(6) Otto

Around this time, the Allies began to bomb the Maginot line, close to the Stassen farm, so eventually we all were evacuated East and I was sent to work at the Krupp factory in Essen.

I remember I cried when I said goodbye to the Stassens.

At Krupp, I was put in a drawing office. I remember that there were six work booths, all made of glass so that the draughtsmen could see each other, each with a drawing board.

Now I'm a pretty smart fellow, I usually get chosen as the leader, but this time I volunteered for the job just because it was inside, in the office.

"Can you draw?"

"Why of course can!"

My motto was becoming, "If they ask for a hairdresser, you're a hairdresser!" Anyway, I thought I'd done my stint outdoors on the farm, on the straw mattresses and the gritty soup.

One small problem, though.

I lied.

I just did not have a clue about technical drawing!

They sat me down at the drawing board, gave me a plan and told me to transfer the plan over on to sheets of tin-plate. You laid it out on the table, got a paper drawing and you had to take the paper and copy it on to the material, and afterwards, when you'd done it properly, that material had to go under a cutter.

Well, I just hadn't a clue! I was not sure how I'd be able to get out of this. If they found me out, I'd probably end up hanging, or at worst working myself to death in somewhere much worse.

I sat and stared at the drawings, the instruments, rules, dividers, compasses, and for the first time in my life, began to panic. But, like many times before and since, I prayed for guidance.

I'd noticed an old German next to me, watching me. He obviously could see that I was in trouble. He looked furtively around, then introduced himself as Otto. I think Otto was a Catholic, he could see that I had no clue and he knew what would happen to me if I was found out.

He looked round and out of the view of the manager, came into my booth and started showing me what to do; he helped me, and even did my work for me for a while. The foreman would come along measure up my work, and said what good work I was doing. Otto was taking a great risk himself because he was not doing his own work while he was helping me, but within a few days, under his careful guidance, I began to get the hang of the job. After a week or so I was a skilled draughtsman!

May God bless that man!