Looking Back

By Rolf J. Wysock

It is a fascinating, exciting, and highly extraordinary story that is intertwined with personal experiences. Numerous intriguing historical references are made to expose the hypocrisy of justice, exaggerated or deliberately distorted and conveniently forgotten facts that victors are loath to have unearthed; and explores the prevailing mind set of people before the war and afterwards. It portrays a young German boy who personally witnessed the horrible tragedy of war, listened to veteran soldiers and civilians describe their ordeal of inhumane suffering. Thanks to the capable guidance of loving paternal grandparents, who were there for him in his desperate hours, they had instilled in him a solid foundation for life. After a poignant departure from Germany and a harrowing sea voyage filled with humor and suspense, Rudie arrived safely in his new home and quickly realized the absolute necessity of learning a new language. His hopes for a new life and an unexpected short residency in Canada were shattered by the death of his father (Vati). Only after his birth mother had been coerced to take care of him, was it possible for him to immigrate to the United States. Rudie developed more fondness for his stepfather than he ever had for his mother; who denied him her estate when she died. Tragic circumstances forced him to assume an adult posture before he was twelve years old. It is a plethora of human emotions, ranging from grief to hilarious humor and eventual success; despite often seemingly insurmountable odds.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Oct 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781490797533

Rolf J. Wysock

Rolf J. Wysock was born in Germany in 1941 and became a proud American citizen in 1957 He served in three professions and retired: State Trooper with 20 years of service with the Delaware State Police. Army Officer with 9 years of active duty and 11 years in a Reserve Component. Asst. Prof. and College Instructor with a total of 20 years service. He is a graduate of: Univ. of Del. - MA in History. Army Command and General Staff College Army Institute for Professional Development -Senior Officer - Military Police -Senior Officer - Signal Corps -Senior Officer - Military Intelligence Certified -Battle Focus Instructor (USA) Certified-Police Instructor Rolf and his wife reside in Delaware and together they have six sons. He has published in the National FOP magazine and has written: A Hundred Years of Excellence - Fightin’ Blue Hen Battalion, Univ. of Delaware and “Humor In Blue”, Gold Touch Press.

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Copyright 2019 Rolf J. (Pröpper) – Wysock.

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ISBN: 978-1-4907-9752-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4907-9753-3 (e)

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Contents

Dedication

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Dedication

This Book is dedicated to my paternal grandparents for being there during my desperate hours of need and having instilled in me a strong faith in God. I am grateful for their loving guidance that has taught me to understand the power of learning; and for building a solid foundation for me in my life. I feel blessed for having given me the courage and determination to succeed; despite often overwhelming adversity. Never say, I CAN’T.

Preface

The idea to write this book had occasionally crossed my mind in the past, but never to a point where I would have considered it really serious enough to put it into actual words. I consider myself blessed in that all three of my previous professions, as a State Trooper, Army Officer and College Instructor, that I truly loved my job; especially the last one. Because of the tremendous amount of research that I anticipated would be involved, I felt that I would have done my profession a disservice by writing a book during a busy college semester; besides creating multiple lesson plans and exams. It was not until I visited Germany, the country of my birth, when a stranger planted the seed. His unexpectedly encouragement instilled the desire in me that caused me to give the idea a serious thought. to preserve my truly unbelievable and totally unique experiences growing up in Germany and traveling to the North American Continent.

While sharing a table with a fellow guest at a busy restaurant in Berlin, I had the pleasure of meeting a gentleman and fellow educator, who reemphasized the absolute necessity for me to write this book. It had become quickly apparent that Manfred and I had a passion for history and granted each other permission to be addressed by our first name. Because of my conviction to always do my best, I held off writing this book until I was able to devote my entire self to the project. I wanted time when I needed it, not when it was only available; so I waited until I retired from teaching in 2005.

In order to do this book justice, I considered it an absolute must to expose deliberately hidden truths and falsified historical accounts. The book is filled with personal experiences and stories that were told by former military veterans and civilians. I have intentionally not taken sides with the sole purpose in mind to only show the hypocrisy, and the behind the scene dealings and finger pointing on both sides. I fervently hope that my research will encourage the reader to reevaluate and perhaps dislodge some of the prevailing bias of events and the frequently portrayed one-sidedness of the suffering and expose the fact that innocent German civilians suffered equally as much and in many cases far worse. The numerous accounts that were revealed to me by various sources, researched historical facts from that time period, the often very unusual circumstances of my personal life, marked with poignant and humorous episodes, were combined into one dramatic story. My semi-autobiography depicts the life and struggle for survival of a young boy growing up in Germany from 1941 to 1954, then Canada and finally in the United States. It is a story of a German boy and the tragic circumstances that forced him into early adulthood that may in fact have been his unexpected forte. Despite having had to face tremendous adversity, the young man remained undaunted in his pursuit to succeed. The extraordinary circumstances of this story make it not only unique, but one of a kind. I hope to instill in the reader a desire and an inner drive to be successful and live life to the fullest and with a determination that all things are possible. In the end, the only remaining hurdle that may have to be to overcome, is the hurdle that the individual has created; HIMSELF.

Introduction

Although the clash of arms had seized, the war for survival was at its zenith. It is absolutely crucial that deliberately hidden truths that have been altered or distorted are exhumed. The cynical creation of bogus stories to fit the agenda and shamelessly propagandized as factual are debunked and supported by sources. A necessary critical, unbiased and no holds barred assessment of history is made throughout to help readers better understand what it was like to live in Germany before WWII, during the war and the years directly after it. The author’s personal struggle to survive is extraordinary and absolutely unusual. Most of the experiences depicted in this book are what the authors personally endured. Since similar experiences were shared by many other youngsters fighting to stay alive hoping to enter an unpredictable future, the author decided to use the name Rudie Schöpper and include some of their encounters.

CHAPTER 1

Time forgot to edge its furrows on his face and defiantly hides the sorrow and tragedy he has witnessed. An erect, military posture still refuses to stoop under the heavy burdens that were often placed on his shoulders. His demeanor reveals traces of his former authority and ability to take charge. Those who knew his grandfather see the strong resemblance. Well over seventy years on earth have not always been too kind to Rudolf Schöpper, nevertheless, he appreciates being able to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Over a decade ago he took the advice of his favorite cousin Hans and shut the door to a regimented lifestyle and opened the gates of leisure. Of course he misses certain aspects of his former professions, as a state trooper, an Army officer, and a college instructor. His newly developed interests and endless chores of maintaining a large house; surrounded by an extensive and well manicured landscaped acre of ground have turned into a labor of love.

Scanning the record cabinet and tower, Rudolf finds the compact disc he has been searching for. The barely audible clicks of the old records recorded on the disc seem to be the appropriate ambiance to fit the moment. He folds his hands behind his head and leans against the back of the oversized leather chair. Listening to the soft sounds is indeed relaxing as he slowly closes his eyes; hypnotized by the sweet voice of Erna Sack, the German Nightingale; singing Vienna Blood. Rudolf’s train of thoughts gradually slows down and comes to a halt in the past, the country of his birth, the war, his early childhood, and the struggle for survival. What if those things had not happened or there had been a different ending? Would he be here sitting in this chair? Not very likely! He silently thanks the Lord for the blessing He so graciously bestowed on him. Now as a grandfather himself, he thanks his Opa for being exceptionally strict on education. Now he understands his grandfather’s demand to obtain a far advanced knowledge of history when he was still a very young child. He will always remember being told to never waste his time on frivolous things that will not contribute to his success in the future

Had the seeds for a Second World War already been sown on November 9, 1918 and two days later with the capitulation of the German military? On November 11, 1918 the Armistice was signed, officially ending the war. The victorious Allies’ exaggerated lies and grossly inflated demands of war reparation from Germany sent a shockwave that reverberated throughout the old German Kaiser Reich; severely plagued by civil unrest. Desiring to force the Allies’ former antagonist back into a primarily agrarian society, Germany was required to pay billions of Marks that she would obviously be unable to pay; critically hampering the country’s economic potential. For added future Allied security, Germany was only allowed a small army for self-defense and had all of her remaining military hardware and equipment confiscated by the victors. All semblances of future military ambitions by Germany were very specifically delineated. In July of 1919 the Weimar Republic was adopted, and a Democratic Republic was created and would last for just over a decade.

Feeling betrayed and wounded by the fledgling government and without a prescription of redress, the deep gash rapidly began to fester. Adding further insults to a grieving wound was the fact that the Allies totally ignored that over 750,000, mainly women and children had starved to death as a direct result of the Allies’ blockade to German shipping. Was there someone who could free the oppressed Germans from the chains of the Versailles Treaty? Germany was desperately looking for a leader. The echoes of Friedrich von Schiller’s (1759-1805) prophetic words, a century earlier, had risen from the grave and were heard again. A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished. The famous Dolchstosslegende, Hitler’s stab in the back legend propaganda was born.

With a smooth talking tongue, a well practiced smile, and finely tuned choreographed body language, the former rabble rouser captivated the German Volk with his promises for change. This third rate political want to be had managed to slither his way to the front and arrogantly assume his position behind the lectern. No one bothered to ask this speaker, who was virtually unknown to the average German, - what changes? The conscious groups, which analyzed the evidence and saw through the scheming charade of lies were shouted down and severely ridiculed by the others who should have seen the red flag when they saw with whom Hitler was associated.

Once Hitler had firmly clasped his hands on the controls of the Government, he seized power for himself; step by step, person by person and department by department. To secure his position as the head of state, he personally selected people and placed them into positions of power and authority; regardless of their qualifications or ability and made them directly answerable to him. His select body of proverbial sycophants only had to dance to the tunes he played in his marionette show; he even interfered with the education of the German children. The dictator’s rise of power to the highest position of the land would not have been possible without a compliant news media; that routinely hid or manipulated the truth and the naiveté of the German masses. Be careful what you wish for. The deterioration of every government begins with decay of the principles on which it was founded. Charles-Louis De Secondat (1689-1755) Baron de Montesquieu – Source: The Spirit of the Law, 1748.

Finding a way to capitalize on the Germans’ fear of Communism and its predominant Jewish leadership, Hitler immediately banned the Communist Party; his main source of contention. Three decades later the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh very aptly interpreted the human psyche best when he said: In order to rally people, governments need enemies. They want us to be afraid, to hate, so we will rally behind them. And if they do not have a real enemy, they will invent one in order to mobilize us. This pervasive attitude was not isolated to Germany but applicable to all countries then and even now. Those in opposition to the Communist movement may have silently agreed with Hitler and may even have viewed him as their surrogate; 1917 and Lenin was enough proof for the Western World to stay away.

Just how deep was the abyss of Hitler’s hatred for the Communist party? Was it the large number of Jews among the party’s capable leadership that kindled another flame in Hitler? The complicity, if any, between the Catholic Church and the Nazi will never be known; but one thing is certain, both entities had a greater fear for the spread of Communism than Jews. Since Jews represented the largest numbers and were the dominant force behind the movement, it was only logical to blame the Jews to be the main cause of the problem.

Maybe someday history will also reveal its secret and tell us about England’s questionable initial behind the scene dealings and possible connivance that may have influenced Hitler’s assumption of power.

We Jews are going to bring a war on Germany. D.A. Brown, National Chairman, United Jewish Campaign, 1934

Hitler will have no war (does not want war), but we will force it on him, not this year, but soon. Emil Ludwig Cohn in Les Annales, June 1934.

We will trigger a spiritual war of all the world against Germany’s ambitions to become once again a great nation, to recover lost territories and colonies. But our Jewish interests demand the complete destruction of Germany. Vladimir Jabotinsky (Founder of terror group, Irgun Zvai Leumi) in Mascha Rjetsch, January 1934.

Even if we Jews are not bodily with you in the trenches, we are nevertheless morally with you. This is OUR WAR, and you are fighting it for us. –Les Nouvelles Litteraires, 10 February 1940. (Slide 2, 3 & 4 – How Britain Initiated Both World Wars, Nick Kollerstrom, PhD)

Hitler’s main objective was to exploit, explore, and utilize any means to rid not only Germany, but all of Europe of Communism and at the same time expand Germany’s Lebensraum; increase Germany’s living space. Even Adolf would certainly have understood such a far-fetched concept of ruling the world, as a seriously questionable possibility. Further overshadowing such sinister schemes was his fear of getting involved in an armed conflict with the United States. Even a victorious Nazi Germany, with the support of its many thousands of volunteer foreign combatants, would never have had enough manpower to adequately guard the frontiers of its conquered territories. The words of the Roman philosopher Lucius Annaes Seneca (c 3BC-65AD) come to mind when he said: Sovereignty over any foreign land is insecure.

In retrospect, the claim for World Dominance is somewhat hypocritical in the case of Great Britain and the British Crown. For well over three centuries the country boasted, Britannia Rules the Waves, and woe to anyone who dared to challenge her authority; and frequently tried to enhance its control of the world with additional use of military force. It wasn’t until the very end of the 19th century that the United States changed its policy and no longer considered England its principal potential enemy; while at the same time Britain was still attempting to control almost a quarter of the globe. In a country not furnished with mines, there are but two ways of growing rich, either conquest or commerce. Several years before Hitler came to power, Churchill said in 1936: Germany is becoming too powerful, we have to crush it.

You must understand that this war is not against Hitler or National Socialism, but against the strength of the German people, which is to be smashed once and for all, regardless of whether it is in the hands of Hitler or a Jesuit priest. –Churchill (Emrys Hughes in Winston Churchill-His Career in War and Peace, page 145)

The war was not just a matter of elimination of fascism in Germany, but rather obtaining German sales markets. Churchill, March 1946.

Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it has a mission to enlighten, civilize, bring order and democracy, and that it uses force only as last resort. And, sadder still, there always is a chorus of willing intellectuals to say calming words about benign or altruistic empires: Edward W. Said (1935-2003).

What England wanted, it took through bribery or force of arms; as was the case when gold was discovered in Transvaal, South Africa in the last quarter of the 19th Century and the resulting Boer Wars. Of the countless displaced Boer civilians imprisoned in hastily built concentration camps with absolutely terrible conditions and most of the time lacking even the bare minimum of creature comforts; almost 30,000 internees, mostly women and children perished. Survival for those who had managed to avoid capture was just as precarious. Their farms had been burned to the ground, livestock slaughtered and wells poisoned. An oft-quoted saying in the past claimed that the sun never set on the British Empire and its possessions; that it had acquired through self-seeking diplomacy and concocted necessities for military intervention.

Despite the fact that history has shown Poland and England to have been the two most warmongering nations that have fought more conflicts than any other country; many historians still insist on hanging that distinction around Germany’s neck. Some eccentrics even go so far and claim that the alleged aggressive nature of the Germans can be traced back many millennium; the Biblical Assyrians.

Many foreign visitors found Germany’s orderly fashion to their liking and considered Hitler rather charming. To succeed in what you want to achieve, all you need is confidence in yourself and the ignorance of others. Those were the prophetic words written by Mark Twain. Not too well publicized is the fact that by 1933 the American Nazi Party boasted of a membership exceeding three quarters of a million. The tentacles of Nazi philosophy were not cut at Germany’s border but also made probing touches further to the east. Evidently, we rather hear a lie and believe it and deny the truth when we hear it; and apparently never heard of Epicurus’ (341BC-270BC) words of caution when he wrote: You should rather have regard to the company with whom you eat and drink, than to what you eat and drink. Was Hitler Goethe’s Faust reincarnate who had also sold his soul to the devil?

If the citizens neglect their Duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupt; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizen will be violated or disregarded. Noah Webster (1758-1843).

Relatively little time had been allotted for necessary and adequate expansion of Germany’s military. In barely a five year period, Hitler had increased his 100,000 army, allowed by the Versailles Treaty, to over three million men. Contrary to popular believe, the German military was not all that superbly trained and equipped and had to rely on Blitzkrieg tactics because it wasn’t prepared to conduct a protracted conflict in the beginning. Obviously not well known is the fact that in 1934 France had sold tanks to Germany, Britain airplanes, the US company Boeing two-engine airplanes with rights to build one of its engines, other US companies sold numerous other parts that included control systems for anti-aircraft guns; enough components to build several dozens of airplanes a month. According to some US reports, Germany was the third largest purchaser of US weapons during the 1930s. Japan wasn’t left out of the picture either, clear through 1940; the US sold millions of gallons of petro products to the island nation. But in defense of the United States dealings with Japan, it also offered an excellent opportunity for the US to keep track of Japan’s fleet and oil deposit locations. (Source: David Swanson, WAR IS A LIE.)

Since England wasn’t ready for a fight then, but then Hitler wasn’t fully ready when it did come. Was Hitler vying for the same thing, more time? A jubilant Chamberlain returned home and announced to his fellow British countrymen, Peace in our time. The Sudetenland, with a predominately ethnic German population, had been considered rightfully Germany’s to begin with by the Führer. That same year, encouraged by his previous well planned maneuvers, Adolf’s next deceitful stunt was to be his last triumph. He had managed to annex Austria to the Third Reich; the country of his birth. This and other is the rout from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector. - Plato

Rudolf remembers his aunt Elfriede sharing her recollection of live in Rosenberg on the Moldau and how jubilant the Germans were to have the Sudetenland a part of the Fatherland; the land of their ancestry. As a flood of tears began to roll down her cheeks, she was unable to finish telling about the terror she and her family had witnessed and the unbelievable horror that they had to endure on their escape west. She could still hear the screams of the women and children who had been bound with barbed wire and thrown off the bridge into the Moldau and drowned. She would never forget the forced expulsion of Germans, driven from their former home in Czechoslovakia and always remember her family home. The fact that no one was ever held accountable for the indescribable inhumanity inflicted on these helpless human beings was beyond her comprehension.

Ironically, it was an English Jew who would champion the cause of the brutally persecuted ethnic Germans, Sir Victor Gollancz (1893-1967). Gollancz became alarmingly concerned about the criminal treatment exacted against the deportation and forcible expulsion of Germans from their original homeland in Poland and their internment in the concentration camps of newly created state of Czechoslovakia; in particular the Sudeten Germans. Sir Gollancz had this to say: So far as the conscience of humanity should even become sensitive, will this expulsion be an undying disgrace for all those who remember it, who caused it or who put up with it? The Germans have been driven out, but not simply with an imperfection of excessive consideration, but with the highest imaginable degree of brutality. In his book, Our Threatened Values: (London, 1946) he gives a poignant account of the indescribable suffering forced on the Sudeten Germans. They lived crammed together in shacks without consideration for gender and age. They ranged in age from 4 to 80. Everyone looked emaciated…the most shocking sights were the babies…nearby stood another mother with a shriveled bundle of skin and bones in her arms…Two old women lay as if dead on two cots. Only upon closer inspection, did one discover that they were still lightly breathing. They were like those babies, nearly dead from hunger… Gollancz continued to emphasize his shocking descriptions. There is really only one method of re-educating people, namely the example that one lives oneself. In the management of our helping actions should nothing, but absolutely nothing else, be decisive than the degree of need.

Those who escaped the claws of the Beast from the East will perpetually be psychologically chained to the memories of the terror they witnessed. When the earth has received the last Sudeten German and interred with it the memory of their former home, the good times as well as their indescribable suffering they were subjected to will be buried with them. Like a sailor’s last resting place in the vastness of the sea, their former existence will likewise be left unmarked and forgotten forever. For the steadily dwindling numbers who managed to cheat death, and are still defying it with their last ounce of willpower, for them there is not enough time left to heal the deep cuts of their wounds from which they still suffer.’

Fortified by the assurance of support from England, and an opportunity to get rid of Germans, Poland denied both attempts by Hitler to have Danzig and the Polish Corridor given back to its rightful owner; Germany. Rather than taking a chance of getting caught in an outright lie, England’s leadership preferred to travel on a much saver route and chose to tell only half truths and deliberately misinterpreted Hitler’s demands as a broken promise. Remaining still hidden is the fact that Hitler never had given Poland an Ultimatum. Lord Lothian, a former British Ambassador to the US, stated in his last speech at Chatham House: If the principles of self-determination had been applied in Germany’s favor, as it was applied against her, it would have meant the return of Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, parts of Poland, the Polish Corridor, and Danzig to the Reich. Waiting until final approval of Britain’s support, Poland did not respond to Germany’s demands, until the very last moment. By the time the Polish Ambassador was received in Berlin on 31 August 1939 and anticipating a refusal, Hitler had already made up his mind to attack Poland the following day. On several occasions Rudolf was privy to listening to Germans who formerly lived in Poland and had fled to escape Polish torture. As early as the late thirties, Germans had already been forbidden to speak their native tongue outside of their homes in Poland. Those who were caught could suffer dire consequences.

CHAPTER 2

A distant relative of Rudolf’s father, who had lived on the Baltic coast, could barely catch her breath between sobs, when she remembered a particular late afternoon when the Polish police came and arrested her seventeen-year old brother. No reason was ever given by Polish authorities why they had taken him and her family never saw or heard from him again. Walking to school or returning home became a risqué business for many German kids who were routinely harassed or physically molested by Poles. When the intensity of the name-calling by the Poles no longer achieved the desired affects on the Germans, intimidation methods escalated. The Germans had to quickly learn how to duck from rocks thrown at them, avoid being spat on or hope to be fast enough to outrun an attacker’s kicks or stick. The relative also recalled the horrible account of a German farmer living near by who had been missing for an unexplained reason and had later been found one morning, nailed to the door of his barn. It would have been fruitless, or even dangerous to demand an inquiry from the Polish police; he was a German.

Evaluating the consistency of these various accounts convinced Rudolf of their considerable validity. Many Germans, especially Volksdeutsche (Ethnic Germans), victims of vengeance, compellingly contradict the propagandized version of the Allies. Bloody Sunday in Bromberg, a city with a large ethnic German population two days following the German invasion of Poland, was a definite reason for continued German reprisals against the Poles. It is no longer possible to extract an exact count of Ethnic Germans who were massacred that Sunday by the Poles’ well-organized effort to cleanse Poland of all Germans. For many Germans, the forced eviction would invariably spell certain death. Only the quick approach of German troops prevented the Poles to completely carry out their well-planned objective. There is no denying that Nazi propaganda exaggerated the number of dead Ethnic Germans who were butchered in the Bromberg Massacre, but never the less, the number of dead was substantial. Still to this day, accounts of Polish attempts of ethnic cleansing have been deliberately omitted, thus making the alleged attack by Germany more believable.

Had Rudolf not heard about the gruesome accounts described by survivors and actual eyewitnesses, it would only be natural for him to believe the unprovoked claim. Had the British and the French not wowed to protect Poland against any aggressors? If so, why did they only declare war on Nazi Germany and not also Russia? Many of the former refugees were highly disturbed by the claim of the unprovoked attack on Poland and the acceptance by others of the concocted story of alleged prisoners dressed in German uniforms. It is very doubtful that the true cause of the war will soon be fully revealed, if ever. One only has to look at the American Civil War. Almost a century and a half has passed, yet historians are still at odds and are generally willing to agree on only one issue as the fundamental cause of the war – slavery.

In 1945, as hundreds of columns of Walking Dead fleeing Germans dragged their way westward trying to escape the Hell fires of the advancing Red Army; whose flames had already burned all happiness that they had ever known. Now only death and horror remained in their eyes; many thought that once they had reached Schlesien (Silesia) they would be relatively safe. All of them had been forced to leave their homes in the eastern part of Germany and newly overrun territories by the Soviets and their allies to ethnically cleanse the newly conquered land of all Germans. Without having been given prior warning and no transportation available, most of the refugees had to walk with only the things that they could carry or load onto any conceivable conveyance they commandeer or ad hoc. To their greatest horror, when attempting to cross the newly established border, they were barred from entering by the Polish military and told that the land now belonged to Poland. Not only were the refugees not allowed to enter their former homeland but were ordered to return to the East and into the pit of Hell itself. On the refugees’ escape routes to the West, Russian planes would fly overhead dropping leaflets telling the Germans that they would be safe in Russian hands; they all knew that it was a monstrous lie. Thousands of the fleeing Germans, either realizing that they were physically incapable of going any further or gave up hope of reaching safety in the West; fearing that they could fall into Ivan’s hands, many committed suicide or begged for mercy killing. Similar tragic circumstances had occurred a little less than fifty years earlier in the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Victims suffering from life threatening injuries for whom timely medical help was not possible or those who were trapped under the rubble of fallen or burning buildings and could not be extricated from their eventual grave had made the same request; hoping for someone to be so kind and instantly stop their suffering. In many instances these finals acts of mercy had to be committed by the protectors of society; a police officer.

Watching from a window of her bedroom, Rudolf’s stepmother witnessed a firsthand account of Russian behavior. A kind family had taken pity on her and allowed her and her 5 year old twin boys to stay in their house; in the outskirts of Berlin. She remembers when loud commotion outside her window had drawn her attention to look out of her window. She saw the landlord’s young teenage daughter getting ready to leave on her bike when a Russian jeep drove up and block her way. Suddenly one of the three soldiers in the jeep jumped out and grabs the screaming girl by one of her arms. After a brief struggle to ward off the soldier’s advances, he drew his pistol, took one step back, and fired; and shot her in the head. The dead girl collapsed on the spot; a small pool of blood trickling from her wound. Prior to leaving, the soldier scanned the windows of the building searching for any possible witnesses. Seemingly satisfied that no one had seen him, he jumped back into his jeep and nodded his head at the driver. Had the cruel savage spotted anyone who had witnessed the shooting, there is no doubt that person would have met the same fate. Annie had been exceedingly fortunate to stand back far enough from the window and remain motionless; safely hidden behind the lace curtain.

Strong feelings of anti-Semitism existed in Poland, just like in Germany; a thin veil obscured a compassionate side of the indigenous folk in both countries. Willing to risk their own safety, these Samaritans helped Jews by hiding them or assisting them to escape. In sharp contrast were those who turned a blind eye to what was going on or actually instrumental in the capture of Jews by the Gestapo. In Poland for instance, the policy was to have Jews and Catholics living separately, unless cohabitation was advantages to the state and subsequently the greater portion of the Jewish community had already been separated from the predominantly Catholic Polish citizenry and heavily concentrated in ghettoes prior to Germany’s entry. During the Nazi occupation a Judenrat, or Jewish Council, was established in ghettos by the Enemy authority to maintain order and control the Jews in area of their confinement. In addition to that, it was the functions of the Juderat to have its board members select daily work details from their community; to supply the Nazi war machine with the required work force demanded.

It has been well established that Jews were not only victimized by the Nazi, but were severely exploited by the Poles as well as by other Jews themselves. Poles frequently stole the very few possessions that some Jews had been fortunate to carry with them into the Ghettos while other Jews fell pray to the exploits of the Jewish Ghetto police and vicious Kapos in Concentration Camps. Certainly requiring Jews to wear identity badges and live in a restricted area was by no means a contemporary idea in Poland during Nazi occupation but had already been the accepted attitude in other European countries.

Lasting until the very beginning of the Twentieth Century, Jews living in Poland were forced to live in walled-off Ghettos that had the entrances locked after dark and those who didn’t make it in time were punished. All applications by Jews requesting permission to perform non-menial jobs had to be first approved and then granted by the state. Only Jews of designated status were permitted to live in the cities; in particular Warsaw. Then again, the Poles still erroneously claim the Prussian-German born Nikolaus Kopernikus as their own. In Russia Jews fared even worse with many of them having fallen victim to pogroms that lasted until the beginning of the 1900s. It is certainly not implausible; the Bolshevik Revolution was to a large degree a Jewish revolt against the oppressive Tsarist regime.

Some 350 years earlier, in 1571, the duke of Tuscany, Italy, another predominantly Catholic country, placed similar restrictions on Jews. All Jews had to live in a ghetto and ordered that they must wear identity badges.

Reaching as far back as Biblical Times, Jews have frequently been forced to be temporary nomads against their wishes. There is no single major European country that is or has not been guilty of anti-Semitism in some form or other; that often included the expulsion of its Jewish population. For instance in 1290, England expelled all Jews from the island; to which the Jews would not return again for some 300 years. King Philip IV of France, two decades later, developed his own sinister plan to refill the empty coffers of his Royal treasury. His Royal Highness forbid all trading of his English subjects with Jews and demanded to have Jewish shops closed to non Jews. By 1394 his plan had been carried out and all Jewish property confiscated by the crown. Then a hundred years later Spain also found the need to get rid of its Jews and set the final day of their expulsion for August 2, 1492. Is it a mere coincidence that on the Jewish Day of Mourning for the destruction of the Jerusalem Temples; that it was a possible Jew who sailed the Ocean Blue? Certainly some intriguing evidence leading in that direction cannot be denied that Columbus may have been a Jew, but not Italian. What about his statue in Genoa? There exists other speculation that seems to suggest that the king of Spain at that time, Ferdinand, may also have been a Marrano; a Jew in hiding.

Unable to pay for its earthly desires of extravagant display of grandeur, an overextended Catholic Church needed to find a way to raise money to pay for its excesses. Ironically, the solution to the problem did not come from a Catholic but a most unlikely source, a Jew. It was Jacob Fugger (1459-1525), who thought of the blasphemous scheme to replenish the treasury of St. Peter and encouraged Pope Leo X to sell indulgences; a simple way for Catholics of buying insurance to stay out of Hell.

Almost three quarters of a century later the Catholic Church had forgotten its sordid sales practices. Pope Clement III, one of the most evil pontiffs to ever sit on the purple throne and rule in the Vatican deep rooted hatred for Jews seemed to have known no bounds. The sanctimonious Pope did not hesitate to warn his congregation to be beware of the treachery of the money grabbing Jews saying: All the world suffers from usury of the Jews, their monopolies and deceit. They have brought many unfortunate peoples into a state of poverty, especially farmers, working-class people, and the very poor. God only knows what other evil this pillar of hypocrisy could have created had he sat longer in St. Peter’s chair. During his short reign, Jews were restricted to live in the Jewish community of the papal enclave of Avignon and forbidden to sell any new goods and forced to sell only second hand items in order to greatly limit their earning abilities. He continued to enforce and further enhance the orders of previous popes forbidding Jews to live outside the cities and in addition to that, forbid even the reading of the Talmud. Jews were required to remain city dwellers in Ancona, Avignon and Rome; one of the oldest continuous Jewish settlements, not only in Europe, but also the whole world. A hundred years or so later, another Pope, Alexander VII, exposed his staunch anti-Semitic feelings and abolished all Jewish loan- banks in Rome. It would certainly be totally unfair to the Catholic Church to basically tie up all Popes into the same bundle of iniquity since many had neither a personal dislike for Jews nor deliberately interfered with the Schicksal of the Jews.

It is believed that Pope Alexander VI, allegedly the most corrupt and secular pope had a surprisingly compassionate side. He was known to show considerable laxity and perhaps even sympathy in his benign treatment of Jews and was frequently referred to by some as a Marrani. According to some reliable indicators, it is quite possible that the pope himself may indeed have been a Marrani; a secret Italian Jew and a fly in the ointment of the Catholic Church. Well before the end of the Middle Ages, thriving Jewish business communities had been established in Antwerp, Amsterdam and Hamburg.

Early in European history, Poland had already become home for a large Jewish population while a very small number had moved to live in the German area of Brandenburg; and relatively few to other German speaking kingdoms and princedoms. By 1933 close to a half million Jews lived in Germany, of which 25% lived on charity. About 100,000 German Jews perished in Auschwitz-Birchenau; a genuine forced labor camp in every sense of the word. There are no reported weddings having taken place, unlike in other Concentration camps. Due to the exceedingly large depletion of Germany’s labor force caused by the war, her enormous demand for labor needed to be supplemented by dissidents of the regime, gypsies, homosexuals, POWs and predominantly Jews. It was absolutely crucial to have a sufficient labor force to operate the large industrial complexes of IG Farben and the Bunawerke; and Auschwitz served that purpose.

New arrivals were ushered into a gas chamber, prominently marked with Vorsicht Gas (caution gas) and deloused and then issued the customary striped prison garb. Men, the most important labor source, were quickly separated from women and children and assigned to one of the many cramped barracks in the enormous complex. Special identification was added, Jews were required to wear a Star of David and homosexuals a pink patch. Whether real efforts were ever made to curtail the death rate is questionable.