How did the war effect your family

Discussions on WW2 in Western Europe & the Atlantic.
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Palmesan
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Re: How did the war effect your family

#151

Post by Palmesan » 05 Apr 2022, 08:14

On my Father's side, his dad was a shipping agent in the UK, and was killed in his office in the blitz on Liverpool in May 1941. My dad, an almost fully qualified civil engineer at the time, was called up into the army, trained in the Royal Signals, and was transferred to the Indian Army. He served briefly in the Middle East, went out to the Far East, fought in Burma, and ended the war as part of the Army of Occupation in Japan. He was one of the first allied troops in Hiroshima after the Japanese surrender. He came home in 1946, having hitched a lift on an RN ship coming home.
On my Mother's side, her dad was a radio officer in the Merchant Marine. He served on a number of convoys across the Atlantic. His ship was torpedoed and sunk. His next ship was also torpedoed and sunk, and he and a few other crew members survived several days in an open boat until they were sighted and rescued. My Mum served in the UK as a wren, her eldest brother served in the RAF as an air gunner, and then (suffering from shock) as ground crew, and was in North Africa, then Italy, and ended the war in Austria. Her middle brother served in the Fleet Air Arm as aircrew, and ended his war in Ceylon (Now Sri Lanka). Her younger sister, too young to be called up, was evacuated from their coastal home to a town in land. It was not a happy time for her, and she, like the others stoically bore the psychological effects of their experiences for the rest of their lives. (People didn't talk about things then).
I remember one Sunday morning in the mid 1950's, when I was very young, my dad was in the garden, tending the vegetable patch, and I had been sent out to 'help' him. He was talking to me as he worked, then a light aircraft appeared over the hill behind us and, instinctively, in the same moment, he hit the deck. Only moments later did he recollect where he was, and get up again. I also remember that for years afterwards, he suffered recurring bouts of the malaria he caught in the jungle.

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Topspeed
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Re: How did the war effect your family

#152

Post by Topspeed » 05 Apr 2022, 11:43

My uncle did serve in the continuation war and was killed in New Church ( Uusikirkko ) Karelia...in summer of 1944. Only KIA in close family.


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Re: How did the war effect your family

#153

Post by Topspeed » 05 Apr 2022, 11:44

He died long before I was born.

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Re: How did the war effect your family

#154

Post by niels1212 » 25 Jun 2022, 19:06

All 4 of my great-grandparents lived in Belgium during WW2. They lived in the coastal towns of Blankenberge and Knokke. When the pandemic started, my grandfather showed my brother and I a whole bunch of letters and documents from our ancestors. One of my great-grandmothers signed up to work for the US Army. After the war was over, she received a letter of recommendation from the senior officer that she worked for, praising her typing and note taking abilities.

My great-grandfather documented all of the adventures he went through during the war. We worked with our grandfather to write a historical fiction book about it. It was a great way to learn more about our ancestors and spend time over Zoom with our grandfather even though we couldn't visit him. The cover of the book includes pictures of the "papers" they had to carry around during the war.

If you'd like to read our book, it's available on Amazon and at other bookstores. It's called "Running from the Gestapo". The ISBN is 978-1-4116-1286-0. Here is a link: https://www.amazon.com/RUNNING-GESTAPO- ... 1411612868

We'd love to get your feedback on our book.
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Re: How did the war effect your family

#155

Post by CogCalgary » 26 Jun 2022, 15:38

Maternal grandfather was in Holland and Germany.Saw the big open air POW camp.Never liked the Americans after that despite being married to one.Father in law was a Blackshirt and later a wss soldier.Toasted IL Duce till the end.

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Re: How did the war effect your family

#156

Post by Topspeed » 27 Jun 2022, 20:22

CogCalgary wrote:
26 Jun 2022, 15:38
Maternal grandfather was in Holland and Germany.Saw the big open air POW camp.Never liked the Americans after that despite being married to one.Father in law was a Blackshirt and later a wss soldier.Toasted IL Duce till the end.
I became curious...as the AH hated the jews and did what he did...what was actually the point of view to jews in Italy during the war and in their fascist system ?

I figure there was a difference between fascists and nazis ?

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Re: How did the war effect your family

#157

Post by CogCalgary » 30 Jun 2022, 23:45

Topspeed wrote:
27 Jun 2022, 20:22
CogCalgary wrote:
26 Jun 2022, 15:38
Maternal grandfather was in Holland and Germany.Saw the big open air POW camp.Never liked the Americans after that despite being married to one.Father in law was a Blackshirt and later a wss soldier.Toasted IL Duce till the end.
I became curious...as the AH hated the jews and did what he did...what was actually the point of view to jews in Italy during the war and in their fascist system ?

I figure there was a difference between fascists and nazis ?
For many of the hard core fascists,the only difference I can see is that some shrouded their true feelings.He was a virulent anti semite.Many other Italians were much more relaxed.

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Re: How did the war effect your family

#158

Post by Steve E » 02 Jul 2022, 13:44

Part of my Biography

Chapter 3-World War 2 1939-1945

1939 was a big year for me, I started school! Even more important: Juliana , my future wife was born on Easter Sunday, 09/04/1939 in Buitenzorg, Java, Dutch East Indies, a world away from Germany.
I don’t know the exact date but the first day of school was after the Easter School Holidays in April 1939. I got a big cardboard cone (Zuckertüte=sugar cone , sugar bag) full of toys, sweets, coloured boiled eggs (the chocolate variety was unknown then) and other knickknacks to sweeten the monumental day as was the custom in that region.
Our school consisted of a single classroom where one teacher taught grades one to eight. There were about 60 pupils in the one classroom. Notebooks were not common and we wrote on slate tablets with slate pens.
It still amazes me that we learnt anything at all. Discipline was harsh and corporal punishment a common occurrence.

I loved attending school. I enjoyed learning, it came easy and in those days I had a good memory, unlike now when I forget a question as soon as it has been asked. LOL.
Once in grade 4 I answered a question about the Island of Corregidor in the Philippines that had everyone else stumped, even the grade 8 kids and probably the teacher as well. The teacher was so impressed he presented me with a World-Atlas. Thereafter I was called the”History Professor” even though the question was about Geography.

1939 was also the start of World War II. It had a profound effect on our families and changed our lives forever.
A bit of excitement happened when Adolf Hitler’s special train steamed past our village. I watched it from our house. The roofs of the carriages where all painted white. Of course the big man was nowhere to be seen.
My father was drafted into the army in 1940 after the French campaign had been concluded. He was first stationed in the “2nd Company Infantry replacement Battalion 59” in the city of Eisenach with the dog tag number -1533-2./Inf.Ers.Btl.59. Before the war against Russia began he was transferred to the 6th (gepanzerte) (armoured) Kompanie (Company), II Battalion, 6th Schützen (Rifle) Regiment, 7th Panzer (Tank) Division. The 7th P.D. was nicknamed the “Gespenster Division” (Phantom or Ghost Division) because of its fighting record.
He took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union and fought in all the battles of the 7th P.D. from the border crossing (22/06/1941) to the doors of Moscow (November1941) and the retreat during the horrible winter to the Rshew area.
On the 10/05/1942 the Division was transferred to France for rest and recreation. While there they were involved in the occupation of Vichy France , highlighted by the coup to take the harbour of Toulon. During his stay in France he was transferred to the 5th Company of the 6th Regiment. Dad was decorated with the Iron Cross 2nd class, the Panzerkampfabzeichen (Tank Assault Badge), Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/1942 (Eastern Front Medal, colloquially known as the “Gefrierfleisch Orden” [frozen meat medal]) and he was promoted to the rank of Gefreiter (Corporal). He received the Iron Cross for rescuing wounded German soldiers under enemy fire from the no mans land between the German and Soviet trenches.
In late December 1942 to early January 1943 the Division was transferred back to Russia in the Don-Donets rivers area.
Early in February 1943 my dad suffered frostbite to the toes of his right foot and had to have some toes amputated. He spent about a month in a hospital in Zittau / Silesia. On the 14/05/1943 he was transferred to the 6th Replacement Battalion of the 7th P.D. in Saalfeld/ Thüringen. That was when I saw my Dad for the last time. On the 07/07/1943 he left for his old Company at the Russian front where he arrived on the 18/07/1943. Thereafter Dad fought in the retreat across the Ukraine. At home he never said much about the war, did not go into any details and he was happy to wear civvies, “so I won’t have to salute the officers in the street” as he put it.
Dad was offered to become an instructor to train recruits but he declined and chose to go back to his mates of the 7th P.D.
When he was send back to the front again it was a bitter-sweet experience for him, torn between his family and the comrades of his unit who were like a 2nd family to him after sharing constant danger, hardship and death. They had to relay on each other for sheer survival which made them very close, like a band of brothers, as the American author Stephen E. Ambrose described it in his book by the same name.
On the 14/09/1943 he lost his live in the bitter street fighting in Oposhnja against the Russian 20th Guards Rifle Corps from 4th Guards Army.
His body was never recovered and there was no grave or any other information, just a letter from his company stating he had died after having been shot in the head. Some month later one of his comrades (who was himself killed later in the war) send us a letter dated 08/01/1944 stating he was shot and lying in the street. The Germans had to retreat and couldn’t recover his body.

Here is an excerpt from a letter from one of my Dad’s close friends in his company about his death:
On the morning of the 14th our battalion and a battalion of the Grossdeutschland division had orders to defended the city of Oposhnja to enable the units to our left to retreat. When they were unable to do so, Grossdeutschlands battalion was pulled out of our sector and moved to support our neighbour. Now we had no hope of retaining our position, we fought desperately. At 9-30 AM I asked Otto what was happening and he replied “the Russians are 20 metres in front of our position”. Half an hour later the enemies attacked and we were forced to retread. At that moment I saw Otto and his Squad Leader sprint across a street. They were the last to leave our position, they fought to the last moment.
I took shelter in a nearby house where our squad leader joint me presently. I asked him straightaway “where is Eckardt” and he answered sadly “Otto is dead, he was killed by a bullet to the head, he is lying in the street”.
We tried to counterattack with the remnants of our squad but could not advance to the street where Otto was lying. Just then our squad leader was killed as well.
The comrade who send this letter sadly lost his life a few month later as well.

The first inkling that he had died came when my mother’s letters were returned with the remark: Returned, recipient died for Greater Germany.
Next we received two letters, one from my fathers Company Commander with a generalized description of the event and a copy of the same letter with a note of the correctness of said letter from the Mayor of our village. The letter from the Company was dated 17/09/1943 and the one from the Mayor 19/10/1943.
Part of the letter my dad’s Company CO 1st lieutenant Jahn send to us:
During the heavy house-to-house fighting on September 14th, 1943,your husband died in the fight for Germany's freedom while fulfilling his military duties, true to his oath of allegiance to fuehrer, folk and fatherland.
Your husband was shot in the head and died instantly. Unfortunately, despite several attempts, he could not be rescued because the enemy was pushing too hard and the place had to be abandoned.
With your husband, the company loses a particularly tried and tested soldier who was very popular and valued by his comrades.
The company will always honour the memory of your husband.
1st Lt.Jahn was KIA later in the War.

I was 11 years old and absolutely devastated, as was my mum. Gunda was only 6 and did not fully understand the implications of dad’s death.
A few months later a remembrance service was held in the local church. The pastor, the local administrators and party bigwigs made speeches about the fallen soldiers and their supreme sacrifices for “Führer, Volk und Vaterland” (Leader [Hitler], Nation and Fatherland). I sat in a pew and wept and thought “you bastards sit in your nice offices and lead the good life and make heroic speeches and my dad has perished. After the service the relatives came to our apartment for a wake. Most of them got inebriated, laughed and told jokes while I sat in the background and hated these hypocrites.

At home in Germany the first two years of the war were relatively uneventful. Blackout measures were introduced, food rationing came into force and eligible men were induced into the armed forces. We collected iron, copper, brass and other items useful for the war effort and followed the events at the front with great interest.

I suffered a lot from asthma, especially in the winter. Between 1944 and 1947 I went four times to a sanatorium or spa to heal my asthma by immersion in saltwater, singing and marching in rooms saturated with salty air and doing lots of exercises in the clean, fresh mountain air of Bad Frankenhausen (Spa Frankenhausen) with its saltwater springs. Each visit lasted a month and there was a marked improvement for a while but unfortunately in the next winter the asthma returned just as bad as it had been before.
Other treatments I received over the years were injections, inoculations, countless pills and medications but nothing helped. I was treated by the world- renowned paediatrician Professor Dr. Jussuf Ibrahim but he did not have the answer either. When I left home to live in West Germany the asthma disappeared. And I only felt it again when I went to visit Jena and its surrounds. In Australia I have been free from this horrible and disabling affliction.

At ten years of age the boys were inducted into the Deutsches Jungvolk (German Youth), a subsidiary of the Hitlerjugend (HJ) (Hitler Youth) organisation. The Jungvolk served as a four year preparation for the HJ.
I went to the induction meeting and declined to join up and surprisingly my decision was accepted and no pressure was applied to join even though it was compulsory.

From late 1942 onwards we were increasingly subjected to aerial attacks by day (US Air Force) and at night (RAF). While living in the countryside, the chance of a bombing attack was minimal and it was good fun to observe the planes fly past, there was always a certain danger involved. On the 09th of February 1945 the US bombers dropped 32 bombs on the far side of the railway lines near our station. Nine fell about 500 metres away on to ploughed fields. If they had fallen on the near side of the rails our village would have been obliterated. I watched it all from the street near our house and when the geysers of earth erupted and the sound of the explosions rolled over me I dived behind a nearby brick wall for cover.
Late in the war (05/04/1945) American Fighter-bombers attacked an ammunition train, less than two kilometres past our railway station. Five of the box cars were set ablaze, ammunition exploding and setting two nearby houses on fire. A few days later (08/04/1945) the U.S. Thunderbolts shot up a train on the eastern fringe of our township. Flying extremely low they started shooting well ahead of the train lines and “walked” the fire across our village to their target, doing quite a bit of damage to the houses in the process and scaring the living daylights out of us. Amazingly nobody got hurt. They flew very close to our house and some bullets hit the back wall but did not penetrate the brickwork. The house next door was hit by a stray projectile which finished up in one of their bedrooms. Fortunately the bed was unoccupied at the time. After a repeat attack the next day the train service was suspended.
They also roamed about shooting up trucks and cars on the roads which also posed an ever-present danger for pedestrians nearby. The trucks usually had a “spotter” sitting on a mudguard and if they saw an enemy plane they would attempt to get under cover or run for it. I also saw the early German jet fighters (ME-262) in action. An American B-17 “Flying Fortress” bomber was shot down by a direct hit from an 88 flak projectile and crashed not far from our village. All crew members perished and were interred in our cemetery. After the war they were exhumed by the US army and taken to their home country. I missed the action because I was on my way to the spa by train. When the air raid sirens sounded we happened to be in the railway station of Erfurt and were herded into an air raid shelter for the duration of the raid, anxiously listening to the thunder of the anti-aircraft guns blazing away and hoping no bombs would hit our shelter. It was a very frightening experience being shut up underground with a large number of scared people.
Later in the war a German ME-109 fighter plane was shot up by US Thunderbolt fighters and made a “wheels-up” crash landing very close to the outskirts of Großschwabhausen. The pilot was unhurt, a very lucky guy indeed.
I lived with my grandparents for about a year during the war and went to school in Magdala. It was after my Dad’s death and my Mum had great difficulties to make ends meet and cope with her loss. I think it was late 1943 to 1944.
In Magdala there was no food shortage, I played a lot of Football (Soccer) and acquired a new nickname “Gonde”. This was of course derived from Egon.
While living in Magdala I was summoned to the local police station for an interrogation. Earlier that year (1944) I had gone home to visit my cousin Willy who was on furlough from the army. While at his home a neighbour came in to say hallo. After he left he denounced Willy for having listened to the BBC on the radio. This was of course a very serious accusation in the 3rd Reich and could have resulted in imprisonment, incarceration in a concentration camp or even summary execution. After extensive questioning where I denied the accusations and after my grandfather Edmund came to vociferously support me (I had been hauled in by myself at the age of 12) they eventually released me and that was the end as far as I was concerned. Apparently Willy had a court-martial hearing and he was found not guilty. The Neighbour was imprisoned for a few months.

Of the persecution of the Jewish people I saw very little. There were no Jews living in Großschwabhausen or Magdala nor in any of the nearby villages. The only time I saw a Jew was on a visit to Jena when an old man with a yellow Star of David on his suit-jacket walked slowly along the street, his eyes focused on the footpath in front of him. There were rumours about the concentration camps but nobody I knew had actually been inside one to verify the stories.

On the 11th of April the SS guards from the Buchenwald concentration camp forced some of the inmates into a cattle train and tried to take them away from the approaching Americans. When the train stopped at our station, the fighter-bombers disabled the locomotive and the prisoners were herded through our village. The guards shot and killed about a dozen of these poor people who were to weak to go on or were trying to escape and left them lying in the street. One was killed right in front of our house. The Yankees liberated them later some distance further along the road.
Later on that day a Hungarian army unit with horse-drawn wagons (most likely members of the Hungarian 83rd Replacement and Training Regiment) arrived in Großschwabhausen and sheltered in some of the local farm buildings. The next day elements of the US army’s 2nd Battalion, 319th Infantry regiment, 80th Infantry Division, 3rd Army entered our village. I watched it all from our upper story window. The Sherman tanks rolled along the main Street, German prisoners sat on top of the tanks, presumably to deter any defenders to attack them. There were no German troops in the vicinity and the Hungarians surrendered without a fight and were taken prisoner.
The Americans took possession of our bedrooms and kitchen and we slept on the floor in a downstairs room. During the night the US M7 Priest self propelled guns stationed close by bombarded Jena intermittently and kept us awake. The next day Jena surrendered and Germanys surrender less than a month later ended the war in Europe.

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Re: How did the war effect your family

#159

Post by Georg_S » 30 Oct 2022, 14:53

Steve E very interesting reading , I wish I could read more about your past.

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DeltaOne
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Re: How did the war effect your family

#160

Post by DeltaOne » 05 Mar 2023, 09:44

My grandfather landed on Juno Beach on D-Day. I had two great uncles fighting for the Canadians who were in heavy action in Italy before moving north. I also had one great uncle who was a member of the Royal Rifles of Canada who became a POW in Hong Kong before being transferred to Japan as a POW.
All these men came home with deep psychological issues. My grandmother often spoke that my grandfather was completely a different person. They all relied heavily on alcohol to deal with their psychological issues. As a result, my dad and his siblings lived in constant fear of their father. He was filled with anger. It wasn’t really until his last days that he spoke about his experiences in some detail. The war didn’t just take those killed in action, it took those that survived too.

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dgfred
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Re: How did the war effect your family

#161

Post by dgfred » 07 Mar 2023, 19:35

My grandfather's company made camouflage for the US Army. Was a boom for their oil/gas tank business.

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Empiricist
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Re: How did the war effect your family

#162

Post by Empiricist » 04 May 2023, 14:48

On my mother's side I had in my family two the US Army Warrant Officers during WWII. Both of them came from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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Re: How did the war effect your family

#163

Post by ljadw » 04 May 2023, 22:00

niels1212 wrote:
25 Jun 2022, 19:06
All 4 of my great-grandparents lived in Belgium during WW2. They lived in the coastal towns of Blankenberge and Knokke. When the pandemic started, my grandfather showed my brother and I a whole bunch of letters and documents from our ancestors. One of my great-grandmothers signed up to work for the US Army. After the war was over, she received a letter of recommendation from the senior officer that she worked for, praising her typing and note taking abilities.

My great-grandfather documented all of the adventures he went through during the war. We worked with our grandfather to write a historical fiction book about it. It was a great way to learn more about our ancestors and spend time over Zoom with our grandfather even though we couldn't visit him. The cover of the book includes pictures of the "papers" they had to carry around during the war.

If you'd like to read our book, it's available on Amazon and at other bookstores. It's called "Running from the Gestapo". The ISBN is 978-1-4116-1286-0. Here is a link: https://www.amazon.com/RUNNING-GESTAPO- ... 1411612868

We'd love to get your feedback on our book.
Luc de Brouckere died in October 2022

Steve E
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Re: How did the war effect your family

#164

Post by Steve E » 05 May 2023, 15:07

Here is a excerpt from my biography:

Chapter 3-World War 2 1939-1945

1939 was a big year for me, I started school! Even more important: Juliana , my future wife was born on Easter Sunday, 09/04/1939 in Buitenzorg, Java, Dutch East Indies, a world away from Germany.
I don’t know the exact date but the first day of school was after the Easter School Holidays in April 1939. I got a big cardboard cone (Zuckertüte=sugar cone , sugar bag) full of toys, sweets, coloured boiled eggs (the chocolate variety was unknown then) and other knickknacks to sweeten the monumental day as was the custom in that region.
Our school consisted of a single classroom where one teacher taught grades one to eight. There were about 60 pupils in the one classroom. Notebooks were not common and we wrote on slate tablets with slate pens.
It still amazes me that we learnt anything at all. Discipline was harsh and corporal punishment a common occurrence.

I loved attending school. I enjoyed learning, it came easy and in those days I had a good memory, unlike now when I forget a question as soon as it has been asked. LOL.
Once in grade 4 I answered a question about the Island of Corregidor in the Philippines that had everyone else stumped, even the grade 8 kids and probably the teacher as well. The teacher was so impressed he presented me with a World-Atlas. Thereafter I was called the”History Professor” even though the question was about Geography.

1939 was also the start of World War II. It had a profound effect on our families and changed our lives forever.
A bit of excitement happened when Adolf Hitler’s special train steamed past our village. I watched it from our house. The roofs of the carriages were all painted white. Of course the big man was nowhere to be seen.
My father was drafted into the army in 1940 after the French campaign had been concluded. He was first stationed in the “2nd Company Infantry replacement Battalion 59” in the city of Eisenach with the dog tag number -1533-2./Inf.Ers.Btl.59. Before the war against Russia began he was transferred to the 6th (gepanzerte) (armoured) Kompanie (Company), II Battalion, 6th Schützen (Rifle) Regiment, 7th Panzer (Tank) Division. The 7th P.D. was nicknamed the “Gespenster Division” (Phantom or Ghost Division) because of its fighting record.
He took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union and fought in all the battles of the 7th P.D. from the border crossing (22/06/1941) to the doors of Moscow (November1941) and the retreat during the horrible winter to the Rshew area.
On the 10/05/1942 the Division was transferred to France for rest and recreation. While there they were involved in the occupation of Vichy France , highlighted by the coup to take the harbour of Toulon. During his stay in France he was transferred to the 5th Company of the 6th Regiment. Dad was decorated with the Iron Cross 2nd class, the Panzerkampfabzeichen (Tank Assault Badge), Winterschlacht im Osten 1941/1942 (Eastern Front Medal, colloquially known as the “Gefrierfleisch Orden” [frozen meat medal]) and he was promoted to the rank of Gefreiter (Corporal). He received the Iron Cross for rescuing wounded German soldiers under enemy fire from the no mans land between the German and Soviet trenches.
In late December 1942 to early January 1943 the Division was transferred back to Russia in the Don-Donets rivers area.
Early in February 1943 my dad suffered frostbite to the toes of his right foot and had to have some toes amputated. He spent about a month in a hospital in Zittau / Silesia. On the 14/05/1943 he was transferred to the 6th Replacement Battalion of the 7th P.D. in Saalfeld/ Thüringen. That was when I saw my Dad for the last time. On the 07/07/1943 he left for his old Division at the Russian front where he arrived on the 18/07/1943. Thereafter Dad fought in the retreat across the Ukraine. At home he never said much about the war, did not go into any details and he was happy to wear civvies, “so I won’t have to salute the officers in the street” as he put it.
Dad was offered to become an instructor to train recruits but he declined and chose to go back to his mates of the 7th P.D.
When he was send back to the front again it was a bitter-sweet experience for him, torn between his family and the comrades of his unit who were like a 2nd family to him after sharing constant danger, hardship and death. They had to relay on each other for sheer survival which made them very close, like a band of brothers, as the American author Stephen E. Ambrose described it in his book by the same name.
On the 14/09/1943 he lost his live in the bitter street fighting in Oposhnja against the Russian 20th Guards Rifle Corps from 4th Guards Army.
His body was never recovered and there was no grave or any other information, just a letter from his company stating he had died after having been shot in the head. Some month later one of his comrades (who was himself killed later in the war) send us a letter dated 08/01/1944 stating he was shot and lying in the street. The Germans had to retreat and couldn’t recover his body.

Here is an excerpt from a letter from one of my Dad’s close friends in his company about his death:
On the morning of the 14th our battalion and a battalion of the Grossdeutschland division had orders to defended the city of Oposhnja to enable the units to our left to retreat. When they were unable to do so, Grossdeutschlands battalion was pulled out of our sector and moved to support our neighbour. Now we had no hope of retaining our position, we fought desperately. At 9-30 AM I asked Otto what was happening and he replied “the Russians are 20 metres in front of our position”. Half an hour later the enemies attacked and we were forced to retread. At that moment I saw Otto and his Squad Leader sprint across a street. They were the last to leave our position, they fought to the last moment.
I took shelter in a nearby house where our squad leader joint me presently. I asked him straightaway “where is Eckardt” and he answered sadly “Otto is dead, he was killed by a bullet to the head, he is lying in the street”.
We tried to counterattack with the remnants of our squad but could not advance to the street where Otto was lying. Just then our squad leader was killed as well.
The comrade who send this letter sadly lost his life a few month later as well.

The first inkling that he had died came when my mother’s letters were returned with the remark: Returned, recipient died for Greater Germany.
Next we received two letters, one from my fathers Company Commander with a generalized description of the event and a copy of the same letter with a note of the correctness of said letter from the Mayor of our village. The letter from the Company was dated 17/09/1943 and the one from the Mayor 19/10/1943.
Part of the letter my dad’s Company CO, 1st Lieutenant Jahn send to us:
During the heavy house-to-house fighting on September 14th, 1943, your husband died in the fight for Germany's freedom while fulfilling his military duties, true to his oath of allegiance to fuehrer, folk and fatherland.
Your husband was shot in the head and died instantly. Unfortunately, despite several attempts, he could not be rescued because the enemy was pushing too hard and the location had to be abandoned.
With your husband, the company loses a particularly tried and tested soldier who was very popular and valued by his comrades.
The company will always honour the memory of your husband.
1st Lt.Jahn was KIA later in the War.

I was 11 years old and absolutely devastated, as was my mum. Gunda was only 6 and did not fully understand the implications of dad’s death.
A few months later a remembrance service was held in the local church. The pastor, the local administrators and party bigwigs made speeches about the fallen soldiers and their supreme sacrifices for “Führer, Volk und Vaterland” (Leader [Hitler], Nation and Fatherland). I sat in a pew and wept and thought “you bastards sit in your nice offices and lead the good life and make heroic speeches and my dad has perished. After the service the relatives came to our apartment for a wake. Most of them got inebriated, laughed and told jokes while I sat in the background and hated these hypocrites.

At home in Germany the first two years of the war were relatively uneventful. Blackout measures were introduced, food rationing came into force and eligible men were induced into the armed forces. We collected iron, copper, brass and other items useful for the war effort and followed the events at the front with great interest.

I suffered a lot from asthma, especially in the winter. Between 1944 and 1947 I went four times to a sanatorium or spa to heal my asthma by immersion in saltwater, singing and marching in rooms saturated with salty air and doing lots of exercises in the clean, fresh mountain air of Bad Frankenhausen (Spa Frankenhausen) with its saltwater springs. Each visit lasted a month and there was a marked improvement for a while but unfortunately in the next winter the asthma returned just as bad as it had been before.
Other treatments I received over the years were injections, inoculations, countless pills and medications but nothing helped. I was treated by the world- renowned paediatrician Professor Dr. Jussuf Ibrahim but he did not have the answer either. When I left home to live in West Germany the asthma disappeared. And I only felt it again when I went to visit Jena and its surrounds. In Australia I have been free from this horrible and disabling affliction.

At ten years of age the boys were inducted into the Deutsches Jungvolk (German Youth), a subsidiary of the Hitlerjugend (HJ) (Hitler Youth) organisation. The Jungvolk served as a four year preparation for the HJ.
I went to the induction meeting and declined to join up and surprisingly my decision was accepted and no pressure was applied to join even though it was compulsory.

From late 1942 onwards we were increasingly subjected to aerial attacks by day (US Air Force) and at night (RAF). While living in the countryside, the chance of a bombing attack was minimal and it was good fun to observe the planes fly past, there was always a certain danger involved. On the 09th of February 1945 the US bombers dropped 32 bombs on the far side of the railway lines near our station. Nine fell about 500 metres away on to ploughed fields. If they had fallen on the near side of the rails our village would have been obliterated. I watched it all from the street near our house and when the geysers of earth erupted and the sound of the explosions rolled over me I dived behind a nearby brick wall for cover.
Late in the war (05/04/1945) American Fighter-bombers attacked an ammunition train, less than two kilometres past our railway station. Five of the box cars were set ablaze, ammunition exploding and setting two nearby houses on fire. A few days later (08/04/1945) the U.S. Thunderbolts shot up a train on the eastern fringe of our township. Flying extremely low they started shooting well ahead of the train lines and “walked” the fire across our village to their target, doing quite a bit of damage to the houses in the process and scaring the living daylights out of us. Amazingly nobody got hurt. They flew very close to our house and some bullets hit the back wall but did not penetrate the brickwork. The house next door was hit by a stray projectile which finished up in one of their bedrooms. Fortunately the bed was unoccupied at the time. After a repeat attack the next day the train service was suspended.
They also roamed about shooting up trucks and cars on the roads which also posed an ever-present danger for pedestrians nearby. The trucks usually had a “spotter” sitting on a mudguard and if they saw an enemy plane they would attempt to get under cover or run for it. I also saw the early German jet fighters (ME-262) in action. An American B-17 “Flying Fortress” bomber was shot down by a direct hit from an 88 flak projectile and crashed not far from our village. All crew members perished and were interred in our cemetery. After the war they were exhumed by the US army and taken to their home country. I missed the action because I was on my way to the spa by train. When the air raid sirens sounded we happened to be in the railway station of Erfurt and were herded into an air raid shelter for the duration of the raid, anxiously listening to the thunder of the anti-aircraft guns blazing away and hoping no bombs would hit our shelter. It was a very frightening experience being shut up underground with a large number of scared people.
Later in the war a German ME-109 fighter plane was shot up by US Thunderbolt fighters and made a “wheels-up” crash landing very close to the outskirts of Großschwabhausen. The pilot was unhurt, a very lucky guy indeed.
I lived with my grandparents for about a year during the war and went to school in Magdala. It was after my Dad’s death and my Mum had great difficulties to make ends meet and cope with her loss. I think it was late 1943 to 1944.
In Magdala there was no food shortage, I played a lot of Football (Soccer) and acquired a new nickname “Gonde”. This was of course derived from Egon.
While living in Magdala I was summoned to the local police station for an interrogation. Earlier that year (1944) I had gone home to visit my cousin Willy who was on furlough from the army. While at his home a neighbour came in to say hallo. After he left he denounced Willy for having listened to the BBC on the radio. This was of course a very serious accusation in the 3rd Reich and could have resulted in imprisonment, incarceration in a concentration camp or even summary execution. After extensive questioning where I denied the accusations and after my grandfather Edmund came to vociferously support me (I had been hauled in by myself at the age of 12) they eventually released me and that was the end as far as I was concerned. Apparently Willy had a court-martial hearing and he was found not guilty. The Neighbour was imprisoned for a few months.

Of the persecution of the Jewish people I saw very little. There were no Jews living neither in Großschwabhausen or Magdala nor in any of the nearby villages. The only time I saw a Jew was on a visit to Jena when an old man with a yellow Star of David on his suit-jacket walked slowly along the street, his eyes focused on the footpath in front of him. There were rumours about the concentration camps but nobody I knew had actually been inside one to verify the stories.

On the 11th of April the SS guards from the Buchenwald concentration camp forced some of the inmates into a cattle train and tried to take them away from the approaching Americans. When the train stopped at our station, the fighter-bombers disabled the locomotive and the prisoners were herded through our village. The guards shot and killed about a dozen of these poor people who were to weak to go on or were trying to escape and left them lying in the street. One was killed right in front of our house. The Yankees liberated them later some distance further along the road.
Later on that day a Hungarian army unit with horse-drawn wagons (most likely members of the Hungarian 83rd Replacement and Training Regiment) arrived in Großschwabhausen and sheltered in some of the local farm buildings. The next day elements of the US army’s 2nd Battalion, 319th Infantry regiment, 80th Infantry Division, 3rd Army entered our village. I watched it all from our upper story window. The Sherman tanks rolled along the main Street, German prisoners sat on top of the tanks, presumably to deter any defenders to attack them. There were no German troops in the vicinity and the Hungarians surrendered without a fight and were taken prisoner.
The Americans took possession of our bedrooms and kitchen and we slept on the floor in a downstairs room. During the night the US M7 Priest self propelled guns stationed close by bombarded Jena intermittently and kept us awake. The next day Jena surrendered and Germanys surrender less than a month later ended the war in Europe.
Regards Steve.

chandlermurphy
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Joined: 22 Nov 2023, 05:35
Location: Florida, USA.

Re: How did the war effect your family

#165

Post by chandlermurphy » 22 Nov 2023, 05:42

My great grandpa served in the Afrika Korps as in the Panzer Division and was wounded in Tunisia. My great great grandpa served in the German Army in world war 1 and later served in the Wehrmacht in Poland in 1939 and my great uncle Heinz was in Großdeutschland on the eastern front, he was killed in the battle for Moscow sadly. My great uncle Kurt was on the eastern front also.

On my moms side of the family, they all served in the
U.S. military during the war, it always led to interesting conversations at family reunions having family that fought on both sides.

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