Americans Had Brought Us To A Dead End

Embark on an epic voyage through the concluding chapter of a frontline Panzer commander’s gripping memoir, as he recounts the intense aftermath of war and life as a prisoner of war in post-war Rastatt. This YouTube video delves into the commander’s harrowing experiences under French occupation, filled with air raids, displaced persons, and the absence of German authorities. Witness the courtroom drama unfold as the commander faces a military tribunal, presided over by the intriguing Colonel Braman. The trial sheds light on the complexities of post-war reconstruction, with charges of possessing military literature and ammunition. Amidst the challenges, the memoir reflects on the commander’s time as a POW of the Americans, offering a unique perspective on the contrasting approaches of the occupying forces. As the narrative unfolds, discover the commander’s evolving understanding of international relations and the praise he bestows upon the Americans for their distinct role in the post-war landscape. The video builds to a poignant climax, culminating in the commander’s release on Christmas Eve—a powerful symbol of hope, resilience, and the indomitable human spirit in the face of adversity. Immerse yourself in this compelling story that captures the complexities of post-war life and the triumph of the human will. #ww2 #american #germany #worldwar2 #warstories #audiobook #americanarmy #wartales @WW2Tales @TheHistoryUnderground
Link of (Part : 1) : https://youtu.be/rt2gdPuUs6U
Link of (Part : 2) : https://youtu.be/z-odtwHoefM
Link of (Part : 3) : https://youtu.be/FW0zQIKUktg
Link of (Part : 4) : https://youtu.be/cyIrCeik67I
Link of (Part : 5) : https://youtu.be/NSgQL2Z_Z-k
Link of (Part: 6) : https://youtu.be/SK2a7ZI1yVU
Link of (Part: 7) :https://youtu.be/tE3W6C47kN4
Link of Playlist : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDxc_c19B0x4VJfjtDsVaqVmWOvPkKNoi
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On 10th of February Budapest capitulated the two attempts to relieve Budapest made either side of Lake Valena got very close to the Hungarian Capital but in the end our forces were not strong enough we had good results destroying numerous Russian tanks assault guns and anti-tank guns our losses were kept within acceptable

Limits and in this period the company had no fatalities if the number of tigers operational was large the abtong would be led by the commanding officer and the three companies by their respective commanders if the number fell they would be assembled into a battle group led by

One of the three company commanders the leadership changed every 7 days so that if everything went according to plan after 7 Days of operations I would have a rest of course it did not always work out that way and then I would have to spend longer in the field the Panza

Crews often got periods for rest as nearly all panzas went into the Workshop from time to time to repair Battle damage or technical defects then they would remain with the Panza the general War situation was by now causing us great concern I had in my company some

Cians and East prussians who had serious worries for their families once the Russians had crossed the Reich borders in the East some got news that their families had been evacuated others had received no field post for weeks this uncertainty was intolerable I knew the family circumstances of my men they came

To me with their problems but in these cases my hands were tied married men always got preference when it came to handing out leave passes if happy or sad Tidings were received from home there was always special leave no matter how the situation stood with us it now happened much more frequently that

Soldiers had to be given leave if news came that their family had been bombed out when these soldiers returned to the company one one had to take a special interest in them the more tragic the circumstances became in the Homeland the more the company became a constant

Factor a kind of substitute family for the men here one felt understood and supported by their comrades what they told us about the Homeland was generally not good the war had taken over all aspects of Life the loudest mouths were those who had never experienced the

Front and so one would be happy to be back at home with the gang I also had concerns I had heard nothing from home for several weeks but I knew that my parents were at rotenfels but what was it really like what had become of my brother vula after the bombing of

Dresden of which we had naturally heard thus every man had his cross to bear on orders of the highest the abong was renamed heavy paner abong Fel her andhala and we were integrated at the same time into panac Corf felt her andhala we thought this was nonsense we

Preferred to be 53 and within the unit continued to refer to ourselves as such 503 was now a vafan SS heavy Panzer ab tyong and so around 5 of February 1945 it was rumored that we were to be pulled from the front to where was unknown for

The time being on 12th of February the Tigers began loading at more and we arrived at panac Corps Feld Halla which was preparing to play the leading role in destroying the Russian Bridge head on the ground here our abtong was subordinated to Reich Grenadier division hun deut Meister the first transports arrived on

15 February at per beta and the abong set up at shoes because insufficient rail Transporters were available three company had to wait until empty wagons came back from per beta to Moore therefore my company did not load until later I used the time at Moore to try

Its wonderful wines we made visits to the wine GR Growers and were soon able to distinguish the better wines of the Southern slopes from the others the Russians had established a major Bridge head over the Gran a tributary of the danu which presented a constant threat to the German front and

Vienna in order to remove it a force was assembled consisting of our panacor aaan SS panacor and the Laband Adolf Hitler the attack was to begin on 17th of February 1945 the Hong had 22 battle worthy Tigers but only a few from three company the attack began well but then the

Commanding officer paner received a hit on the side of the turret because hapman fond D Kerber was forced to navigate from an open hatch at night as did all paner commanders he was seriously wounded in the back of the head by a shell Splinter liutenant herine took over leading the attack and the

Commanding officer was taken by an armored personnel carrier ambulance to the rear and was treated later in the Luft waffer hospital at prur Hedman vand chief of the supply company and the oldest company leader in the abtong came forward to take command I did not take part in this

Attack because most of three company had not arrived at perbeat in time now on the morning of 18th of February they were ready and could get involved in the ab Tong’s attack at Daybreak we advanced along the railway line to kiss nalu as an abong after 3 hours The Village was in

Our possession once we had broken through strong anti-tank gun and tank fronts the artillery gave us outstanding support I had their Advanced spotter a sixth man in my Panza therefore I could tell him directly what I wanted and he then passed it on to his batteries as a

Radio message the artillery laid smoke into the village forcing the Russians to DeCamp their defense had begun to totter after mopping up we pushed on and were soon confronted by a Minefield in order not to lose time I dismounted and cleared a path myself for the panzas and

Diffused wooden chest and T mines in half an hour I had diffused 50 mines and then we passed through without damage we reached our first intermediate objective and came across only weak resistance meanwhile we had progressed a good distance behind the Russian lines a new order now came from division

After decoding it we thought initially there had been some mistake and requested a repeat but no we had a new objective to aim for about 20 km from where we were now and it was getting dark therefore we Advanced always cross country occasionally running into enemy tanks open fire hit press

On the most difficult task was to navigate through a pitch dark night towards midnight we came to a very swampy area which caused us to difficulties some distance away we saw to our left white flares going up the signal for German troops and we heard the typical engine noise of German

Panzas after another hour we succeeded in making direct contact with the liand Adolf Hitler which had made its way here from the north with 40 to 50 panzas at first we approached them but then received an order from division to Halt this was in the musla area halman vand

Went to establish contact with division while I waited with the panzas for several hours for our supply which arrived at four hard fars with the longed four field kitchen towards 7 hours I arrived at kelut as ordered with the panzas here Hedman viand was waiting for us with new orders we had to

Liberate two Villages but apparently the Russians had got wind of the presence of tigers and decamped and we fulfilled the mission without meeting significant resistance here we would have have liked to pause a while but new orders kept us going this time our Advance took us through mountainous country it was a

Strain particularly for the drivers who had had no sleep for 28 hours the pre-spring sunshine made up for it somewhat towards evening we got to our new objective much longed for but we had to make a night attack on kemond straight away therefore no sleep the terrain before us was difficult numerous

Deep gulches had to be crossed and in darkness when contact with the Enemy had to be expected at any moment making it doubly unpleasant we had already driven through the Russian lines they had been abandoned which gave me an uneasy feeling after crossing a very difficult

Gorge we came to a broad elevated plane with an upward slope we could only guess our direction of Advance therefore we went forward slowly it was clear to me that our main difficulties would not present themselves until day break if we reached kemond during the night we would

Be left totally to our own devices After Dawn for the entire area could be easily seen from the higher ground on the other Bank of the gr where the Russians had positioned themselves we would not be able to receive supplies or reinforcements during daylight this was something to worry

About later for our Advance was still progressing and the Russians were too quiet for Comfort suddenly we came across mines laid to the left right and ahead of us we were already into a Minefield whose borders could not be determined we began attempts to clear them but they had been

Laid carefully and were totally frozen in besides there was no room to maneuver and we finally had to accept that we had come to a dead end we worked feverishly to change the damaged sections of track this setting off other mines in the process since we could not proceed

Through the Minefield our only option was to withdraw for now it had begun to get light the calendar read 20 February 1945 my last day on active service we had just pulled back to the gorge when at first light we had the Russians at our throats their tank attack was

Skillful but in tank combat we were still a little Superior to them towards midday the situation quietened down and halman viand drove back to the command post I left two panzas on watch ahead and went back 2 km up to a quarry in order to give the crews some rest every

2 hours the two panzas ahead were to be relieved I stretched myself out on the rear of my Panza enjoying the warmth of the engine below and the sun above and fell asleep a little later the enemy artillery fired on precisely this little spot and shell splinters shattered my

Left elbow I noticed this while half asleep and did not fully come to my senses until I found a surgeon working on my arm he applied an emergency dressing and I was conveyed by armored personnel carrier to the command post at calut where Dr buy looked at the

Wound they were all very concerned about me liutenant coer now took over command of the company and I discussed everything with him which needed to be done they had given me a shot of morphine and this held off the pain I reported myself unfit for duty to hman

Vand and drove to the workshop then I was returned to the Tross at tarded in the more comfortable Mercedes of the commanding officer we arrived there around midnight next morning in the orderly room I dictated some important things I wanted to see to myself promotions decorations and the

Like then summoned the company Feld Weebles to take my leave of them the company was fallen in less those men on active duty forward in order for me to make a parting speech short because I had begun to feel weak and my dressing was soaked with blood in closing I told

My company what I firmly believed at that moment in 3 months I shall be back with you then I shook each Man by the hand and was driven in the commanding officer’s car to the Luft vafer hospital at prur Hedman fonel striber accompanied me to pressur my commanding officer Hedman

Von D Kerber was also at the Luft vafer Hospital there and I was admitted to his Ward not much could be done with me the first few days because of the large wound and swelling it could not be put in plaster the wound was treated twice under anesthetic so that splinters of

Shell and Bone could be removed there was much discharge matter I was given daily injections of morphine and was always asking for more but the dosage could not be exceeded to avoid my becoming addicted after a few days the commanding officer was discharged at his own request

I had been able to dictate my letters to him and he helped me so far as necessary the letters in which I informed my parents of my wound never arrived the last field post they received from me was dated 17th of February 1945 the French had occupied my home

Province of Bon before my letters from hospital arrived I became very bedridden the doctors were at a loss for without a plaster cast the bones would not knit and because the joint was shattered the end of the upper and lower arms could not unite the arm remained badly swollen and

Suppurating there was often talk of amputation but the doctors there did not want to risk doing it as soon as I was able to travel they would send me to a hospital in Germany at that time my company had a pause in operations and so from time to time a vehicle would arrive

With visitors one afternoon at the end of February I received a surprise visit from hman eichel striber wearing a solemn face followed by spiss Müller and Feld wibel saxs and the Hospital surgeons on behalf of the commanding officer iel awarded me the German Cross in Gold a few days later I was scheduled

To be transferred by Hospital train to Germany Fortune Smiled On Me Again in mid-march the Army group consultant surgeon a professor at grial University came on a routine visit to the hospital he was available to all military hospitals in the army group’s area in order to advise on difficult cases and

If necessary take them on himself he had been shown four such cases at pressur after examining me he operated at once and so saved my stiffened arm now he fixed my arm at a 190° Bend using a chest upper and lower arm plaster cast which kept the wound area open and by

Hooks reaching into the wounds fixed the bones in this position this gave them the chance to knit together again at the end of March the Russians were dangerously close to pressberg I was brought out on the last hospital train to leave the town and after crossing the Reich border on Easter

Sunday went into a military hospital at Gaz on the river in on 3rd of April 1945 and transferred 3 days later to the military hospital at Hagin because better surgical treatment was available there the well-known Professor Frey of Munich was Chief surgeon and so I was in

The best hands I had lost weight over the preceding weeks and my plaster cast had begun to rub therefore windows were cut into it for access to the suppurating wounds naturally I followed the course of events from the various fronts in April a large town or city

Fell every day it was entirely obvious that the end was near and not even a miracle could Stave off our total defeat on 20 of April the fur’s birthday Geral made a speech of Praise which Ended as did all those made over the years with the sentence may he remain for us what

He is to us and always was our Hitler I remembered this phrase very clearly because in seventh grade at high school I had had to deliver gal’s birthday speech from memory at the time we thought it was rubbish but upon hearing these words again on 20th of April

1945 in this situation I could only shake my head and Marvel at how people had been taking in by it for all those years on first as May the special bulletin came reporting Hitler’s death kept back from us for 12 hours and that he had reportedly fallen in the battle for the Reich

Capital finally I thought finally it’s over and we can put an end to this pointless Butchery make it quick for better an end with horror than horror Without End some days previously my plaster cast had been cut off it was a long proc procedure before I was finally peeled

Out of my breastplate the bones had knitted together but the wound looked much as before now that the cast was off I could carry my arm in a sling the wrist was stiff and the shoulder far from flexible I dressed myself for the first time and took a walk through the

Village but was happier when back in the hospital every day the Improvement continued only the elbow required a heavy dressing because it was still ejecting small splinters of bone which was good on 26th April the patients were given the choice of remaining at the hospital until the Americans arrived or

Being released at once to the location of One’s Choice I elected for the latter I thought that tany would be a bit more lively than along the inn and requested transfer to a hospital there since the wound still required attention I was given my documents medical records and

Rion for the Jour and after hanging my pack on my belt I left public transport had been suspended no trains or BOCES so I had to hitchhike there were many weed vehicular about however and so I had no problem getting a ride but lacking a map I landed up at Brandenburg on the

Austrian border towards midday not what I had hoped for while awaiting another lift I met some Frenchmen from the French Legion who were not sure where they should be poor Lads they really had backed the wrong horse that evening I got to tigy a glorious spot nature undisturbed unwrecked I reported to the

Main military hospital and was directed to a former boarding house the bonheim now an auxiliary Hospital half the patients were officers and I shared a triple room with two Junior Li tenants next morning I was awoken by my relatives at 6 hour and informed with excitement that a certain Hedman gerros

Had carried out a pooch in Munich with the intention of surrendering the city to to the Americans without a fight the pooch had been quickly put down but then on the boshoff at any rate there was great anxiety about the future consequences as a member of the vermak I

Had to make myself scarce as quickly as possible and so I hitchhiked back to tzi then the war overtook us again and on 30 of April the Americans arrived in Munich and were expected at Tans any day they advised their presence with some mortifier which landed in St quirin

Therefore close by from our balcony we saw Sherman tanks advancing very slowly and cautiously along the lake side road towards Wei although there was no German opposition we had binoculars and gave a running commentary on this show that morning I wrapped my pistol in oily rags

And dug a hole for it below an imposing tree so that I could retrieve it later probably it is still there today towards evening it was rumored that the Americans were already in tuny next morning we were all ordered to our rooms and an American doctor went with

Our senior surgeon from room to room and had the individual cases explained to him an American Soldier was posted at the ground floor entrance to the hospital and we were prohibited from leaving and no more visits by relatives were possible a German soldier from alsas was taken off and appeared 2 Days

Later wearing French uniform I gave him a letter for my parents in the hope he could deliver it in the French occupied Zone but it never arrived on 8th May 1945 the military capitulation came into force it had been expected for days since it was inevitable no more war though not yet

Quite peace but no Air Raids no shooting no deaths and no new mutilations now we had the prospect of life without fighting without danger and perhaps one day peace would really come toy was lit up again in the evening and it was bright around us after the years

Of blackout to which we had grown accustomed but there was mourning for the many who would not experience this day and worries about one’s comrades in arms also increased which of them had come through it were they all now in Russian captivity would one ever see them

Again I now spent much time with major luow and an over liutenant Von Lindon from the foreign office the days confined in the hospital were long and we often played scat or poker the three of us discussed things a lot I found it heavy-going having to condemn what was

Passed day after day suddenly everything here was no longer German but Bavarian I did not like that at all Lyon who had contacts and wanted to enter the Bavarian Administration called me the bronzer Rock the nurses were no longer from the German but the Bavarian Red Cross there were still no newspapers

And the radio was in the hands of the American Military much of what we heard was considered to be propaganda we still knew next to nothing of the Dreadful things which had accompanied the war of the extent of the concentration camps we at least had no knowledge and when we discovered the

Facts found them at first so unbelievable that it needed time before we could open our eyes to these horrific scenes our time was fully taken up by what lay ahead what plans had to be made and taken in hand for the future before the military had done one’s thinking for

One to a certain extent but now one had to think for oneself and was responsible for oneself in mid June everybody was interrogated by American officers most of whom were German Jews family occupation membership of party organizations time as a soldier Etc were asked the interrogators knew the German

Circumstances exceedingly well and so their questions were precise and one had to answer EXA exactly I was required to take off the big bandage from my left arm to prove that I did not have my blood group tattooed under my armpit as was done in the SS it was all finished

On 25 June and so far as medically possible everybody was discharged in the morning at 8 our has we had to fall in in front of the main hospital at tany in order of rank then the names were read out quickly and each individual had to step forward to receive his certificate

Of discharge it gave him his freedom and he could go home the ceremony ended and five men were still standing there myself amongst them we had no idea why we had not received our discharge papers and were very disappointed then two Jeeps Drew up and we were told to get

In we were taken to a giant prison camp at bad Arling it consisted of some administrative Barrack Huts otherwise only large pens to hold 200 to 300 prisoners each without any protection against the weather and surrounded by barbed wire there was no grass the ground was trampled underfoot soft and

Muddy once in the camp we were ordered to remove the national Insignia shoulder straps and collar Patches from caps and jackets now one was just prisoner XY the food was a miserable offering of very watery cabbage soup with Specks of fat for the night one sought somewhere dry

There was no blanket only the clothes one stood up in the days were not sumy June and warm the weather was unseasonal and it rained a lot I met un ridia grish from my company he had been here several days and knew the drill he could not

Tell me anything about the company which he had left some time before for he had been scooped up in the campaign known as heleno and was to have become an infantryman how he finish it up at abling I cannot remember now came the same interrogation as I had already gone

Through at tany this one was more impersonal and unpleasant but I got my discharge certificate meanwhile those who lived in the zone of French occupation were separated out and next day my 23rd birthday loaded on a Dodge Lorry and taken off our driver wanted to talk and

Asked who spoke English I joined him in the cab to show him the way to tuttlingen in the French Zone on the way we passed through Munich the destruction was indescribable some burnt out ruins were still standing but then we came to blocks of streets where everything had

Been raised to the ground left and right of us and great mountains of rubble stood either side of the thoroughfare where were the people who had once lived here we saw a few of them on the street it would be Generations before it could all be rebuilt then we came to districts

Where the trams were still running the destruction on the outskirts of the city was less but it still looked appalling our route went through the Countryside past neat undamaged Villages and small towns in which life seemed to be normal about 17 hours we arrived at tuttlingen I inquired the way to the

Camp make sure they don’t keep you there every day transports leave here for France that was all we needed to stay prisoners and prisoners of the French to boot it seemed to us laughable that the French considered themselves one of the Victorious Nations after all they had

Declared war on us and we had overwhelmed them totally in less than two months this and similar thoughts ran through my mind as we came to the French prison camp our driver accompanied us to the Barrack Hut where our papers were examined and the French endorsement

Stamped on them this served at the same time as an authority to proceed to one’s Hometown without it one could not leave for one’s home address when we had all been processed and returned to the lorri Our Kind driver said that next day he would be driving back via stutgart if

Anyone wanted to go there with him they were welcome aboard departure was at 9 tars that was wonderful for me for connections from tuttlingen into the Rin Valley were very Troublesome and I hoped that from stutgart I would be able to take a train we looked for somewhere to

Spend the night Caritas or the camp of a similar charity it was my first night of Freedom my first night as a civilian for now I was no longer a prisoner of war War we were also warned here if possible not to show ourselves in the city the French

Couldn’t be trusted they just kidnapped people off the street at will what I saw of their military at tuttlingen did not Inspire much confidence either next morning a Sunday our Lor arrived at nin hers on the dot and took us to stutgart we were set down at the last tram stop

And we took our leave of our driver who had been so helpful and friendly to us with much thanks I had the Imp impression that he had sympathy for us I can’t remember in which suburb of stutgart we found ourselves we stood around rather lost in a church for court

The bells rang and the people left Mass they were all dressed in their Sunday Best and in Holiday mood we discharged soldiers must have made a pitiful impression people came up to us spoke and invited us to their houses in a few minutes we were all amongst friendly

People sharing their Sunday lunch with us they gave us good advice don’t take the tram through stutgart at the schlossplatz junction they take off anyone who looks like a former Soldier they do just what they like and we have no rights take the train the long way

Around the city to zuen Housen the railway stations are still in American hands and the French can’t touch you there I followed this advice got to zuen Housen without a problem and had to wait on the station platform for several hours until a Goods train left for carlsro

We arrived there at midnight not at the main station but at carlwer West there was curfew from 22 to Har therefore we had to stay at the station I curled up and slept with many others in a Goods yard tomorrow I would definitely be home as early as allowed I walked across

The city to the main station to ask about trains the next train for rat would not be leaving until the afternoon I strolled around the streets even here there was much destruction but Munich looked a lot worse the Americans were in carrer so one could move about without

Fear the border between the US and French zones of occupation ran through Dom asheim between carru and rat it was a proper border with barriers across the street and checkpoints the passenger train left for rat at 17as when I went through the ticket barrier there I asked the Railway

Official how things were in cbil and stasa everything is still standing was the comforting answer I crossed the rail installations and then turned into our cibil and stasa it was an Indescribable feeling this return home after everything that lay behind me I recognized my mamama from

Afar shopping for the evening meal at a store and she came towards me how tired she looked then she recognized me and we hurried to meet son I can’t believe you’re back home I cannot describe how moving this moment was mama took me by the hand we went through the house and

Garden to the rear gate my son is home she called out as we went up to the veranda and papa I can still see this clearly jumped up and unable to speak came down to me his face lit up a rare occurrence after years of worry difficulties and

Humiliation how thankful I was to be back home with my parents knowing at last that they had also survived that beautiful July evening we sat for hours on The Veranda looking out over our blossoming Garden I could hardly believe that I was home again no longer having to go back to the front

Seeing my parents alive if visibly older and careworn how many were denied this pleasure even my parents had come to life again their greatest worry how and whether I would get through the last month of the war and the capitulation had been shed I was back home if with a

Mutilated arm but otherwise hail and Hearty determined to let nothing get me down there was so much to tell for so much had happened in the time in which we were out of touch the last letter my parents had received was sent shortly before the operation at the river Gran in mid-February

1945 therefore a few days before my last wound it had been in September 1944 before that I had last spent a day at home up to that time rasat had still been spared Air Raids but soon afterwards in the Autumn of 1944 the Allies Western Front moved up

Rapidly stasbor fell in November and heavy fighting raged along the western banks of the rine in alsas from December the front ran along the rine and was thus only about 10 KS from rat which became a Frontline town the first air raid did sever damage to the area around

The railway station and the town came frequently under enemy artillery fire my parents had left the house in Cilan St un attended and found shelter at Schloss rotenfels plundering troops with loose trigger fingers old gangs of displaced persons released from camps mostly poles and Russians roamed the district making

Everybody uneasy the great rat hospital had to be cleared out for them they set up in it and made it the base for their criminal operations when my parents returned to cibil and stasa for the first time they found the house still standing but all ground floor Windows broken inside it looked as

Though a hurricane had hit it Papa told me that he had thought the house could not be made habitable again but mama got to work on it and gradually every room was cleaned and cleared out gradually life began to get back to normal there were no longer any German authorities

The rule of law was in the hands of the occupying troops the French had installed a mayor an old communist who had survived the Nazi period and had Now set up a Kind of Town Council with others of like mind lord of the town was a French Colonel given the

Title of military Governor he exercised police powers and his German informers supplied him at his HQ The Villa Maya with persons to be interrogated and often tortured rat was in the hands of French and German Communists and many personal scores were settled there was no German jurisdiction and not until December 1945

Was the establishment of an inferior Court permitted until then my papa was unemployed in the French occupied Zone food rationing was particularly harsh only 800 calories per day being allotted food production and trade in the rustat area had collapsed totally and long cues waited outside shops there was no bread

Or potatoes in summer it could be tolerated but what when winter came I still carried my wounded left arm in a sling the wound had not healed and was still suppurating small bone splinters every day I went to have it re-bandaged at our old fortress prison converted into a civilian outpatients

Department after the hospital would no longer treat Germans I met some old acquaintances from school and the Yung folk it was appalling to learn how many had fallen in the last months of the war many of my good friends would never be coming home when I came across their

Parents I almost had a bad conscience that I had come though it almost unscathed on the first day a French officer stopped me in the street to check my discharge certificate as a former active officer I had had to register at the office of the local commandant and Report every Saturday

Morning I was forbidden to leave rustat there were numerous minor irritants for example you had to step down from the pavement into the road if a French officer came towards you and do your cap in salute the French had loudspeaker vans drive through the streets of the town to announce the

Latest regulations instigated by the military Governor all radios had been confiscated in the first days of the occupation but it was no great loss it only broadcast the French occupation news which nobody believed anyway we still had no newspapers it would be still sometime before the occupation Force issued the necessary

Licenses thus we remained without news as in other occupied zones of Germany and fixated on our intimate Circle naturally the aversion to the French occupying Force grew constantly drunk with the arrogance of their Victory and hate-filled intention to humiliate us every sensation of Liberation was suffocated but now the byword came to be

Caught together be hanged together we learned constantly and at every turn that the will of the French Victors was not pacification but Collective punishment the repression and dismantling of Germany from the very beginning what we experienced was not Liberation but defeat total and our own fault we had had no Illusions but

Whoever dreamt of Ethics morality and a reformed way of living was soon disappointed destruction hunger hopelessness 4 million dead 10 million prisoners and missing all laws lawful claims and contracts without validity nobody was spared it we all had to bear the consequences one now experienced denunciations originating from a desire

For revenge against colleagues neighbors supervisors and the rich an Indescribable degeneration of the spirit it was all the foreplay for the dentification process which followed it in the French Zone it was mostly the Communists who settled old scores against the class enemy going back to 1919 and on through the Nazi years the

French occupation force was also thoroughly infiltrated by Communists the troops here were mostly newly formed units made up of former resistance Fighters into whose ranks the French Communist Party had placed a large number of its adherence thus it was not surprising that the German Communists and all who

Now claimed to be so received special treatment all this bore down heavily on the people in such a small town as rustat nevertheless the Revival began Gallows humor plans and a wish for culture a good book good music after long deprivation A good sermon one longed for them life then consisted of

Barter and improvisation black markets developed in which mainly displaced persons offered food and other luxuries not to be found in the shops gradually one felt that this immediate postwar period was almost passably tolerable so long as one kept hoping for improvement the hand of the French occupation Authority lay on all

Our everyday Affairs and soon we saw that their uniforms and vehicles merely replaced the golden feasant of the Nazis I had been home 3 weeks when one morning the loudspeaker Vans drove through the streets in spersed between French marches the following order was broadcast all former soldiers had to

Report the day after tomorrow for registration at camp malbach near Barden Barden bringing their release certificate rations for two days and a blanket this set the alarm bells ringing as far as I was concerned we had often seen how the French kidnapped released prisoners of war from the streets and

Deported them to France here there were no rights and no law the purpose of this new French registration was not clear but some underhand business was suspected I had a short talk with my parents and we were all agreed that I should disappear as soon as possible the

Same day I crossed the green Frontier into carlsro in the US Zone from there I rode Goods trains for 36 hours to tanay the US Zone was run more correctly and I felt more secure here with my US release papers Aunt Britta arranged a room for me at rotach at the tomoff

Where I spent the next 3 weeks my wounded arm was still in a sling and I was not up to looking for work I went wandering in the mountains bathed in the lake and recovered from the strains of the preceding years at the Town Hall I received ration coupons enabling me to

Have a cheap basic dish at a restaurant every day in between I spent three days at C in the clinic with my cousins Hines and Richard May who carried out a minor operation on my grossly swollen left arm and extracted the remaining splinters of bone then I felt I should return home I

Had no idea what I was going to do when I got there but it was clear to me that I had to make my mind up soon about which trade or profession I should follow many opportunities were not available to me as a former active officer but in the various zones of

Occupation the regulations tended to be widely different after all my experiences so far I saw that the British Zone looked the best first I hitchhiked to the address in nurenberg of my former order L room sergeant groman from him I heard how at the end of the war the company had found itself

In the northern part of Czechoslovakia always retreating and under heavy pressure at the time of the ceasefire panser AB taong 503 lay between the American and Russian lines because the Americans declined to accept the surrender of troops on the far side of the demarcation line the abong commander hapman Fon D Kerber released

All the men from their obligation s and recommended that they attempt to cross the American lines in small groups and head for Reich territory to that end every man received his military pass pay and rations groman had succeeded in getting back with a few men of the

Abtong how the others had fared he did not know in fact a third had got home but the remainder were caught by the Americans and handed over to the Russians where they spent many years in captivity leutenant copper who commanded three company after I was wounded was not released until Christmas

1955 back at rat I was happy to learn that during my absence nobody had inquired about me and therefore I seemed to have a clean slate my rat comrades in arms had all been hauled off to malbach camp but all came back home Papa told me how he had also been obliged to

Surrender himself for malbach although he was 65 and had not been in military service for 30 years he had been an officer however and apparently that was enough this time I spent only a few days at home I wanted to get to the British Zone and seek its better opportunities

Therefore I set off via dorf to Essen where I met my former company leader Walter Sher other stops I made were at Hanover Breman and Hamburg I spent the nights in station bunkers ate in communal Kitchens hitchhiked on ramshackle lorries or a top the coal on Goods trains a curiosity even on Goods

Trains tickets were inspected the conductor climbing over the loads wagon to Wagon my ticket was my release certificate for my story was always that I was on my way home from captivity I made inquiries at the universities of gingan and Hamburg but no possibility existed for a former active officer to become an

Undergraduate at the beginning of October 1945 I returned home to find the situation unchanged as for my own future I was no better off than when I started my sister Elizabeth had applied to the agricultural Technical College as an agricultural assistant in those days this is the type of thing one could

Expect to happen Elizabeth had taken my bicycle to scout around locally for food from farms and had been quite successful on the way home some poles blocked her way threw her off the bicycle and made off with both bicycle and vegetables the return of Elizabeth was so overdue that

We began to be anxious for her finally she turned up on foot shocked and outraged she had actually got off lightly for rape was common then not only by poles and Russians but also by French Colonial troops one night some shadowy figures visited our garden again and stole the

Last of the fruit on the trees Papa went to the Russian Bureau at the former hospital and complained in Russian he was actually successful and a sign was nailed on our front door in cilic script entering this property is forbidden a Russian family lives here after that we were left in peace in

Mid October five Frenchmen made a sudden appearance in order to conduct a house search while the family was locked in the dining room they ransacked the house and left everything in chaos we were unable to imagine what it was all about and only much later discovered that my

Father had been denounced they were searching in vain for incriminating material when they came to my room on the Upper Floor the Frenchman found a photograph with the panzas of my company on the Sha Elis which apparently upset them they also discovered my paper weight a diffused French mortar bomb and

Confiscated it they made a very close inspection of my books before they left half an hour later they reappeared to arrest me I was taken away and locked in a Cell at the jail on Engel I can still hear the rattle of its keys in the lock a stool a table a folding

Bed a toilet milky glass in the small barred window blocked the view outside although I could just see the sky through a small slit a naked bulb provided dim lighting I sat on the stool considering the situation besides the French controllers at this jail were some German prison staff Who provided a

Support service the door opened and a German official entered Ed asking my name and the reason for my arrest what you are the son of the inferior Court magistrate he shook his head left the cell and returned with two bed sheets and a blanket in the morning when you

Wake up leave these under the mattress at once so that the French don’t see them it did me good to have met this friendly man in the evening I received my washing kit and some underclothes left at the prison gate by my parents I spent 3 days in that cell without the

French taking any interest in me no interrogation no questions nothing I was left alone I thought about what books they might have confiscated from my bedroom as I saw it there had been nothing compromising in my bookcase when I had been the prisoner of war of the Americans my mother had taken out

Anything which she thought might be considered National Socialist they fetched me on the fourth day escorted by an armed Soldier I was walked through the town to the former Fortress prison I knew it well for in earlier times it had been our jungvolk hostel the French had

Now set up in this large building what they called a comp de concentration with 100 inmates all minor party functionaries from the rat area and a couple of harmless people who had been denounced I was shown to a bed in a dormitory of 20 men the camp was guarded

By spahis they were friendly to us since they had the same feeling of being repressed by the as we did meanwhile the French had set up a Military Tribunal at rat the presiding judge Colonel Brahman visited our camp and asked to be presented to each inmate and here

Colonel this is the son of the Court magistrate oh but why are you here he had a long conversation with me about my service during the war my period as a prisoner of war and the reason for my present remand he showed me the scars on

His head which he had received in a German concentration camp which I replied by showing him the wounds on both my arms his escort said let him be he is and will always be a Nazi to hear this from a French mouth made me grin I

Was not going to let them grind me down a few days later I received orders to pack my things accompanied by the explanation you are not a political prisoner you are a criminal therefore I was returned to the jail on engela where I was offered work in the kitchen with

Two much older prisoners on remand I had to get up before breakfast each morning to heat the large kitchen range peel the root vegetables and assist in the preparation of the thin soup served at midday once we had cleaned the kitchen in the afternoon we did not return to

Our cells under the pretext of having to do more work later but stayed in the kitchen playing scat should a Frenchman appear unexpectedly the cards would vanish like Greased Lightning and we would get busy next evening Brahman visited me in my cell to inform me that I was to be

Brought before the Military Tribunal on 22nd December and wanted to know which books had been found in my room during the house search I gave him a few harmless titles but at that time even military literature was as illegal as that of the Nazis next day I received my writ of

Summons and the indictment possession of military literature and ammunition the military tribunal was held in the rasat chatau in the rooms where the inferior Court used to sit an armed Sentry made sure I didn’t escape and delivered me to the court the trial was public my name was call it and I

Stood before the judge’s desk an interrogation was begun using an incompetent interpreter several times I had to object when my denial of this or that was turned by him into an admission then I was led out and the next case called I waited outside until until the verdict was ready as a mitigating

Circumstance Colonel Brahman mentioned that I had become a soldier at the age of 18 and had fought bravely for my country been wounded five times and was a descendant of a marishal de France the sentence four weeks imprisonment my period on remand to be counted so that I

Was free at once vet Libra were the last words and I left the courtroom very relived Colonel Brahman then accompanied me home and on the way told me how unpleasant he had found it to have me before his tribunal but the high command at Barden Barden had ordered him to make

An example of me originally they wanted to prove that I had been active as one of him’s werewolves but this had been going too far I hope I find you in agreement with the solution I found he said therefore there were decent Frenchmen this experience was the beginning of a less

Emotional and more just assessment of our neighboring country for me we arrived home and when my father opened the front door Colonel Brahman said to him simply here is your son without any further explanation he offered us both his hand and disappeared into the darkness of the still unlit

Street at this point I must digress in 1964 I was general staff officer to the CNC Allied troops in Central Europe based at font niblo by chance I discovered that ex- Colonel Brahman lived nearby it was a joyful reunion under quite normal circumstances and a friendship evolved

Which lasted until his death to return to my Tale the day after my discharge was Christmas Eve we had a tree lit with a few burnt down candle stubs we needed no presents for the greatest present was to be all together having all survived the war we sang together the carol

Silent Night and never before had I sung with so much gratitude and confidence the last lines of the song Christ the savior is here