Dr. med. Heinrich Haape

[harmel]

Born 1910 -Was a Dr. med. from the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Hospital in Duisburg. Assistenz-Arzt im III./ IR 18 / 6. ID (Assistant Surgeon 3rd Bn, 18th Inf Regt, 6th Inf.-Division)
Anymore info on him

Regards Harmel

[Juha Hujanen]

He did write an book of his experiences.

Haape, Heinrich: Endstation Moskau. 1941/42. Tagebuch eines Frontarztes. It's also available in English as "Moscow Tram Stop" and in Finnish as "Operation Barbarossa".

Must have been at least 20 years since i did red that book ;D

Cheers/Juha

[harmel]

Thanks Juha,funnily enough I have had this photo,for about
the same period,thanks for the reply
Regards to you Harmel

[Juha Hujanen]

I quickly browsed thru his book and apparently he was quite highly awarded:

DK/Gold
EK II
EK I
Verwundeten-Abzeichen
Infanterie-Sturmabzeichen
Sonderabzeichen für das Niederkämpfen von Panzerkampfwagen durch Einzelkämpfer for destruction of 2 Soviet tanks.

In 42 he is promoted to Stabsarzt and transfered to Adjutant of Oberfeldarzt Greif.1943 he is transfered to Straßburg as doctor to artillery unit. Fall 1944 he is appointed as chief medical officer in that town and later he surrender to Free French Forces.

Hope this helps.

I guess i've to read that bok again

Cheers/Juha

[Alex Dekker]

Great post, I'm reading the book too. But I'm wondering what happened after the war. He did survive, but when and wheredid he die?

Another remark: it's the Panzervernichtungsabzeichen. In my edition (Motorbuchverlag 1998) there are a few pics while he's wearing those medals. Great pics, terrible story...

Alex D.

[Blindgänger]

I unfortunately can't help you with providing biographical details of Dr. Haape Harmel (an extensive Google-search didn't give me any relevant information) , but I just wanted to mention here that I was born in the very hospital he used to work in before the war...it's now called "Herzzentrum Duisburg/Kaiser-Wilhelm-Krankenhaus", and this is how it looks now :

[janamarie]

Here is the 66-year-old son of Heinrich Haape answering (my name is Heinz!)
After my father was taken as a prisoner of war to France, he returned to his family in Stuttgart - he had married Martha Arazym, an opera singer in the Stuttgart Opera in 1942 by Proxy in Duisburg while in the Army - and I was born in 1944 in a Bunker in Stuttgart.
He never worked as a doctor again. He became editor of 3 local daily newspapers.
In 1952 he emigrated to Durban, South Africa, where he undertook a number of business projects.
He became ill in 1976 and was flown to Germany for hospital treatment, diagnosed with Kidney Cancer and he died on the operating table on 18th February 1976. In 1954 his second son was born in Durban - Johannes Haape, who lived in Africa for many years before moving to Germany about 20 years ago and founding the Tourism Operator TARUK International GmbH. Johannes has travelled with veterans and sons & daughters and other relatives of veterans of his father's batallion to Russia (Rzechev) where there is a project which was run for many years by Ernst Martin Rhein. Part of this social project includes maintenance of war graves and visits are organised regularly from Germany to this community.
Hope this helps. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to contact me!

[harmel]

Many thanks for this update, very interesting info for me to add to file.
Kind Regards
Harmel

[Doktor]

Here is the 66-year-old son of Heinrich Haape answering (my name is Heinz!)
After my father was taken as a prisoner of war to France, he returned to his family in Stuttgart - he had married Martha Arazym, an opera singer in the Stuttgart Opera in 1942 by Proxy in Duisburg while in the Army - and I was born in 1944 in a Bunker in Stuttgart.
He never worked as a doctor again. He became editor of 3 local daily newspapers.
In 1952 he emigrated to Durban, South Africa, where he undertook a number of business projects.
He became ill in 1976 and was flown to Germany for hospital treatment, diagnosed with Kidney Cancer and he died on the operating table on 18th February 1976. In 1954 his second son was born in Durban - Johannes Haape, who lived in Africa for many years before moving to Germany about 20 years ago and founding the Tourism Operator TARUK International GmbH. Johannes has travelled with veterans and sons & daughters and other relatives of veterans of his father's batallion to Russia (Rzechev) where there is a project which was run for many years by Ernst Martin Rhein. Part of this social project includes maintenance of war graves and visits are organised regularly from Germany to this community.
Hope this helps. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to contact me!

How do I contact you?

[Mak Los Mien Schnitzel]

Hallo Heinz!

I purchased the English version of your father's book nearly 10 years ago and its been my inspiration for researching the 6 Inf Division. I have travelled from Australia and I am in the bundesarchiv in Freiburg, Germany right now, the culmination of 2 years of planning and unfortunately there exists very little records for that division prior to 1944 I imagine it is due to the fact that most of 6 DIV was destroyed as per your writings in the book.

How is your dad and do you have other pictures of him other than was published in the book? I think his book is of high historical importance as it shows with the candidness of a soldier, what day to day life was like in the front and beats against the stereotype that most people have (especially in the west) of the German soldier. I especially was moved by his description of his friends and how moved he was when they died or were wounded one by one, until there was only him left. If he is still living, please pass on my best wishes and my admiration.

Jeff

[tonie]

I met Heinrich in ecember 1971 at the Ndumu Game Reserve in Natal. I remember him telling my dad and myself - I was 12 years old at the time - how he changed the toilet going manner of the German soldier by getting the soldiers a "slit" at the back of their uniform so that they do not have to undress to go!.

[kobold]

Just re reading this thread and decided to look for a copy of the book. on amazon.co.uk, and abebooks its selling for about £130 (first edition). !

[chrishope101]

Hi guys

I'm after a bit of advice!

I have the original hand-typed manuscript of this book (In English) Moscow Tram Stop by Dr. Heinrich Haape & Dennis Henshaw, its hand bound, typrewriter typed on right side only and you can still smell the typrewriter ink as you flick through, (I can only assume by Dennis Henshaw the translator?) and was smuggled out of Russia/ Germany in the early 50's and given to my grandfather as he worked for the Daily Express in London, in order to get it into print. My mum remembers being 6 years old in Hyde Park and the book being given to my grandad by an unknown man in a trenchcoat. He was told not to let it out of his sight and to discuss it with no-one as people had died to get it to the UK.

Its been in my family since then.

I would love to discuss this with Heinz or Johannes, to return it to them or if they would like me to donate it to a British or German museum?

Any advice much appreciated!
Chris

[M.Haape]

Hi chrishope101

there are two ways to contact Johannes Haape. First you contact taruk international GmbH in Germany or you contact his wife Melanie Haape on Facebook.

[Minotauros]

From "The Battle for Moscow" by David STAHEL: "A German doctor at the front, Heinrich Haape, wrote a postwar memoir in which he openly told how he dealt with civilians working for him: 'so that none of them would shirk his job... I would have anyone shot who failed to carry out my instructions'".