1945 Lost German girl

[wirklich]

Curiosity
hello forum while looking for information I came across the history of the 244th Field Artiillry Battalion, this group reached the town of Susice Czechoslovakia in 1945, the curiosity is that this unit was the one that had Piper L-4 Grasshopper for exploration and brought me to the mind the image of the Piper that is observed in the filming of LGG where it is observed flying over at the moment that LGG is filmed from the front, which very possibly was one of these planes of that unit, I leave the link to the digital book which has many maps of the time as well as several photos of that time.
As an extra curiosity 2 of those Piper L-4 Grasshopper were donated to the Czech government
regards

Digital book
https://244thfieldartillerybattalion.co ... -1945-may/



Image of the Piper L-4 Grasshopper in Susice


one of the many maps in the book that shows the progress


Several photos of the Piper L-4 Grasshopper donated to the Czech government

Well done, Carlos!

[CarlosXander]

hello forum
One question that I asked myself was why did the group of German soldiers where LGG was, leave before the end of the confrontation in Prague? The possible answer seems to be in the book by Max Hastings "Armageddon" (the defeat of Germany 1944-1945) where there is a story where it is commented that on May 6, 1945 the Wehrmacht that were in Czechoslovakia was rumored to that Anglo-American troops were arming the Wehrmacht army to face the Soviets, and it would be implied that this group, made up of more than 2000 German soldiers, left earlier to join the approaching Americans and establish a kind of resistance until the arrival of more elements, this would also explain why they took their "women", here it is also explained that when this group met the Americans they were immediately treated as prisoners and separating the Wehrmacht from the SS for their captivity, this would be reported to the superiors who were in Prague and the surrender order was given and since there was no other alternative to mobilize as soon as possible to the American lines to receive r better treatment than as captives of the Soviets, this would be a curiosity, a perhaps explanation
regards



Translation
On May 6, a rumor spread among their own—as well as throughout the Wehrmacht—that the Anglo-Americans intended to arm the Germans against the Soviets. Two days (May 8) later, at nightfall, his commander gathered them all together «It's over

.

[wellspring]

Hi Forum,
in my estimation I was much too optimistic that all expected replies would be available from the various authorities in about 2 months at the latest. That is why I decided to explain my action now, regardless of having all of them received yet.
I recognized my mother in the person of LGG. Although I am absolutely sure that she is the woman shown in the footage, I have been trying for almost 1 year to trace her life back, to find written hints about the course of her escape. Unfortunately, I can't ask my mother about this anymore, because she died in 1987. She belonged to the community of ethnic Germans in Slovakia, whose family lived there for several centuries and was expelled from the country at the end of the 2nd World War. I had to struggle for every word if I wanted to know something about her life before and during the 2nd World War. She never spoke of the event near Pilsen, which is why I corresponded intensively with public authorities; as I already indicated, with very moderate success and sometimes long periods in getting a response.
Today I don't want to go into more detail, but I upload one of the few photos of her, taken as a young woman.

20230306_000350 (2).jpg

[CarlosXander]

Hello Wellspring
When I spent time researching her, I got the idea that the only way to find out her identity would be through her relatives, since there is no data or information about LGG.
I would like to know more about your mother, like her name? Was she a civilian or did she belong to the Wehrmacht? What nationality was she? How old was she? Any more information is useful.
greetings

[wellspring]

Hello Carlos,

before I give more detailed data about my mother, I must begin with a report which helps to clarify some of the circumstances.

In the book "Hauerländer erzählen", edited by Ludwig Wohlland (Hauerland is one of 3 areas in Slovakia, where many Germans lived), a few storytellers report on their lives. The teacher Stefan Karls documented the following in a chapter entitled "Memories of bad times", written on page 161:

Deckblatt.jpg

Frauen und Kinder waren bereits, mit wenigen Ausnahmen, ins Sudetenland evakuiert worden. Auf Grund eines Staatsvertrages mußten Karpatendeutsche (Deutsche, die in der Slowakei lebten) ihre Wehrpflicht bis 1944 bei der Waffen-SS leisten (Siehe dazu Karpatenjahrbuch 1995, S. 59 ff).
Translation
"Women and Children had already been evacuated to the Sudetenland, with few exceptions. On the basis of a state treaty, Carpathian Germans (Germans living in Slovakia) had to do their military service with the Waffen-SS until 1944 (see Karpatenjahrbuch 1995, p. 59 ff)."


After several imprisonments, Mr. Karls ended up in the Dachau prison camp, where Karl Wildner, a colonel from Slovakia, wrote a defense for the trial before the Nuremberg War Tribunal. I quote from the book on page 163:
In diesem Memorandum schilderte Wildner wahrheitsgetreu die Entwicklung der Heranziehung der Deutschen aus der Slowakei zum Wehrdienst in der Waffen-SS, von der anfänglichen echten Freiwilligkeit, über die Nötigung zur "Freiwilligkeit" und der schließlich gesetzlichen Pflicht. Dazu benannte er Zeugen und führte eine Reihe von Fällen an, auf welche Weise wehrpflichtige Karpatendeutsche zur Waffen-SS gekommen waren, die sich jetzt ebenfalls im Lager Dachau befanden. Die Denkschrift schloß mit der Feststellung: "Wir sind Soldaten und keine Kriegsverbrecher. Wir hatten mit Verbrechen nichts zu tun..." Deshalb könnten diese Soldaten nicht kollektiv als Angehörige einer verbrecherischen Organisation angeprangert werden.
Translation
"In this memorandum, Wildner truthfully described the development of the recruitment of Germans from Slovakia for military service in the Waffen-SS, from the initially true voluntariness, to the coercion to "voluntariness" and finally the legal obligation. On that point, he named witnesses and cited a number of cases of how draftees of the Carpathian Germans had joined the Waffen-SS, who were now also in the Dachau prison camp. The memorandum concluded: "We are soldiers, not war criminals. We had nothing to do with crime..." Therefore, these soldiers could not be collectively denounced as members of a criminal organization."

Due to this fact, the probability is very high that my mother was accompanied by a group of SS soldiers from her homeland, or met some of them there. I knew from her that she desperately wanted to reach the area that the Americans managed.
I also don't know to what extent she fled together with her mother and sister(at that time 15 years old) and to what extent she was separated at some point. These two were actually captured by Russians, had to get undressed and should be shot. Fortunately, there had been no physical assault yet. A Russian officer, who happened to arrive, rebuked the soldiers and ordered them not to bother women and children. Her mother (my grandmother) was so confused, desperate and upset that she started pulling out her hair. When asked about it later, she could not explain why she had reacted that way. Their only suitcase, they had with them had previously been taken away by the Russian soldiers (perhaps also the clothing?). That's why I don't have any photos of my mother from the time before the war, because all the important documents and pictures were stored in them. As I said before, to what extent my mother was involved in this event, my cousin could not answer me. The lack of exchange of experiences between family members is also due to the fact that my mother lived alone and separated from her whole family in the West, while those had to build up their lives in the later GDR. The contact had almost come to a standstill due to the restrictions between both countries.
My mother was 19 1/2 years old at the time of her escape. Nor is anyone aware that she was in the military (to this thread I will tell something another time). She had begun training as a midwife, but at some point she had to break it off, because of the war and never could finish it. Her maiden name was Emilia Pleschko and she had Czechoslovak citizenship.
I hope, this information will be useful.
All the best
wellspring

[CarlosXander]

hello wellspring
Thank you very much for sharing this information and everything helps in this investigation
and thank you
greetings