you as a paramedic to a small work Work Camp near Potsdam that’s exactly the kind of worker needed there the sick people who

Came from that camp say that it is not so bad there many of the prisoners are sent to agricultural work in nearby farms and at night they return to the camp to the barracks they bring some food with them so you’ll get some for yourself but here you sit only on

Balchin I would advise you to go of the two evils the pot Stam Camp is the Lesser evil get some food there you’re very in do you agree I Shrugged but asked and how will I be transported there that’s not your concern in the morning I’ll report to the

Non-commissioned officer that a medical officer for the pot Stam Camp has been selected he’ll send an escort and you’ll probably take a train to the city it’s an hour and a half or three hours ride I wondered what should I tell him should I say

Yes just in case I told him I would give him an answer in 2 hours I did not give my consent at once because my stay in the camps had taught me to enter into contact with people unknown to me cautiously and cautiously not to trust unfamiliar prisoners things

Happened therefore before going to the doctor and informing him of my decision I talked cautiously with one of the orderlies about the chief doctor his answer good prisoner ask at another old teamer of the camp the answer was about the same and only after that I went to

The chief doctor in a small compartment which was separated from the main part of the barracks by a rough blanket and gave my consent to leave the next morning he called me in and told me to get ready in 20 minutes a convoy would come for me exactly 20

Minutes later with my skinny cider a duffel bag I appeared again in the doctor’s cubby hole in the bag I put my Overcoat a kettle a mug and a spoon I had nothing else the most valuable thing in captivity is a kettle if you lose a

Kettle you die you have nothing to pour your food into it was impossible to use someone else’s Kettle the food was distributed at the same time and the latecomers would not get any at the doctor’s office sat my escort an elderly Soldier about 5760 years old with a

Carbine placed between his legs the doctor handed me over to the escort wished me to keep myself safe and not to get into any trouble the escort stood up put the carbine on his shoulder and we set off we walked about a kilometer and a half to the railway station the old

Man could understand a little Russian I asked him how he knew many Russian words and while we were walking to the station he where in Russian where in German told me the following about himself he comes from Potsdam has a small barber shop in which two French prisoners of War are

Now working working his wife runs the barber shop while he is in the Army in World War I he was a prisoner of war for 3 years with the Russians he especially noted that the villagers treated the German prisoners decently did not scold did not beat them and were wellfed

Chowder un porridge odori un potatoes F bro ales gut chowder and porridge or chives and potatoes lots of bread it was all good it was a warm sunny August day we passed small farms with identical strong buildings we reached the station and the escort took me into the car of an

Ordinary passenger train it was the first time I was traveling in a foreign passenger train The Carriage was divided into sections by Thin low partitions there are no sleeping places because Germans do not have long distance passenger trains only seats and the train is not like ours there are five to

And six small cars attached to a small locomotive there are not many people in the car mostly grandmothers and children the conoyer shows me the seat next to him he sits down with his carbine between his legs I sit down too opposite us sits a boy of about six or seven with

His grandmother who is knitting a sock he talks to the guard and looks at me curiously furtively the little boy stares at me without shyness probably his Elders told him that Russ are like Bears hairy and with horns on their heads but here sits an ordinary man though thin and in decayed

Burned out clothes I listen to the conversation between the escort and an elderly woman who without ceasing is working rapidly with the fingers of both hands the conversation is soft does he understand where are you going who is he yes he understands he’s a junior doctor we are

Going to portam to a Work Camp I pretended not to listen to the conversation and not to understand them there are few passengers in the carriage and almost all of them are women and children hunched over sit a few invalids a sign of the hot breath of War almost

All the women passengers are working they talk and work mostly knitting socks scarves gloves a hardworking Nation if they’re so careful with their free time but there’s no fun in the carriage you rarely even see a smile that’s understandable a rare German family probably hasn’t received a funeral rare

Elderly men opened the newspapers they had brought on the road the woman sitting opposite me asked one man for a newspaper and unfolded it I discreetly glanced at her front page lots of black boxes with crosses I didn’t realize what they were at first then I realized they

Were obituaries of the dead at the front the Germans are eagerly reading died died died died for the glory of the furer well you unleashed the war not you personally but you contributed to the rise to power of the Nazis you supported the fura you will have to experience the

Bitterness of Retribution take what you’ve earned with my mind I understand that the passengers of this car may have nothing to do with unleashing the war but with my heart I cannot accept it everyone old and young decently dressed late summer Landscapes are flying by outside the window harvesting is going

On rye is being mowed vegetables are being removed from the vegetable gardens I notice that every square meter of vegetable garden area is used for its intended purpose there are no weeds in vegetable gardens and Orchards everything is is well groomed you can’t deny the German Peasants diligence and

Neatness and to say vegetable gardens and orchards are too small tiny it is impossible to compare them with the vast fields of Russia they are incommensurable Concepts the same can be said about local forests if we in Russia meet a forest this Forest as a rule

Extends for tens of kilometers it is not a trimmed Grove and what to speak about the famous Siberian tiger which has the size of thousands of kilometers mostly old men old women and children work in the fields and vegetable gardens these are the results of total mobilization there are Gardens Groves forests

Numerous chimneys of factories plants and other Industrial Enterprises the train is dragging slowly like a turtle I look at the boy and mentally ask myself a question what will you be little boy when you grow up when the war is over an executioner of other nations or an honest hardworking

German in the meantime he scrutinizes me from head to toe probably the first time he sees a living Russian I thought about it and lowered my head suddenly I hear some rustling from all sides I lifted my head and I don’t understand anything where are these sounds coming from

It turned out that all the Germans sitting in the car minute by minute almost synchronously began to unfold knots newspapers boxes they took out sandwiches bottles they ate chomped the brunch started all over Germany I got hungry drooling instantly there was irritation and anger don’t wait Russian

Prisoner no one will give you anything here this is not Ukraine a foreign nation and it’s not that Germans are frugal people that that all products among the civilian population are distributed strictly on cards but probably that the Germans sitting in the carriage were simply afraid to do so the

Gestapo network of Espionage and denunciations kept German citizens in fear they were just afraid of each other you helped a Soviet prisoner of war not only is that unpatriotic but its treason against the Reich finally after a 2-hour drive we arrive at the bustling train station as

In all train stations of the world and here rushing many faced and many voiced people few people pay attention to us several times the escort was asked by civilians where he was taking a Soviet prisoner of war he answered that he was escorting me to the Potsdam camp and there were no more

Questions we entered the Berlin Subway an ancient Subway gaslighting small stations darkened by time I compare it with the Moscow Subway where I was in 1937 and the comparison is clearly not in favor of the Berlin Subway there is a strange feeling that I found myself

During the war in the suburbs of the capital of Nazi Germany hardly any of the Russians at that time on the verge of the collapse of the Reich were here it was like a fantasy movie where times and events intermingled I a prisoner of war in a Soviet officer’s uniform with an escort

Walked past civilians vermak soldiers SS men two a Soviet prisoner of war and a German elderly infantry Soldier I never would have thought that one day I would have to stomp through the streets of the suburbs of the Nazi capital and even in such a capacity walking through the

Streets of Potsdam beautiful well-kept city palaces Cathedrals Town Hall Mansions parks and squares the escort apparently noticed my observation and informs me the city of potam is comparable in Beauty to Versailles maybe he is right I’ve never been to Versailles in fact the city is nice and almost not destroyed by

Aviation slowly we continue our March through the streets and alleys of the city of course it was possible to run away from the escort but what would be the use and the point where would I hide in the center of Germany in a hostile country in a Soviet military uniform

With Su branded on the back I was a black sheep in this world hostile to me my guard also understood this so he carried his carbine on his shoulder and did not particularly follow me in the meantime the guard led me into a small Narrow Street with very modest houses

And Cottages he brings me to one of them and says softly halt D is mine house wait that’s my house that’s it so he brought me to his house apparently that’s why they sent him a pot Stam resident to escort me he opens a door we go through a small lighted Corridor we

Open a second door and enter a tiny barber shop with two chairs The Barbers two French prisoners of War nodded their heads and said hello to the owner and smiled at me I answered them in the same way in one of the chairs sat an old man

Who was being shaved when he came out the master closed the inner door with a key told him to wait here with words and signs and went into the Next Room the Frenchmen immediately invited me to sit down in one of the chairs they cut my

Hair and shaved me one of the Frenchmen gave me a piece of bread of 150 gr wrapped in paper I thanked him and instantly ate the bread since I did not understand French and the French in Russian the conversation between us took place in not particularly literate

German we found out from each other what from where when and how we were captured in particular I found out that the French have been working in this barber shop for the fourth year and that the owner of this establishment I.E my Convoy’s wife is in charge of them she

Also feeds them and they live in one of the small rooms they have free access to the city but they have to check in with the local policeman every day these it turns out are all the conditions of their stay in captivity when I asked them how their mistress

Feeds them they said that it is fine but modest because they receive absolutely everything on cards including salt dill and mustard the hostess has her own tiny vegetable garden and it is a great help to her she never yells or hurts them about an hour later this fra comes

In with a plate and a spoon in her hands she moves a small table puts the plate and Spoon on it and with words words and signs invites me to eat I stood up nodded my head to let him know that I understood and looked at my hands the obliging Frenchman opened the

Foret in the sink and I washed my hands I poured some potato soup into my plate seasoned with fried onions and vegetable oil quickly this soup was eaten there was no bread 5 minutes later she brought two potato pancakes with a little fried flour and I ate them all quickly how

Delicious I the first and second seemed to me then the fra comes in again to clear the dishes from the table and asks schme is it good I answered in the affirmative stood up thanked her with a weak node of my hid so as not to lose in

My dignity someone may ask why in the train car nobody guessed to offer me something to eat but here they suddenly fed a prisoner I have already given the answer earlier there were simply no prying eyes and ears in the barber shop and not all Germans were fascists I

Thought to myself that an ordinary German citizen eats very modestly 2 and a half hours after coming to the barber shop the owner came out of a side room with a carban I said goodbye to the Frenchmen and we walked again through the streets of the town on one of them

The conoyer stopped me and said g Mal look look on a broad oil painted board a signpost was an inscription in German and Russian Rouse colian Russian Colony so that’s it that’s why the Convoy stopped me here in front of me was a long row of wooden houses they were all

On Stone foundations with mezzanines and tile roofs the houses were on both sides of the street the walls were chopped from thick Pine logs the rows of houses were as straight as a string it was obvious that the houses had been built a long time ago it was noticeable by the

Thoroughly darkened logs then for some reason I did not find out the nature of this street when by whom and for whom it was built we stood for a couple of minutes and went on only much later did I learn that the Russian Emperor Alexander the ferns gave the Prussian King a brass

Band a company of musicians a Russian style settlement was built for them as far as I know nowadays this Russian settlement is in Germany is called Russian village more information a house in alexandrova a Russian village near potam the author writes about this Village in his Memoirs a few hundred

Meters from this Village there was a prisoner of war camp we approach the camp at the gate is approaching a field officer the commandant of the Work Camp were exclusively Soviet prisoners of war the escort reports to him and hands him some paper apparently my record card

We enter a small wooden Barrack type room this is the commandant’s office building a desk three stools a telephone a wash standand with a basin the building is located in the immediate vicinity of the camp nearby is another wooden Barrack possibly a guardhouse and a solders Barracks the field officer

Like the escort in years in a green army uniform asked me a single question where are you from where were you born bitter gabbit followed the answer a camp escort arrived and took me to the campgrounds all the barracks were brick one story of the same type the camp was

About 800 900 M away from the city he took me into one of the barracks it was already evening and the working shift of prisoners of War had already returned from work I said hello the reply was hello doctor they saw my white arm band with

With a red cross on my sleeve and thought I was a doctor I had to correct them guys I’m not a doctor I’m just a military field officer well still a doctor several voices resounded there was no need to object nor was there any point the two-story wooden bunks were

Placed almost next to each other I was shown a free place on the lower bunks I lay down a little I thought about it a new stage in my life was beginning if you can call such an exist life what does the future hold for me

And these guys how will our future fate turn out the escort left the guys seeing my condition came up to me doctor don’t get upset though we are fed badly but we bring something from work especially potatoes and bulb we’ll share we asked each other questions got acquainted the

Age of the prisoners varied both young and middle-aged Russians belarusians ukrainians tatars while I was resting a bit they had already boiled potatoes in pots and cauldrons they’d brought them from work doctor let’s have dinner with us we ate potatoes are so tasty compared to the tiresome camp food the German guards

Began checking for prisoners of War at 9:30 in the evening in each Barracks there was a lineup of prisoners in the presence of a field officer and one soldier they count them close and lock the door with a big weighty lock on the outside the windows have thick metal

Bars before the formation for the night in the barracks prisoners bring the infamous parisha all night long a single bulb shines dimly at the ceiling embedded in a netted metal lampshade the first night in the new place I couldn’t sleep for a long time snoring moaning incoherent

Mumbling in his sleep stale air there were 26 people in the barracks and the room was small from time to time in the windows of the barracks gets a bright light of search lights which are on guard towers and periodically comb the territory of the camp at 6:00 in the

Morning the locks rattle open and immediately the command AF Stan wake up we stood up and waited from each Barracks to the kitchen goes one for aat bread two with a can for surrogate coffee or tea a dark liquid sweetened with saccharine we divide the bread according to the principle of to whom

Half an hour later line up for work several work teams but the work is different the prisoners of my Barracks for several months are taken for agricultural work in the nearest farm to one rich peasant gross Bower or simply Bower but this Bower as I was told did

Not offend our brother prisoner in any way he made him work to the best of his ability and provided him with food after work he gave out potatoes onions cucumbers even garlic other work teams were sent for reconstruction work after bombings construction of some objects economic Works to each column going to

Work escorts with carbines were assigned there were no automatic rifles I noticed that in the morning all the prisoners were dispersed to work and I was left alone during the day the barracks were not locked by the Germans I began to walk around the camp its territory is

Relatively small and there are about 600 prisoners of war in the camp uncertain for me in the camp is the range of my medical duties and the availability of medical preparations and Facilities what to do in the field of medicine I assumed but what means and possibilities I would have this was

Still unknown to me however on the eve of my departure from the transit Camp the chief physician told me that he had sent two dozen aspirin tablets some calex pyramidon tannin and bandages to the pot Stam Camp before my shipment the head doctor also asked me to remember

The following the commandant of a Work Camp has an interest in keeping his prisoners of War healthy and able to work in case one of the PS becomes seriously ill he will try to get rid of him by sending him back to the distribution camp in his place a healthy

P would be sent to the work camp but the sense sick man would find himself in a most dire situation whereas before his nutrition was supplemented with vegetables from the farms in the distribution Camp there would be nothing but mockery and humiliation that’s why said the head

Doctor a lot will depend on you do everything you can to convince the commandant of the patient speedy recovery and the undesirability of sending him to the distribution Camp as I walked around the campgrounds between the barracks I recalled the instructions and advice of my senior

Medical comrade in rank and age but so far I had a vague idea of my duties apparently the matter would become clearer the next day unobtrusively I observe the guards at the corners of the camp territory there are Towers guards with carbines on them from Tower to

Tower along the barbed wire slowly walk German soldiers also with carbines thus unlike in the stalags in the Work Camp the Germans are guarded not with machine guns but with carbines dogs are also absent there is no current running through the wire most of the guards are elderly Germans from all these

Observations I concluded that the guards in this work Camp were somewhat weakened the next day the field fleel explained to me my duties every morning I must thoroughly clean the barracks room Medical Care was to be given only as needed he further explained that the first aid kit with the minimum of

Medicines was in the service Barracks outside the camp that is behind the barbed wire hence for every trifling pill or bandage I together with the victim and the escort must leave the camp go to the service Barrack enter it and ask the field officer for this and

That if he authorizes it you can take it and if he does not allow it then you have to go back to the camp in case of a more serious illness the escort must take the sick prisoner of war and me to some Garrison sanitary unit which is

Located a kilometer and a half or 2 kilometers away from the camp in the town of potam he did not explain what this Garrison sanitary unit was several days passed every evening Columns of prisoners came to their Barracks they often brought potatoes carrots onions and sometimes garlic from agricultural

Work in my Barracks a small stove was heated in the evening and dinner was cooked they brought fire wood with them from work one day I said to them guys I’m eating you a little eating the food you brought no way doctor what kind of conversation can there be why do you

Have to sit alone on one meal nice guys even though I explained my military rank to them they all kept calling me doctor or by my name in age they were the same age as me or a little older except for three or four elderly prisoners after

Another day of work one p came into the camp with both hands wounded I was summoned by the escort outside the camp gate and I went with him to the administration building the field officer pointed to the first aid kit and went about his business he was writing something at his

Desk the comrade’s wounds were not serious not dangerous the first aid kit had absorbent cotton bandages iodine tincture and even a solution of rivanol the sterility of which I doubted all trophy that is ours I made a treatment and applied a bandage while working I discreetly examine the interior of the

Room on one of the walls is a huge and very detailed map of the European part of the USSR in German I approached it the map was so detailed that on it I even found my native Village azino immediately I felt sad on the other wall were various orders and

Instructions concerning the regime security and treatment of Soviet prisoners of War I paid special attention to these orders believing that next time it would be necessary to familiarize myself with them in more detail or at least to understand their meaning soon I heard the voice of the escort C

Cal thus I had to visit this Barrack several times as a result of which I thoroughly understood the meaning of the the orders about Soviet prisoners of war the essence of them was as follows all the papers bore the inscription Supreme command of the German Armed Forces it was noted everywhere that a

Soviet prisoner of war must necessarily be accompanied by an armed escort his weapon must always be in Readiness PS must have wooden blocks on their feet it was obligatory to Brand the clothes of prisoners with indelible paint under no circumstances were the prisoners allowed to have contact with the civilian German

Population as well as with the population of the occupied areas convoys and prisoners were forbidden to talk except in special cases connected with giving instructions at work at the slightest breach of order and behavior it was prescribed to beat a prisoner with sticks or trunch a list of

Violations and the number of blows for each offense was given Escape was punishable by firing squad or concentration camp in workamp camps it was ordered to see to it that prisoners of war did not rest each P’s card must have his fingerprints on it made with black indelible paint no contact between

Soviet PS and PS of other countries was allowed on German territory physiological contact between a Soviet prisoner of war and German women was never allowed for violation the prisoner of war was shot and so on and so forth under all orders instructions the same signature field Marshall kitle this is

Who it turns out was the main torturer of Soviet prisoners of War I repeat that such cruel orders and instructions concerned only Soviet prisoners of War Englishmen Americans Frenchmen Negroes and so on were in the conditions of potam at that time semi- Recon void such a cruel system of guarding and abuse did

Not apply to them I began to look at the guards inside the camp I IE those German soldiers who entered the camp and did not stand on the towers they had no weapons except bayonet knives I paid attention to a 25 to 28-year-old German soldier named Richard

The prisoners of War told me the following he is the son of a rich peasant his father had been a prisoner of war in World War I with the Russians about whom he spoke well that’s why Richard received an order from his father not to offend Russian prisoners and

Especially not to raise his hands on them and this order was strictly followed by his son another Soldier Hans was also young but scolded and beat us desperately a pupil of the Hitler Youth an Ardent Nazi in addition he clearly lacked in the head soon he was sent to the front for some

Reason the first decade of October 1944 great weather many clear sunny days it was a golden Autumn reminiscent of our Central Russian Autumn but there were a lot of chestnuts and other non-russian trees involuntary comparisons sadness incredible longing the nature of the first half of the Fall

Is almost ours almost but not ours the distinctive peculiarities catch the eye cleaned up trees and bushes alien land alien people memories stir again my unit and Division I must think are at War and me why am I hanging around here I wasn’t taken prisoner by choice that’s true but

Somehow some prisoners managed to escape from captivity what did the captured officers from sevastopol teach me why couldn’t I escape why didn’t I use every opportunity in my native Ukraine there the population would have been able to hide me and transport me to the right place Nichol managed to get out of the

Nepro Petrov camp and me why am I being driven like a sheep further and further to the west and driven to Germany itself all these thoughts were Weighing on me and depressing me in my spare time I was going through all this how could I break the hateful chains of

Captivity suppose that I managed to escape from the camp get to potam and then what any old German woman would turn me into the gusto or the police so days went by under these agonizing worries and Reflections field feeble the commandant of the labor camp who is he

Cautiously I began to ask the prisoners about him they gave quite an exhaustive answer a peasant his family lives in a farm near Potsdam he has six children in our terms that’s a lot he doesn’t behave well with Soviet prisoners of War comrades told us that at the beginning

Of 1944 he took away from the prisoners three times all the vegetables they brought from work as a result they were hungry for a long time he used his car to take all the vegetables taken away to his home did he beat the prisoners no he did not but he scolded them severely

Many teams of prisoners were sent to the city to remove the rubble the result of bombing of potam by the anglo-american bomber Aviation it was hard and exhausting work Allied Aviation in the late fall and winter of 1944 to 45 as well as in March and April 1945 the city was bombed very

Intensively in the early spring of 1945 Soviet Aviation also carried out intensive bombing strikes on the city’s military facilities and Troop concentrations it is fair to say that during the raids not only on the territory of the camp but even near it not a single Soviet or Allied bomb fell

One day teams of of prisoners who were working to remove Rubble in the city returned to the camp Sullen and depressed I asked them what was wrong one of the prisoners told me a frightening picture they were removing the rubble of residential buildings after an American Air Raid the

Inhabitants were pulled out from under the rubble the living the dead and the wounded old men and women women and children a terrible and depressing picture one does not even want to have dinner after such work we know how Cru the Germans destroyed our towns and Villages destroyed the civilian

Population but those were fascists in black and green uniforms and we have no grudge against these victims tormented old men women and especially children they are not to blame for the atrocities of fascism on our land but there is nothing we can do about it such

Are the costs of the aggressive war of conquest of German fascism towards its own people such is the other side of the coin of a war that we did not start then the prisoners of War told about their work in the city the bombing of potam by

The Allied Air Force destroyed many of pot stam’s residential buildings people remained in basements under the rubble of collapsed houses where the basement windows were blocked with stones people suffocated where possible they broke through the walls to bring in fresh air many were pulled out wounded many already dead some survivors walked

Aimlessly through through the ruins muttering something prisoners of War civilians and German soldiers worked to save the inhabitants of the city after the dismantling of the rubble was completed the inhabitants of the surviving houses began to bring bread to the prisoners with shaking hands not yet recovered they handed it to their

Deliverers with the words danuna danuna thank you thank you during the bombardment of the city at night German soldiers with an additional escort took all the prisoners out of the barracks and into deep trenches they had dug the prisoners were driven into these trenches and guarded heavily we had the impression that all

This was done not to save the lives of the prisoners but to prevent the prisoners from escaping from the barracks during bombing raids our work team once met two French prisoners of war in the city at work it turned out that during Air Raids the German command allowed American English and French

Prisoners of War to leave the territory of the camps and go to the field or to the nearest farms after the bombing was over they would return again this permission was given only to Allied poos Soviet ones were not at the end of November one prisoner from our Barracks

Fell seriously ill severe cough fever suspected acute bronchitis or pneumonia I reported it to the the Guard the guard reported it to the paramedic A captured paramedic had no right to give a sick man a day’s leave from work in this case the paramedic sent the

Sick man and me with the escort to the city to a small Garrison sanitary unit which was located 1 and a half kilometers away from the camp a German military doctor admitted Germans soldiers and civilians first we were ordered to wait in the common room I sat

Down on a bench with the sick man and the escort about 10 minutes passed the front door opens and two American captured soldiers and one Englishmen enter the sick men they greet each other mutually allies after all they arrived at the Garrison sanitary unit without any guards the Allies sat on another

Bench but next to us our escort went to the open door to smoke the Americans and we wanted to make conversation but I didn’t understand English and they didn’t understand Russian I had to resort to German willy-nilly one of them spoke decent German he came over to me I

Asked him a question that worried me what’s new on the fronts the offensive of the troops of Russian generals zukov and KV from Poland is directed to the central part of Germany our troops are advancing from the West the hour of our Liberation is near Russian troops are

Beating the Germans all along the front I admire the courage of your soldiers and officers most of the destroyed defeated and captured German divisions account for the heroic Russian army I had to correct him a little not generals but Marshalls jukoff and KV yaah yah Marshall I asked him another question

How do you know all this we in the camp use reliable information I did not specify what these sources were then the American took four cigarettes out of his pocket gave two to the Russian patient and two to me the patient took them and I thanked him and refused saying that I

Don’t smoke we talked about work in the civilian life I had a very good impression of the Allied soldiers simple friendly guys with an open mind workers peasants small Traders dressed in soldiers overcoats for myself I noted that they do not separate the concept of German and fascist for them they are all

Bosi in their concept a German and a Nazi are one and the same Now 60 years after the end of the war I remember this conversation a simple not too literate American Soldier was absolutely correct in his reasoning about the dominant role of the Soviet Army in defeating the

Military forces of fascism but now both in the west and in Russia we often do not remember about it anymore 2 hours later we were summoned to the doctor I asked the escort who would receive the patient alab came the reply translated into our old military ranks this meant second rank military

Doctor quietly I asked a clarifying question stast of the SS nine grenadin according to my duty it was necessary for me to take the sick prisoner under protection C I.E to ask the German doctor to release the sick person from all kinds of work at least

For one week before leaving for the city the field Felder warned the escort that the doctor if possible should not Grant the exemption this conversation I heard then the sick man would be sent to the central Camp getting rid of the burden for the sick man it was on the verge of

Death we had to do everything possible to prevent it after the escort knocked kned on the door and a voice from inside said kin come in all three of us enter at once behind the desk sits an old man in his 60s with haircut bobbed under his

Clean white robe we can see a green uniform and twisted narrow epolets he allowed the patient to sit on a wooden stool carefully looked at me with gray intelligent eyes I greeted him by putting the palm of my right hand on his cap as it was required by our military

Regulat s there followed a soft reply Morgan he looked at my white bandage with a red cross on the left sleeve of my tattered but relatively clean uniform and looked up at the Convoy the response was immediate Roser un artst Russian Junior doctor the Convoy reported the symptoms

Of the sick man’s illness and relayed to the doctor the field feebles request the old man Escapist looks up at me again and asks what does the Russian doctor think about the diagnosis of the patient I took half a step forward and in not particularly literate German said I

Think the patient has acute bronchitis and a small inflammatory process in the right lung I could not say a large inflammation for in that case the stast would immediately impose a visa to send the patient to the sanitary unit of the central camp with all the consequences

For him the old old man raised his head again and reports with the diagnosis of the Russian I agree although except for measuring the temperature he did not perform any methods of research on the patient he simply did not want to did not consider it necessary to do so the

Convoy again reminds me of the field officer’s request the doctor asks me again what’s your opinion I think there’s no need to send him away his inflammatory Center is small we’ll treat it in the camp as an outpatient and then you know harabas that the food in the

Central Camp is bad only bander and here in the Work Camp his comrades will support him a little I ask that he be released from work for 10 days gut followed the old mank reply I gave him a work release for 8 days he ordered the

Escort to give it to the field officer in the camp he asked me where I was from how old I was how long I had been a prisoner he looked at my gaunt face and said quietly I gang shaft is Gang shaft yes captivity is captivity I again put

My palm to the pilot and all three of us went out I’m happy for the sick man a victory after all a small victory but a victory the German doctor agreed with my arguments apparently he also liked that I spoke to him politely and in German

And then why should I have been rude in my position to an old man without weapons who was almost three times my age and he didn’t behave like a Nazi either field feeble scheme failed but I understood perfectly well how he would meet me he’d scold me but he’d hardly

Beat me up it’s not those times we are approaching the service Barracks of the camp the escort reports everything in detail to the lieutenant he looked at me angrily with great hatred waved his hand and we were let through the camp Gates together with the sick man and indeed a little though

Not specialized but still treatment and relative peace plus the help of Barrack mates helped the patient in a week he began to feel tolerably well winter came it was nothing like our Russian winter winter in Potsdam as in the whole of middle Germany is exceptionally mild it cannot

Even be called winter win a very thin layer of loose snow falls then it rains instead of snow there is mud sometimes very slight frosts of one two de at the end of March 1945 in the evening after work the field officer ordered to build all prisoners of War on

The camp Square in front of the line stood a young interpreter also from the PS who spoke a little German he like everyone else worked at various jobs the field officer said those who want to fight against bolshevism step forward three Paces those who wish to do so will

Be enrolled in the Russian Liberation Army no one moved from his place and a chuckle went through the ranks of the prisoners even the field feeel himself smiled and ordered to disband the prisoners while people were going to the barracks I heard several times the words he found fools apparently he received an

Order from above to carry out such work with prisoners of War war and he carried it out for the sake of appearances the sensible German officers by that time had no hope not only for vofs but also for their own German armed forces in the first days of April during

The bombardment of the city’s military facilities by anti-aircraft artillery our airplane was shot down the wounded pilot parachuted down on the outskirts of Potsdam and was taken prisoner early the next morning he was brought under escort to our camp I was urgently summoned to give the wounded man first

Aid I was brought to the service Barrack there was a pilot in the rank of senior left tenant sitting on a stool I saluted him putting my palm to his cap he answered me with a nod of his head around him stood two field officers there was a change of camp commandants

And one guard with a carbine the Germans withdrew a little and I started dressing him he was was wounded in the leg below the knee the pilot looked a little confused he was still unable to realize how he had fallen into enemy hands and where he had

Been LED leaning over to clean the wound I quietly explained to him you have been brought to a work camp for Soviet prisoners of War its next door behind the wire and this is the office of the camp commandant I am a prisoner of war the Germans around us do not understand

Anything in Russ the wounds turned out to be not dangerous and shallow the leg bone was not hit the pilot sighed heavily it’s a shame to be taken prisoner at the end of the war and how are things at the front you yourself must realize that excellent successfully beat them after treating

And dressing his wounds I tell him you’ll probably be put in this camp for the time being and then sent to the central Camp don’t be afraid of the prisoners in the camp they are all all our guys are you hungry yes came the answer wek think of something in the

Camp the news flew Lightning Fast through the camp a wounded Russian pilot was delivered they brought him to the camp dozens of prisoners ran from different Barracks who holds in his hands a piece of bread who boiled potatoes who onions but the guards do not let the prisoners near the

Pilot they took him into one of the empty small brick Barracks with unglazed but barred windows and locked him up modest food wrapped in paper flew through the Barrack Windows convoys swearing yelling all the prisoners were soon thrown out for formation then to work in the afternoon the guards were

Removed from the barracks the Germans waved their hand anyway it was impossible to eliminate contacts of prisoners with the pilot the next day early in the morning he was taken to to the central stallock during my last trip to the city with a guard and a sick man

To the Garrison sanitary unit I noticed a striking change in the life of the city it was at the end of April our troops were already a few dozen kilometers away from Potsdam Potsdam was stuffed with troops the streets passed formed from the population of the vstm detachments with

Fa patrons were Columns of old men and very young boys of 14 to 15 years old the city was intensively preparing for defense anti-aircraft guns stood in parks and squares trenches and trenches were dug between houses all the able-bodied population remaining in the city was working Windows of the lower

Floors and cellers were covered with sandbags on some houses huge posters with large inscriptions shh careful don’t spill Secrets a spy may be near on all office and administrative buildings without exception red Brown flags with swastikas are hung there are many loud speakers on the streets from which

Mournful Melodies can be heard if in Winter there were mainly Brave marches broadcasted now there are sad mournful musical works of German composers on the defense works are employed both Eastern workers and Allied prisoners of War among them are many wounded sick exhausted in the city many refugees from

East Germany on cars horses bicycles and just on foot with bags bags knots bags suitcases and backpacks there were Refugee nuns tired confused frightened there is little or no difference with our refugees in Ukraine in 1941 among the passers by there are many disabled people walking with crutches

Riding in wheelchairs sitting near their homes the picture is depressing but I still do not hide the fact that there was some joy that the war came here where it started the names of the streets were also memorable in the names only the names of military and Statesmen Friedrich staser molka straser kerig

Straser bisar straser Hitler straser gearing straser there was not a single name of a scientist poet composer that last time I went out into the city was both joyful and anxious at the same time on the way back I picked up a German magazine on the road the

Guard didn’t mind I don’t remember its title but the content is etched in my memory the magazine was divided into two parts by its content and headings the title read what we had before and after Versa before the Peace of Versa the Germans had Cavalry infantry artillery

Etc pictures of these branches of the military are posted after verile Germany had nothing the magazine photos show broken Cavalry mutilated equipment and cannons dead soldiers lying around it is concluded that it is impossible to go to the conclusion of Peace it is necessary to fight to the Victorious end to the

Last Soldier Geral propaganda used such propaganda techniques although the German abuse of prisoners of War stopped at the end of the war I mean the work camps then Nazi education made itself felt at every step several times I had to observe the following picture when a convoy took a

Prisoner into the service Barracks for example for bandaging often the paramedic would eat lunch at his table often he would throw a piece of bread to the prisoner not served but threw it like a dog like a dog and the field officer did it without malice as a

Matter of course he was a Russian not a German not an Ara he won’t leave his compatriot like that and the field feeble himself and many soldiers used to say to Russian prisoners schiner rine pick again it was often said without malice in the order of things Germans

During the period of fascism were systematically indoctrinated from year to year you are smarter than everyone else better than everyone else more cultured than everyone else in this way the soul of the German Common Man was gradually corrupted I was very eager to know the situation outside the camp so

One day I asked the commandant to allow me to leave the camp with the prisoners of my barracks and work with them in the city he wouldn’t let me in the morning I went to the camp gate to ask the field officer to do the same I approached and heard the words of

The field officer to the escort officer we run away again refusal another prisoner fell ill prolonged gastrointestinal disorder he asks for help but not to be sent to stag this time the field officer warned me in the presence of The Interpreter and the escort to convince the German doctor of

The necessity of sending the sick man I declare Mr field Fable it does not depend on me but on the condition of the patient and the decision of your doctor he looked at me angrily but said nothing the sick man was taken to the Garrison

San unit in the city on the way I thought over the situation maybe the doctor could be persuaded that the sick man had simple diarrhea and it was premature to send him to the central camp but what about me and the field officer the old doctor easily agreed

With my arguments as we walked back I thought to myself well hold on Ivan now you’ll be thoroughly flogged and indeed as soon as the escort reported the results of the visit to the doctor the Fel feeble attacked me with the most selective language I’m

Silent in a week the sick man began to recover noticeably also in the beginning of April all prisoners were announced that on that day work was cancelled we were taken out of the barracks to a reproducer amplifier which had just been hung up we were to listen to a program

In Russian we wondered what else gal’s propaganda had prepared even from work we were released at first only crackling and Noise was heard from the loudspeaker then we heard Russian speech we heard it and were surprised it was broadcast from Prague it was not said whether it was live or

Recorded the committee for the liberation of the peoples of Russia Connor headed by General vlasov has been formed which will continue the fight against bolshevism together with the Valiant German troops the radio was broadcasting then they broadcast the speech of Traitor number two zelenov the whole progam program lasted about an

Hour and a half if you didn’t want to you had to stand there and listen they had formed a living corpse in Prague that was the opinion of all prisoners of War at the same time we were extremely concerned that this committee might go for a forced mobilization among Soviet

PS in these last days for themselves both the Germans and the vites could go for anything this thought was so strongly and deeply embedded in the minds of many prisoners that we could not sleep that night we talked in our Barracks until morning where is the way

Out the only way out is to escape by any ways and means Escape since the prisoners worked in different teams and on different jobs two of them promised to get and discreetly bring small metal scissors to the barracks the prisoners were not always searched when passing through the camp gate the next

Day the scissors were in the camp Barracks the next day another p piece of news added fuel to our agitated Minds this news traveled all over the camp and no one could say anything about where it came from we were supposedly going to be evacuated by the Germans to the West

Toward the advancing American troops at that time the Americans were probably closer to pot Stam than our troops by evening the prisoners of our Barracks were divided on the question of whether to wait for evacuation to the west or to escape immediately I began to Persuader that escape was in every way

The best option for us some suggested that we wait in the camp for our own men they would come and free use they said 10 people agreed with me the rest disagreed or hesitated about 20 people took part in the discussion of the Escape we began to work out the Escape

Plan in detail we had scissors we all knew that there was no electric current through the barbed wire fence of of the camp and it could be cut freely the sun was slipping toward Sunset and three elderly Germans with carbines came to the post to the tower there were no

Dogs I began again to convince my comrades of the expediency of Escape one asked what if the guards run after us they would not they would not leave the camp unguarded we planned the first point of escape to a small City bath house which was located a little away from the city

In this Bath House prisoners of War were washed once a month then to the farm to the Bowers shed where the prisoners often worked we’ll hide there all in all we had to overcome about 3 km the tension Among Us was heated to the Limit the whole Camp was

Buzzing because it was not possible to hide the supposed Escape of some of the Prisoners the time is 20 hours two with scissors began to crawl up to the barbed wire we surrounded them in a semicircle so that their work would not be visible to the

Conoyers we did not find ourselves in a place we were worried about the thought that if the Escape did not take place we might be evacuated to the west then we would end up with the Americans or the British and there we could be detained for many weeks the goal of the Escape

Was one to get to our own people and take part in the final stage of the war war on this day April 21 1945 in the summary sovin form buau reported the troops of the first Beller Russian front have engaged in fighting in the Northern and Northeastern suburbs of Berlin and

Have begun to force the Oda River the third and fourth guards tank armies of the first Ukrainian front stormed the southern outskirts of Berlin and reached the southern approaches to potam in a minute two rows of barbed wire were cut we craw crawled into the resulting passage all 10 men crawled out

Safely the rest of the prisoners of war did not take the risk and did not have time having run away from the camp for 20 30 MERS they heard the Convoy warning shouts tuuk suuk back back out of breath we continued running we heard shots from carbines we reached

The bath house and took cover behind the wall we are breathing so hard that it seems that our heart is about to jump out of our chest not so much from fatigue as from nervous tension as we suppose there is no Pursuit after us having breathed a little at the bath

House we began to think about how to move on to the farm I was not sure that the bower would shelter us until the arrival of the Red Army units and that they would be here any minute now none of us doubted we could already hear the

Artillery canonade he might hide us or he might report us to to the nearest police station or the Gestapo everyone agreed with my doubts so it was decided late at night to approach his barn unnoticed and hide in it until morning in the straw so that no inhabitant of the farm would notice

It it should be noted that the Escape Plan was prepared hastily and ill-considered the success of the Escape was due not so much to a well-developed plan as to a favorable Coincidence of circumstances next we had to pass the outskirts of potam and there were 2

Kilom to the farm since I had never traveled this road I was not allowed to go to the farm for work I asked my comrades if there might be German soldiers on the way they answered that there were German soldiers on the outskirts of the city but never in the

Farm it was decided to March through the town in formation and if a patrol stopped us to say that we were going to the farm to work but there were no German guards or patrols with us the plan failed but we had no other way out

It was impossible to get to the farm without entering the town we lined up 2 by two and without hurrying walked along the outermost Street of Potsdam the sun was almost over the horizon we walked about 150 200 M so far everything is normal Sometimes women kids old people pass by us they

Don’t pay any attention to us because Soviet prisoners of War often passed by here before suddenly three German soldiers came out of the alley towards our small column talking excitedly among themselves I walked in the front row as I knew German and could answer questions if necessary the soldiers approached us

Glanced at us and continued on their way cold sweat broke out on my forehead we passed another 100 m a non-commissioned officer and a soldier came towards us they looked at us and also passed by it’s gone again we have already cheered up a little thinking why the military

Did not stop us what is it the answer is one and very simple the population and the military for several years of the existence of the camp in the suburbs of the city simply got tired of Soviet prisoners of War besides every military man has his

Own task and it is not customary in any army to meddle in his own Affairs and the prisoners go in for and Germans like UNG order in everything we continue walking we became cheerful but it turned out that it was too early to celebrate the victory two SS men in

Black uniforms and with automatic rifles come out and argue about something my comrades push me to the side if they stop me answer as we approached one of the SS raises his hand and gives a loud command halt stop Vin Gan where are you going the column has stopped I got a little

Out of line and I report in German a column of Soviet prisoners of war from a Work Camp is going to a farm I say the name of the farm to do Urgent work why no guards the soldiers are all busy many of them have been sent to the front I

Answer the German thought about something for two to 3 seconds and commands wher gayon keep moving after all these Adventures we finally left the city I couldn’t stand it and attacked my comrades God damn it I thought you said there was hardly any military don’t swear doctor yesterday

There really weren’t any the sun went down over the horizon and it started to get dark in about 30 minutes we reached the outskirts of the farm in our opinion it was a small village with two to three families comrades showed us a barn and we entered it going around the farm a

Little bit it was completely dark mark inside we spread straw and lay down on it in the gap of the barn despite the night we could see the Silhouettes of houses and other buildings of the farm we breathed a little we wanted to sleep but nobody could sleep nervous tension

Was making itself felt a long night passes in quiet conversations and thinking over further plans dawn has dawned through a gap in the barn the fugitives noticed that our bow came out of the house and is coming toward WS us feverishly we think of what to do in

This situation although we are sitting in the straw it is impossible to hide completely The Peasant opens the gate and sees us he comes up to us except for me he recognized everyone because he had been working as a prisoner for a long time he asked why we were here and how

We were here so early in the morning I had to remember all my not particularly Rich knowledge of German and answered him we escaped from the camp we ask to hide us until the arrival of our troops and they will be here in a day or two

We’ll see how he reacts to all this gut kmen zit okay come with me what do we do where will he take us to the farm to his home or maybe to the Gestapo the police or the local je Marie we ask where will

You take us to my home don’t be afraid I won’t do anything bad to you we decide to go because there was no other option the villagers were still asleep and we had the impression that the peasant had noticed us at night when we entered the

Barn that’s why he got up so early to check the contents of his barn we walked a little way through the farm and entered a small wooden Barn familiar to the prisoners which was located on a small outskirts of the house the prisoners often warmed up in

This shed and with the permission of the owner cooked potato soup in the stove they entered and and closed the door behind them Hitler has a bad head said the peasant he started a war against three great Powers we were silent then he said I’ll go home you wait for me

I’ll lock the door don’t open the window or unlock it talk quietly we sit and talk to each other in a half whisper we watch what’s going on around us through the slits nervous tension doesn’t subside we don’t know how the host will behave in the future

An hour passes the second the third suddenly from the corner of the cattle yard comes out our peasant together with a major and an armless non-commissioned officer instead of his left arm he had a prosthesis with a radio behind his back they are walking and talking excitedly among themselves we carefully follow

Their route now it was clear that all three of them were heading towards our shelter we could not hear their conversation yet it looked as if the bower had given us away and wanted to hand us over to the military authorities our nervous tension had reached a peak how stupidly we’d gotten

Ourselves into this mess we had no defense not even a pitchfork all three of them stopped a few steps away from our barn the non-commissioned officer is tuning the radio off his shoulders I’ve got my ears on as much as possible suddenly I hear the major speaking to the peasant Hans you had

Russian prisoners of War working for you where are they now they’re not here now they’re all in the camp the Major’s voice again see to it no more Russian prisoners of War here the Soviet troops will come and they will torture the German citizens together there are no

Prisoners on the farm and there will be no more replied The Peasant they stood a little longer and went away into the farm I translated to my comrades the meaning of the conversation we breathed a sigh of relief in about an hour our host returned to us in one hand propped under

His side he holds a large enameled Basin in the other under his arm a weighty loaf of bread he opens the door and says I’ve butchered a calf brought you the lungs intestines and bread there is firewood here heat the stove and boil your soup we thanked him and started to work

Especially as hunger was already making itself felt but I asked him Mr Bower what kind of military men were here recently they were trying to determine the distance to the front line by the sounds of artillery canonade with the help of a radio he locked us up again and left we

Made ourselves some soup ate and calmed down a bit now having acted in this way the peasant was unlikely to be betray us Twilight came the owner comes in again and says that we will spend the night in the same place and leaves we talk among

Ourselves in a low voice we don’t light the fire it’s the second night we haven’t slept early in the morning The Peasant invites us to come with him we are again wary but we go he takes us into the basement of his strong Brick House in the basement there are a lot of

Mattresses blankets pillows he wor us to stay here and not to go anywhere in the meantime the rumbling of the canonade was increasing indicating that the front was approaching in the evening a German girl the daughter of the owner came in and brought some bread for everyone to this

Day I do not quite understand the true motives behind the behavior of the German peasant who hid a group of Soviet prisoners of War why did he risk his behavior I think that his goals were good and for that I thank him very much the second and then the third night

Passed again we hardly slept again it was pointless to go out and go somewhere it was unknown where our own people were and where the Germans were for some reason the owners don’t come into the cellar anymore to be on the safe side we put a duty officer near the front door

Who was changed every 30 minutes early in the morning of April 25th or 26 I can’t remember exactly now when Dawn was barely breaking the door opened with a jerk and we heard a loud question in german vist yes who’s here our duty officer instantly made out the form of a

Military man standing at the door shouted joyfully guys ours we hastily began to go out of the dark basement to the street the military man in the rank of petty officer stood with a machine gun in a carelessly thrown cloak tent and a pilot’s cap on his head we continue to climb

And he is still holding the automatic rifle watching our every move warily of course he noticed we were unarmed we quickly surround him without lowering his weapon he asked loudly and imperiously who are you excitedly interrupting each other we began to explain that we were prisoners

Of War who had escaped from the potam camp for Soviet prisoners of war the petty officer still holding his automatic rifle asked another question question are there any vites among you no we are all from the same camp we have known each other for a long time before

That we were also together in other camps the petty officer immediately lowered the machine gun wiped the sweat from his forehead took out two packs of cigarettes those who smoked took the cigarettes and smoked he smoked with us freedom we Rejoice laugh ask questions the petty officer inhaling a cigarette

Continued to answer our questions you guys are just lucky you got into the famous motor mechanized Battalion of guards major Tito which is part of the tank core of hero of the Soviet Union guards Colonel pushkarev the cause is part of the fourth guards tank Army commanded by

Guards Colonel general of tank forces Leos shenko the Army is part of the first Ukrainian front under the command of Marshall of the Soviet Union Kev then he continued I will now write a note to the brigade’s pomnik stab and you will go to him stick to the right side bullets

Whistle less there they’ll feed you get your uniforms and fight guys the war isn’t over yet first we went into the house to thank the peasant but he’s gone he ran away or hid he’s afraid of something we’re walking in a column bullets whistling from time to time the

Front line is close we have passed a kilometer and a half more and more we meet our equipment cars self-propelled Vehicles katucha guns tanks the officer who met us read us a note and pointed out where to find the Brigade headquarters we approached two tents a captain comes out of one of them

We give him the note he reads it fluently I’m the chief of staff of the Brigade comrades take a paper from the Clark and write letters to your relatives now because you are considered missing in your Homeland or buried long ago the clerk will tell you the number

Of the field mail I ordered the cook to come over feed everyone well then take them to the intendant they should be changed because everything is worn out ragged tattered they were fed and given uniforms there was no limit to our joy the same day we all wrote letters to our

Homeland I wrote three letters at once to my wife mother and mother-in-law our first letters were still very brief we are alive healthy we escaped from captivity we are in our military units in the evening all of us were introduced to the Battalion command to the Battalion Commander guards major tiof

And his Deputy on political part guards Captain lenko the senior Clerk and the battalions nasaba also arrived the latter began to ask who and in what units served and fought before the capture I answered that I had fought as a military field officer in a squadron of

The 161st Cavalry Regiment of the first special Cavalry Corp do you remember the number of the order on awarding you the rank of military field officer asked nakaba there was no order to award the rank we were graduated from kov military medical school early saying that the

Order would come later directly to the front in the Army formations whether the order came later or not I know nothing about it the chief of staff looked at me and said since you do not know the order to award the rank it is not even known

Whether there was such an order we cannot immediately restore your military rank maybe it will be sorted out after the war you are a literate man I advise you to go to the communications platoon of the Battalion the soldiers will help you quickly learn simple techniques I agree to join any unit

Including the communications platoon as you commend I answered him all right go ahead so I found myself in the communications platoon petty officer babenko met me balv we enroll you in the department of telephonists the soldiers will show you how and what to do they gave me a

Carban soldiers of the department met me and three other former prisoners well fed me once again then began to ask where I was from and where I was in captivity three came closer to me one of them was a truck driver of the communications platoon and said we were

Also in captivity we were liberated by our troops in Poland now we are fighting I quickly mastered the field telephone equipment and with the soldiers wherever ordered began to pull coils the coil was deployed or rolled up very quickly that was the requirement the first two or 3 days were

Difficult I had no skill phys physically I was still weak and the work was often carried out under the whistle of bullets gradually I got involved in this military labor staying in captivity in German fascist camps was left behind like a nightmare I was fed as they say

To the brim but I refrained from eating a lot of fat numbers 28 or 29 April when our motor mechanized cuse as part of the fourth guard’s tank army with fighting entered the area of the city of Potsdam had to observe a curious picture Among Us in addition to our soldiers and

Officers there were many polish soldiers in their Confederates it turned out that one of the units of the Polish Army our Ally had also entered potam potam was taken by our troops from the southwest from the side of the town of lenal separate fighting still occurred

We had to smoke the Germans out of cellers and attics we had to face such methods of fighting on the part of the Germans a fnck would fight a f Patron from around a corner hide and a few seconds later he would come out with a

White rag in his hand if we don’t react he repeats everything again in one of the battles with enemy machine Gunners and F Niki petty officer babenko firing a machine gun in the heat of battle did not notice how from behind the corner of the building SS man Was preparing to

Shoot at him it was noticed by private simonenko everything was decided by a fraction of a second simonenko gave his turn first after the battle the petty officer and his savior drank a 100 grams of front the city was depopulated but the inhabitants cautiously with fear

Still began to appear come out of houses and cellers they need water food the city suffered little during the capture a lot of magnificent Mansions palaces public buildings we went into one of the houses it’s clear from the Furnishings that it was not a poor family the owners

Ran away and all the Furnishings remained untouched and suddenly it cut my eyes in the living room there was a clearly Ukrainian rushnik then women’s Ukrainian outfits in the Next Room hung paintings by Russian artists with such familiar Landscapes apparently the owners had something to flee from on

April 30th I noticed that many of the streets and sidewalks of the city were literally littered with small leaflets I picked up one of them the text was in German this leaflet it became was intended for the inhabitants of the city or for German troops the leaflets were

Dropped from an airplane by ours or the Allies I began to read and immediately realize that the text of the leaflet had a direct relation to the fate of Soviet and Allied prisoners of War still languishing in captivity the meaning of the leaflet was as follows the government of the Soviet Union the

United States of America and Great Britain seriously warns all commandants of Allied P camps guards gestapo SSS SD jeary and others for the safety of all prisoners of War each of you is personally responsible for the fate of prisoners of War Stalin Roosevelt Churchill after the war I was able to

Ascertain that this was a statement by the governments of the USSR USA and UK on the responsibility of German Camp commandants etc for the the safety of Allied PS in their custody made on April 25th 1945 such an authoritative statement by the Allied governments was as good a

Time as any the Hitler ites who had lost their Common Sense during the agony of fascism could physically exterminate the surviving PS and this authoritative statement had positive results it cooled the ardor of executioners and sadists it would seem that the Nazi right was on the eve of its demise but

Despite this the enemy troops in Potsdam fiercely resisted many of our tanks were hit by fa patrons we had trophy fa patrons so platoon and Squad commanders hastily taught the soldiers how to handle them on April 30th during a relative lull the deputy Commander for political part guards Captain lenko

Gathered all of us freed from captivity in the basement of one of the buildings in the past he was the director of a seven-year School somewhere in Siberia he briefly got acquainted with us told us about the combat path of the Battalion Brigade core and the Glorious

Fourth guard’s tank Army in absentia he introduced the commander guards major Tito the holder of seven battle orders and many medals in the past he was a military field officer then commanded a platoon a company and finally a motorized mechanized Battalion he was presented to the title of hero of the Soviet

Union Captain lenko further said since Poland we have replenished our units and formations mainly at the expense of liberated Soviet prisoners of war the sick and severely weakened are immediately sent to hospitals the rest are fed for a week and a half trained and gradually put into combat all of

Them former prisoners of War fight well well with the Germans many of them have already been awarded battle orders and medals in the first battles you also showed your best side the praise cheered us up gave us fresh strength in the zone of our core on May 1st there was some

Calm Allied prisoners of War freed by our troops began to move Westward Americans Englishmen Frenchmen belgians Dutchmen there were elderly people and women they greeted us smiling shouting in their own language all of them moved slowly giving way to troops and various equipment the ways of movement were

Different on foot pushing some baby carriages with belongings in front on harnessed horses there were also luxurious fancy carriages with some family crests in front of each column there was a national flag there were also our liberated civilians taken to Germany for forced labor men women teenagers and even

Children some of them still had a white cloth patch with the word OST many of our soldiers especially ukrainians impatiently ask where from one hears the answers smolin nepro petrovsk Minsk mogilev Bava Venit one of the soldiers met his fellow countrywoman both of them from the same

Farm she laughs hugs him and cries then the soldier ran to the car came back and put in her hand a loaf of bread a can of canned food a piece of sausage he writes down the number of the field post office on a piece of paper and gives it to her

Leaving shouts write be sure to write don’t forget we surrounded the Guardsmen and chorus in one voice asked who the bride these were the circumstances under which the pava girl met her fiance will they meet again will they stay alive i h so in all the streets white cloths

Towels sheets white Rags of various sizes were hung out of the windows of the houses signs of surrender there were no such signs anywhere during the German Advance deep into our territory in 1941 1942 not even in the western Ukraine there was some respite in our units many

Soldiers including me thought at the time not quite understandable lull we all knew that on other parts of the front there were still persistent bloody battles why did our core and maybe even the Army stopped but not everything should know ordinary soldiers and the matter was as

Follows on May 5th in Prague began an uprising of the population against the occupiers at that moment there were a lot of enemy troops on the territory of Czechoslovakia it was a grouping of German field Marshal Shera which had about 800 th000 people German fascist troops which included many SS units

Could suppress the uprising in Prague and brutally Massacre the rebels destroy historical cultural monuments which were prepared in advance for Destruction by the occupiers the forces were clearly unequal therefore the headquarters of the rebels appealed to the Allies by radio for help the American troops at that moment were much closer to Prague

Than the Soviet troops however the Americans did not show any active actions then the Soviet Supreme command gave the order to leave the area of big Berlin and potam part of the forces of the first Ukrainian front and send them to liberate the capital of Czechoslovakia on May 6th the third and

Fourth tank armies of the first Ukrainian front were Advanced to the initial positions our CES on the big wide ring Highway while advancing to Prague met a huge pile of broken enemy equipment mangled and burned tanks self-propelled Vehicles guns trucks and cars all this graveyard of equipment stretched for four or five

Kilom a lot of enemy corpses in green and black uniforms were lying nearby we asked the officer who approached us what kind of Massacre was going on here he replied here our troops defeated the army of General W who was trying to break through to the encircled Berlin corpse of the fourth guards

Tank Army came to the highway leading to Prague moving slowly with stops and where and with very high speed the communications platoon as well as all the motorized infantry on cars Columns of troops on the plane U2 flew around the Army Commander Colonel General DD lenko giving orders on the radio when he

Flew very close and low over the column of our Brigade we waved to him seeing this he he quickly waved his Club at us after his wounding he was still walking with a club our way is covered by fighter planes but a lot of enemy planes are still appearing ahead we hear

Fighting the column stops and disperses a small group of Germans attacked our infirmary which was in the tail of the column the attack was repulsed but the Medics were moved to the middle of the moving troops so it was safer by the evening of May 6th we took

The town of fryberg having passed 65 km during the day by the end of May 7 we met a large column of German soldiers and officers numbering three four regiments they were marching not far from our track in a ravine more or less observing the rows one could feel that

This military mass of people was being led by someone no spontaneous movement was noticeable everyone is armed but the muzzles of automatic rifles and carbines are lowered to the ground they do not shoot having equaled The Columns stopped neither Germans nor ours did not take any action the distance between us was

No more than 50 m Battalion and Brigade commanders were in some contemplation what to do what to do with the Germans to take prisoners and if they resist to fight and Destroy them but in 2 three minutes the order was received by radio not to get involved in the battle to let

The Germans into our rear apparently this grouping of Germans will be dealt with by others we continued to move forward to the borders of Czechoslovakia by the end of May 7th we crossed the a mountains all day long there were small battles and skirmishes with scattered groups of Germans all day

On May 8th we made a March there were stops several small battles The Columns passed through mountain passes through numerous rivers and rivulets in the middle of the day we received a verbal order from the political iCal Department of the front which was reported by the Battalion commissar we are approaching the borders

Of Czechoslovakia which is Allied and friendly to us the attitude to the citizens of the Republic must be especially polite and correct there should be no misunderstandings with the population in one of the Farms seven to eight young women came out to the road and started tearfully begging us to take

Them with us they were ukrainians who had been taken to Germany for agricultural work at the beginning of the war of course they could be understood for many years they had been away from their Homeland their relatives and Friends among strangers they suffered humiliation and abuse were often hungry subjected to exhausting

Labor they needed to get home and as soon as possible but the regiment Commander politely but categorically refused the women we had other tasks not related to the problems of civilians in the next Farm the same picture and again the refusal our compatriots could not get to

Their native places on their own firstly they had no documents secondly they could not walk far and they needed to feed on the road but we had no right to take them with us we still had battles ahead of us we passed through a small town the streets were narrow the cars

Crept slowly along the houses in one of the windows we saw a girl kneading dough in a kashner one of our communicators twisting German words tried to make contact with her guten Morgan good morning and so on in response we heard the purest Russian language soldatic don’t strain yourself and don’t break

Your tongue I am Russian Thunder of laughter all along the street it turns out that she is from smolin was taken to Germany by the Germans and will soon go home at first they took offense but after the owners had three Sons killed on the Eastern Front they got quiet and

Treated her normally at dusk The Columns entered a forest area suddenly there was a stop a big Forest blockage the road was blocked by a large number of trees cut down and piled across the road the enemy hindered our advance in every possible way it was urgent to dismantle

The debris we used SS axes all this was in every car in 30 minutes we coped with the work there were two more such debris along the way they of course delayed The Columns there was a large column of German prisoners of War accompanied by our machine Gunners in the column ahead

Went officers then field officers non-commissioned officers and only then soldiers many old men teenagers and very young men in green vermar uniforms folks Sturm some are wounded dirty ragged unshaven and frightened the left tenant leading the column expresses dissatisfaction with the task assigned to him he does not want to go to the

Rear of his battle comrades and even in the last days of the war the advance was so fast that the Germans abandoned their army field Hospital a white flag with a red cross was flying on a pole the attendants scattered many wounded some needing urgent surgery to the wounded

Approached an interpreter with a machine gunner all all Germans were announced that they were captured asked to surrender all available weapons in the hospital remained two machine Gunners a few of our Medics and we went on at night from May 8th to May 9th the Army entered the territory of

Czechoslovakia we passed Villages and towns by car women children shouting nasda take Prague at 2 a.m. on May 9th the fourth tank Army from the Northwest came close close to the suburbs of the capital of Czechoslovakia a small stop Dawn was coming around 3:00 a.m. on May 9th our

Army with the third tank Army of Colonel General PS ralco stormed the streets of Prague although the war was over on May 8th on May 9th until about 10:00 in the afternoon Fierce fighting took place in the city sweeping from enemy soldiers blocks and streets Prague citizens met

Our troops in a rare friendly and joyful manner along the streets an abundance of people tanks and cars were pelted with flowers greeted by raised hands and shouts nasda nasda during small stops the citizens of Prague invite us into their Apartments houses treat us to Wine and Food the

Host and Hostess and we raise our glasses the host proclaims Stalin we reply benis the Prague women kiss the soldiers in a burst of emotion flags are hung out of the windows red Soviet most of them American English Czech and Slovak flags from time to time Columns

Of German prisoners of War soldiers and officers pass under the escort of our soldiers and sometimes of the rebellious population the town’s people meet them with shouts of indignation near the railroad station an Echelon is being prepared for the ship of fresh prisoners they are fed at the carriages from field

Kitchens with a large Ladle a German is Distributing food into the walks of the approaching prisoners next to him our soldier autom matnik closely follows the distribution sometimes the machine gunner orders Z poron the German on the distribution responds ja and pours Two Scoops we approach the kitchen and ask

Why such inequality who gets one ladler and who gets two this wounded man has lost a lot of blood we need to feed him and that one over there is too skinny and a teenager we should pour more too you can’t understand the Russian Soul just when they were enemies but now they

Feel sorry for them after 10:00 in the afternoon there was silence unusual silence I could not believe that the war was over but until the late evening the troops and residents were on the streets of prag and celebrated Victory Day in the evening of May 9th the Personnel of our

Core was withdrawn from Prague for several kilometers to some Forest Area we unfolded tents the everyday peaceful Army life began in 2 or 3 days we received the first letters from our relatives I was lucky I received three triangles at once from my wife mother and mother-in-law the first letters in

Three years I opened each one with trepidation what is it how is it is everyone alive and well my wife writes that my daughter Lea is growing up we survived four hard War years it was hungry and cold but now everything is fine she reassures me they are waiting

To go home because demobilization should be soon fresh issues of newspapers were regularly delivered to the tents crnaa vesda Pravda is vestia and other greedily read all the news Army everyday life consisted of morning exercises rifle training Communications training political training dead hour lunch and dinner wartime movies were often shown

In the evenings once the newspapers reported that the bodies of Geral his wife Magda and six children who had been poisoned were found in Berlin on May 2nd 1945 in the center of Berlin in the bomb shelter building of the Reich chancer at 5:00 p.m. the

Charred corpses of a man and a woman were found with the corpse of a man of short stature the foot of his right leg in a half-bent state stubby with a burnt metal prosthesis he was carried out into Berlin Street the Nazi uniform dark Woolen pants and a light brown tunic all in

Shreds in Rusty traces of fire the wind rubs his yellow Tie a yellow silk loop around his black charred neck before he died Geral destroyed six of his own children the circle of murder was closed poison fire were the means tested in the concentration camps 24 I saw gal’s propaganda in action the

Devastated lands of Ukraine the death camps the ditches with tortured people the mockery and trials of constant starvation the terrible hatred of the Russian people and their Customs but I saw saw Gobles himself and it was under the following circumstances in the second half of April 1945 in the afternoon in the

Potsdam Camp announced an air Alert in such cases we were driven into Doug trenches there was no air raid and in 20 30 minutes everyone began to disperse a to the barracks I as a military field officer was call it to the commandant’s barracks there it was necessary to

Render a little Medical Aid to a German soldier who had injured his finger I went to the entrance gate of the camp at the same time two passenger cars entered the territory in the second was a guard and from the first car came out limping

A thin short man in a civilian suit how do you guard prisoners of War he asked the guard he reported to the guest about the security system I was standing next to him reinforce the guards and do your duties properly if you escape you will be shock

The Russians may come soon and they’ll be trouble the cars turned around and drove off I asked the dazed German who was that reich’s Minister Dr Geral his death was less than two weeks away it was a Pity we couldn’t capture him alive on May 11th some of the servicemen

Who took part in the liberation of Prague received certificates of appreciation which expresses the Gratitude of the Supreme commanderin-chief I still have it and it is dear to me because it was the first award I received after escaping from captivity