One incident I remember well from this factory involved a convoy of about a dozen German trucks, each with a Red Cross on the roof and doors. The convoy was driving down the main road when I saw a light plane with American markings circling above and circling lower and lower. This was obviously and artillery spotter plane, as suddenly there was a screech of a shell and the first truck in the convoy just exploded. By the size of the explosion, the supposed “Red Cross” truck was clearly carrying ammunition. Once they realised that the red crosses were phoney, the artillery started and destroyed the whole convoy. Later that evening the area came under attack from about 20 English Heavy bombers, probably Lancasters along with fighter support. They bombed the station and the factory. At the station were railway trucks loaded with ammunition.
They bombed the railway bridge over the river Zik, and to my horror, they also bombed the barracks containing the Ukrainian girls. It was about three yards from the river and the girls were locked in for the night. They’d nowhere to shelter, nowhere to run to and I heard their screams in the distance as they burned. No one came to help.
The bombing went on for what seemed like hours, some went through the roof unexploded, some landed in the river and some just exploded killing and maiming anyone who got in their way.
In the factory, we had a cellar. The German foreman allowed us in to that cellar. He was very good to us, because he was now convinced that Germany was going to lose the war. He’d said that now the Americans are in the War, Germany is finished. They are just too big and too powerful to beat.
One bomb hit the corner of our cellar, killed two people. The foreman, when he went in to the cellar he had dark hair, when he came out it was as white as a dove. Whether it was the fear or just the dust, I’ll never know!
About 2km from the factory was another prime target for the Allied bombers. Up in the hills where no-one was allowed to go without a permit were the huge underground bunkers containing the launchers for the ultimate terror weapon of its time, the V rocket Anyone found even close to these bunkers would be shot on sight. The Germans did not want anyone to know where these launch sites were. I remember well the night-time launches. They made one hell of a noise as they were launched.
Because of the Allied bombing, the Germans moved us away towards Aachen, and made us join a work detail, a navvy-gang. I remember this well because we were all given new spades. We were told to dig trenches from the river right to the main road to Aachen. It seemed like everyone had been moved to this work detail, there were Germans, Poles, French, Yugoslavs, and all nationalities. We were under the watchful eye of the SS from Aachen. One particular guard, Joe I remember very well. He carried a rubber truncheon and he was responsible for around half-a dozen workers.
Thursday, 3 June 2010
(11) Working again.
By night time, I’d recognised the area as that I’d earlier worked close by in the small factory after my time at Krupp. I knew that there would be one or two Poles working there, supporting the German ammunition and supply trains that regularly passed through the area. There was also a small camp close by where there were ten or so Ukrainian girls working on local farms or at the houses of important Germans. I knew I could blend in here and get some help. I managed to get work in the factory, even though I had no papers or any identification, but the manager was happy to employ me unregistered. This suited me, no records, no question asked, just food in my belly and somewhere to sleep.
The work in this factory was the hardest and most dangerous I’d ever done. It was an iron foundry, and my job was to work on the heavy steam-hammers, hammering steel ingots in to shape. The place was a vision from hell. BANG!! BANG!! I saw a huge row of men in front of these hammers. No “health and safety” here. No goggles, tin helmets or ear defenders here. The noise made your guts wrench and your ears bleed. And the heat was like the fires of hell. If you didn’t do it right you were dead or seriously injured. We were shown once how to do it and then we were on our own. Get the hot ingot in the tongs; place it on the anvil….BANG!.... twist….. BANG!.... twist.
I saw one poor guy get his guts ripped out as he misplaced the ingot and the tongs flew upwards in to his chest and face.
The work in this factory was the hardest and most dangerous I’d ever done. It was an iron foundry, and my job was to work on the heavy steam-hammers, hammering steel ingots in to shape. The place was a vision from hell. BANG!! BANG!! I saw a huge row of men in front of these hammers. No “health and safety” here. No goggles, tin helmets or ear defenders here. The noise made your guts wrench and your ears bleed. And the heat was like the fires of hell. If you didn’t do it right you were dead or seriously injured. We were shown once how to do it and then we were on our own. Get the hot ingot in the tongs; place it on the anvil….BANG!.... twist….. BANG!.... twist.
I saw one poor guy get his guts ripped out as he misplaced the ingot and the tongs flew upwards in to his chest and face.
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
(11) On the run
I thought about what had happened, but not for long. I was going to die in this place unless I made a move. At the first opportunity I sneaked out, cut the wires, went through the water, and ran like hell for the railway line, followed it to the station and jumped on the first train I saw.
I sat in the carriage trying not to look too scared. I don’t scare easily so I soon relaxed and waited for the ticket collector. It was a girl and I thought , “Great, I can turn on the charm here, I’ve got a chance."
The girl came up to me, looked me in the eye and said straight out, "You are an escaper"
I was stunned, but stayed calm and said, “In a way, I suppose I am”.
"What do you mean?" she said
“Well there are so many lives in that factory over there, so I could be.”
“What, you mean Rieche? I'll have to report you to the SA you know. In half an hour the train will stop near headquarters, and I'll turn you in.”
Well the charm was not working and I was shaking in my trousers by now. I'd got this far to be stopped by a ticket collector. I began to wish my father had stuck it in a wall and left it for people to hang their hats on instead of producing me.
The ticket collector continued punching tickets, then came back to me and and asked
"What nationality are you?”
“Polish, born and bred, my father and my grandfathers before me!”
“You speak good German, what other languages do you speak”
“Russian, French, Czech,” I was swinging from panic to arrogance now.
“I still have to hand you in to the authorities”, but she then told me that in a few minutes, the train would slow down as it went up hill.
She seemed interested in me and came back again , so I decided to have one last go at the charm.
"What are you running away from? Tell me about yourself.” she said.
“All I can I say is, I'm a POW, I've worked in factories and on farms.”
“Well once Germany win the war you'll have to stay here for good.”
“I've heard that all us foreign men will be castrated!”
“Yes, that's what I've heard, she said, We don't want people breeding with foreign blood, as Hitler says we all become pure Aryan, pure blonde.”
She returned again later and said, soon the train will go very slowly up hill.”
I said, “look Frauline, when the war finishes, we might meet again, and we can celebrate the fact that you helped me, and saved my life.”
"What do you mean?" she said.
“Well you're helping me by telling me that the train will go slowly, that there's a forest, and so forth.”
“Oh well I suppose so, she said.
“I said that I'd like to meet her after the war, so that we can celebrate.
“Oh, yes? Well are you single or married?”
“Well I'm single at the moment, I'm a POW.”
The charm was working as she said, “now look, when the train goes slowly, I can look the other way while you jump off, otherwise I'll have to report you to the SA. The next town has an SA headquarters”
I now realised that there was only one thing for it, I would have to put my trust in God and jump off the train. So I waited my chance, sure enough, the train slowed down and I opened the door and leapt from the train.
Now, unbeknownst to me, running along side the track was a signal cable, and as I leaped, I landed astride the cable and with such a force, I nearly did Hitler's job of castrating me for him!
To this day, I still get pain from that fall, even at 90.
I lay, dazed, in the ditch between the track and the road, I don't know for how long, as I just could not move as the pain was so excruciating. Some hours passed, but in the end, I stood up, half-conscious with the pain, and decided I had to get away and get some cover. So, I crept over the road and headed in to the forest. I walked for hours, passing close to villages, I believe I was somewhere in the region of Aachen. I was hungry, thirsty and half-dead with the pain in my bollocks from where I hit the signal cable. Again, I found myself wishing that my dear old dad had stuck it in a wall for people to hang their coats on, instead of producing me! I wondered what I'd done for God to punish me so!
I continued to walk through the forest, until I came across what I assumed to be a deserted German bunker. Inside it was dark, and infested with rats and mice. Just inside, I saw the half-eaten remains of a sandwich that the rats were eating. I was so hungry that I chased the rats away and eat that sandwich! The rats looked at me and I stared straight back they were not going to get my gourmet meal!
My meal gave me some more encouragement, so I kept walking, walking, walking.
Early in the morning, before dawn I heard voices in the distance and the persistent yapping of a dog, so I found a large tree, climbed up in to its branches and fell asleep. When I woke again, it was daylight, so I shook myself fully awake, climbed down from the tree and started walking again. I vaguely knew that the forest led me towards the area of Aachen where I might be able to find somewhere to stay and work. I walked for maybe three days. I eventually reached what I assumed to be the Maginot line, the old French defences against Germany.
I sat in the carriage trying not to look too scared. I don’t scare easily so I soon relaxed and waited for the ticket collector. It was a girl and I thought , “Great, I can turn on the charm here, I’ve got a chance."
The girl came up to me, looked me in the eye and said straight out, "You are an escaper"
I was stunned, but stayed calm and said, “In a way, I suppose I am”.
"What do you mean?" she said
“Well there are so many lives in that factory over there, so I could be.”
“What, you mean Rieche? I'll have to report you to the SA you know. In half an hour the train will stop near headquarters, and I'll turn you in.”
Well the charm was not working and I was shaking in my trousers by now. I'd got this far to be stopped by a ticket collector. I began to wish my father had stuck it in a wall and left it for people to hang their hats on instead of producing me.
The ticket collector continued punching tickets, then came back to me and and asked
"What nationality are you?”
“Polish, born and bred, my father and my grandfathers before me!”
“You speak good German, what other languages do you speak”
“Russian, French, Czech,” I was swinging from panic to arrogance now.
“I still have to hand you in to the authorities”, but she then told me that in a few minutes, the train would slow down as it went up hill.
She seemed interested in me and came back again , so I decided to have one last go at the charm.
"What are you running away from? Tell me about yourself.” she said.
“All I can I say is, I'm a POW, I've worked in factories and on farms.”
“Well once Germany win the war you'll have to stay here for good.”
“I've heard that all us foreign men will be castrated!”
“Yes, that's what I've heard, she said, We don't want people breeding with foreign blood, as Hitler says we all become pure Aryan, pure blonde.”
She returned again later and said, soon the train will go very slowly up hill.”
I said, “look Frauline, when the war finishes, we might meet again, and we can celebrate the fact that you helped me, and saved my life.”
"What do you mean?" she said.
“Well you're helping me by telling me that the train will go slowly, that there's a forest, and so forth.”
“Oh well I suppose so, she said.
“I said that I'd like to meet her after the war, so that we can celebrate.
“Oh, yes? Well are you single or married?”
“Well I'm single at the moment, I'm a POW.”
The charm was working as she said, “now look, when the train goes slowly, I can look the other way while you jump off, otherwise I'll have to report you to the SA. The next town has an SA headquarters”
I now realised that there was only one thing for it, I would have to put my trust in God and jump off the train. So I waited my chance, sure enough, the train slowed down and I opened the door and leapt from the train.
Now, unbeknownst to me, running along side the track was a signal cable, and as I leaped, I landed astride the cable and with such a force, I nearly did Hitler's job of castrating me for him!
To this day, I still get pain from that fall, even at 90.
I lay, dazed, in the ditch between the track and the road, I don't know for how long, as I just could not move as the pain was so excruciating. Some hours passed, but in the end, I stood up, half-conscious with the pain, and decided I had to get away and get some cover. So, I crept over the road and headed in to the forest. I walked for hours, passing close to villages, I believe I was somewhere in the region of Aachen. I was hungry, thirsty and half-dead with the pain in my bollocks from where I hit the signal cable. Again, I found myself wishing that my dear old dad had stuck it in a wall for people to hang their coats on, instead of producing me! I wondered what I'd done for God to punish me so!
I continued to walk through the forest, until I came across what I assumed to be a deserted German bunker. Inside it was dark, and infested with rats and mice. Just inside, I saw the half-eaten remains of a sandwich that the rats were eating. I was so hungry that I chased the rats away and eat that sandwich! The rats looked at me and I stared straight back they were not going to get my gourmet meal!
My meal gave me some more encouragement, so I kept walking, walking, walking.
Early in the morning, before dawn I heard voices in the distance and the persistent yapping of a dog, so I found a large tree, climbed up in to its branches and fell asleep. When I woke again, it was daylight, so I shook myself fully awake, climbed down from the tree and started walking again. I vaguely knew that the forest led me towards the area of Aachen where I might be able to find somewhere to stay and work. I walked for maybe three days. I eventually reached what I assumed to be the Maginot line, the old French defences against Germany.
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
(10) The Reiche factory and my "helpers"
I could tell that the war was getting closer to us, it was 1943/4 and the bombing in the vicinity was increasing in frequency and level.
One morning the postman brought a letter to Herr Rottlander. This contained rail tickets and a letter saying I had to report to Overath Rail station, as I was to leave and go to the Reiche factory.
Next day, I packed up my few belongings, said goodbye to the Rottlanders and reported to the station as ordered. The journey took a few hours, and I arrived at Reiche in the mid morning.
We were pointed to our huts. They stank and were cold. I looked at my bed. I'd never seen a mattress that moved on its own. I looked at the old guy in the next bed and he said
"Don't you know what that is? It's lice doing that"
A German came in, looked me up and down and took me to the office to register. You had to register, there were over a thousand people working there.
At registration they asked me where I learned to speak German.
"Well I learned it at High School"
"Why did you learn German?"
I just told him the truth, it was our second language where I came from. We didn't learn English, because we knew very little about England in those days, we learned German. There were a couple of Frenchmen there as well, one said "Bonjour." I said "Bonjour, comment allez vous?" and continued to introduce myself in French. The German said "Oh you speak French as well?" "Well yes", I said, "and a bit of Russian and Czec as well".
After registration, a second German took me and started to show me round the factory, showing me what I was expected to do. I was told that I would be working on a furnace melting metal. There were three furnaces, It was so hot the sweat ran from you all the time. You took the molten metal on a crane, and cast in to ingots. I looked round at the men working there, they were only skin and bones. I longed to be back with Rottlander on the farm.
After a few days there, another German, sidled up to me he looked me up and down. He said to me,
"What about your tongue? Is it a rubber one?"
I said "I don't think so, what I hear and what I see, I keep to myself"
"Oh that's good!" he said. "That's good, come with me."
He then started to show me round the camp. Rows and rows of barracks, double wire netting fences topped with barbed wire, and a ditch filled with water outside that. Around the perimeter were lookout towers with machine gun emplacements. This was a real high-security unit, unlike anything I'd been to before.
He said "Why did you learn so many foreign languages?"
I said that in School in Poland before the war, we just learned languages, and I liked languages.
"What did you learn Russian for?" he asked.
I explained that my father was a Major in the Tsar's Russian army.
"Oh, so you were in the Russian area of Poland then?"
I told him that where I lived was now the Russian/German frontier.
"Come with me" he said.
"Look, there are four guard posts on each corner of the camp. The SA man these. If you try and escape, they'll shoot you.
Every hour, the guard changes, OK?
Look, there are 30 or more barrack huts here."
"Come with me," he said
"See this one here, look at the barbed wire fence, about one metre from here, there is a shadow where the guards can't see you. It's the only place on the fence where the view is obstructed.
He said "what're you thinking about?"
Well I couldn't really say what I was thinking as I'd no idea who this fucker was! They might have been trying to find out if I was reliable and could keep my mouth shut.
He said, "You got it?"
I said,,"Yes, so far, it's a blind spot for the guards".
He went on, "And you see that wire netting and barbed wire? And you see the ditch? The other side of that is a forest, there's a road, a railway line, and a big forest. He said it again "You got it?"
"I'll leave you now, another bloke'll come along, you have a chat with him, eh?"
Sure enough another bloke came up to me.
"So you're the one who speaks so many languages are you?"
I said "well, yes, I've been around a bit (actually I said "on the Windmill and the electric mill" which probably translated badly from Polish...)
"What're you talking about, grinding corn or something!" he replied
"No, I mean I've been through the Education mill"
He looked pointedly at me and said "What did you learn all those foreign languages for?"
I said that I just did them at school, I learn languages quickly.
"Oh come now," he grinned, "there must be some other reason! You're not just an ordinary person! You are a Somebody.
I just smiled, I thought I'd better play along with these people. I was intrigued.
So he said, "is your tongue rubber, or do you keep it inside your mouth?"
I told him that I kept it inside my mouth
"What do you think about the war and the Germans?" He asked, "We'll win the war you know".
I said "Well good luck, I'll stay here for good in that case."
"Oh that's good" he said. "Did you come here by train?"
"No" I said, "I don't really want to travel, I'll work on a farm or in a factory, I don't mind."
"Did that man show you the the fence?"
"Yes."
"What do you think about that?"
I said, "well I don't think much really…"
"Did he show you the one blind spot in the fence by the barracks?"
"Yes."
So he looked at me and said nothing, just looking me up and down, up and down, remarking that I was not very skinny. Working on the farm meant I eat quite well.
I think they must have thought I was some sort of spy.
He said "look, give me your hand," and he gave me a pair of wire cutters and said "I don't know you and you don't know me do you? Right? There will be another man coming to see you.
By now I wasn't sure what the hell was going on, here I was, expecting them to make soap from me, and they were encouraging me to escape!
Then another German came up and told me that there was a train past every day at a quarter past midnight. "Here are some tickets".
I now had the information, the tickets and the means of escape. but I was unsure whether they were trying to help me or kill me.
One morning the postman brought a letter to Herr Rottlander. This contained rail tickets and a letter saying I had to report to Overath Rail station, as I was to leave and go to the Reiche factory.
Next day, I packed up my few belongings, said goodbye to the Rottlanders and reported to the station as ordered. The journey took a few hours, and I arrived at Reiche in the mid morning.
We were pointed to our huts. They stank and were cold. I looked at my bed. I'd never seen a mattress that moved on its own. I looked at the old guy in the next bed and he said
"Don't you know what that is? It's lice doing that"
A German came in, looked me up and down and took me to the office to register. You had to register, there were over a thousand people working there.
At registration they asked me where I learned to speak German.
"Well I learned it at High School"
"Why did you learn German?"
I just told him the truth, it was our second language where I came from. We didn't learn English, because we knew very little about England in those days, we learned German. There were a couple of Frenchmen there as well, one said "Bonjour." I said "Bonjour, comment allez vous?" and continued to introduce myself in French. The German said "Oh you speak French as well?" "Well yes", I said, "and a bit of Russian and Czec as well".
After registration, a second German took me and started to show me round the factory, showing me what I was expected to do. I was told that I would be working on a furnace melting metal. There were three furnaces, It was so hot the sweat ran from you all the time. You took the molten metal on a crane, and cast in to ingots. I looked round at the men working there, they were only skin and bones. I longed to be back with Rottlander on the farm.
After a few days there, another German, sidled up to me he looked me up and down. He said to me,
"What about your tongue? Is it a rubber one?"
I said "I don't think so, what I hear and what I see, I keep to myself"
"Oh that's good!" he said. "That's good, come with me."
He then started to show me round the camp. Rows and rows of barracks, double wire netting fences topped with barbed wire, and a ditch filled with water outside that. Around the perimeter were lookout towers with machine gun emplacements. This was a real high-security unit, unlike anything I'd been to before.
He said "Why did you learn so many foreign languages?"
I said that in School in Poland before the war, we just learned languages, and I liked languages.
"What did you learn Russian for?" he asked.
I explained that my father was a Major in the Tsar's Russian army.
"Oh, so you were in the Russian area of Poland then?"
I told him that where I lived was now the Russian/German frontier.
"Come with me" he said.
"Look, there are four guard posts on each corner of the camp. The SA man these. If you try and escape, they'll shoot you.
Every hour, the guard changes, OK?
Look, there are 30 or more barrack huts here."
"Come with me," he said
"See this one here, look at the barbed wire fence, about one metre from here, there is a shadow where the guards can't see you. It's the only place on the fence where the view is obstructed.
He said "what're you thinking about?"
Well I couldn't really say what I was thinking as I'd no idea who this fucker was! They might have been trying to find out if I was reliable and could keep my mouth shut.
He said, "You got it?"
I said,,"Yes, so far, it's a blind spot for the guards".
He went on, "And you see that wire netting and barbed wire? And you see the ditch? The other side of that is a forest, there's a road, a railway line, and a big forest. He said it again "You got it?"
"I'll leave you now, another bloke'll come along, you have a chat with him, eh?"
Sure enough another bloke came up to me.
"So you're the one who speaks so many languages are you?"
I said "well, yes, I've been around a bit (actually I said "on the Windmill and the electric mill" which probably translated badly from Polish...)
"What're you talking about, grinding corn or something!" he replied
"No, I mean I've been through the Education mill"
He looked pointedly at me and said "What did you learn all those foreign languages for?"
I said that I just did them at school, I learn languages quickly.
"Oh come now," he grinned, "there must be some other reason! You're not just an ordinary person! You are a Somebody.
I just smiled, I thought I'd better play along with these people. I was intrigued.
So he said, "is your tongue rubber, or do you keep it inside your mouth?"
I told him that I kept it inside my mouth
"What do you think about the war and the Germans?" He asked, "We'll win the war you know".
I said "Well good luck, I'll stay here for good in that case."
"Oh that's good" he said. "Did you come here by train?"
"No" I said, "I don't really want to travel, I'll work on a farm or in a factory, I don't mind."
"Did that man show you the the fence?"
"Yes."
"What do you think about that?"
I said, "well I don't think much really…"
"Did he show you the one blind spot in the fence by the barracks?"
"Yes."
So he looked at me and said nothing, just looking me up and down, up and down, remarking that I was not very skinny. Working on the farm meant I eat quite well.
I think they must have thought I was some sort of spy.
He said "look, give me your hand," and he gave me a pair of wire cutters and said "I don't know you and you don't know me do you? Right? There will be another man coming to see you.
By now I wasn't sure what the hell was going on, here I was, expecting them to make soap from me, and they were encouraging me to escape!
Then another German came up and told me that there was a train past every day at a quarter past midnight. "Here are some tickets".
I now had the information, the tickets and the means of escape. but I was unsure whether they were trying to help me or kill me.
(9) Abel
Life was hard on that farm, the whole family worked from dawn to dusk, as well as us foreigners. At first I was the only foreigner, but later they sent two more French prisoners, another Pole, Stephan, and a Ukrainian man, who later poisoned himself as he just couldn't cope with life.
One of the Frenchmen, his name was Abel, really did not like to work too hard. He would regularly go for breaks, and spend ages sitting on the toilet.
There were three toilets, one for the Boss, one for the German workers, and one for us Foreigners. Despite this segregation, they all drained in to a single huge concrete tank, along with the cow and horse manure. Every spring, we used to pump it out and spread it on the meadow. At least we had equality when it came to excrement! They really were just a seat with a hole that led via a pipe in to the cesspit. If there was "a blockage", my job was to fetch a long stick ram it up from the pit side and undo the blockage.
Stephan and I were working in the yard when Rottlander came up to us and said
"Where's Abel?"
"He's on the bog again sir" I replied with a smile.
Well Rottlander went purple and stormed off towards the toilet block closely followed by Stephan and me. We just saw Abel's feet below the stall door. Rottlander gave us a conspiratorial wink, and tiptoed round the back. He picked up my unblocking stick, chose his pipe carefully and rammed it hard up in to the unsuspecting Frenchman's backside. Abel let out an almighty scream, and shot forward, through the stall door and landed outside with his trousers round his ankles!
"Get back to work you lazy bastard" thundered Rottlander.
Stephan and I were just doubled up with mirth, as Rottlander chased the unfortunate, Abel who was trying to pull up his trousers and run at the same time muttering something about the Boche.
One of the Frenchmen, his name was Abel, really did not like to work too hard. He would regularly go for breaks, and spend ages sitting on the toilet.
There were three toilets, one for the Boss, one for the German workers, and one for us Foreigners. Despite this segregation, they all drained in to a single huge concrete tank, along with the cow and horse manure. Every spring, we used to pump it out and spread it on the meadow. At least we had equality when it came to excrement! They really were just a seat with a hole that led via a pipe in to the cesspit. If there was "a blockage", my job was to fetch a long stick ram it up from the pit side and undo the blockage.
Stephan and I were working in the yard when Rottlander came up to us and said
"Where's Abel?"
"He's on the bog again sir" I replied with a smile.
Well Rottlander went purple and stormed off towards the toilet block closely followed by Stephan and me. We just saw Abel's feet below the stall door. Rottlander gave us a conspiratorial wink, and tiptoed round the back. He picked up my unblocking stick, chose his pipe carefully and rammed it hard up in to the unsuspecting Frenchman's backside. Abel let out an almighty scream, and shot forward, through the stall door and landed outside with his trousers round his ankles!
"Get back to work you lazy bastard" thundered Rottlander.
Stephan and I were just doubled up with mirth, as Rottlander chased the unfortunate, Abel who was trying to pull up his trousers and run at the same time muttering something about the Boche.
Wednesday, 20 August 2008
(8) Saved by the skin
In the beginning, the whole family was really nasty to me, I was just a slave. There were about 16 or so dairy cows on the farm, so one of my jobs was to work the little cutting machine that was used to cut up Turnips, and similar to make cattle feed. I had a pitchfork, and just pitched the turnips up and put them in the grinder.
Well, old Rottlander didn't think I was doing this fast enough, and he regularly beat me with the yard broom, shouting "Faster, Faster!" Well after four or five days of this I was hating the man and looking for an opportunity to get him back, but I knew if I retaliated they would hand me over to the SS. I was given the job of looking after the cows as his two cattlemen had been called up for the forces. I had to feed the calves, fattening them up so that they could be taken to the market.
One day, Rottlander came to me and told me that I should not feed one particularly fat calf that day, as someone was coming to collect it for market. In those days, all the cattle from the farm were sent to market, to "feed the Reich," and the farmers were paid. No farmers were allowed to sell or trade any of their own.
Later that evening I watched him heading out to the forest with a spade in his hand, and as I watched, he began to dig a hole. I though to myself,
"what's he up to?"
I started making connections. "Don't feed that calf today" Well after midnight, I heard a noise again, and I saw old Rottlander heading out towards his hole with a bundle under his arms. Suspicion got the better of me, I just had to know what he was carrying. I crept downstairs to the outside toilet.
I walked over the cowshed, and saw as I suspected the fat calf had gone. I realised that Rottlander must have killed and skinned the calf to sell on the Black Market. In Germany at that time things were very strict, and you had to have permission from the government to kill animals. If you did it without permission, they'd most likely hang you or put you in prison.
He was burying the skin! Now I had something on the nasty little man!
I carried on with my work with the cows, milking morning and evening, getting up at 6am to milk the cows, taking the big milk churns out to the main road for the collection lorry, in the morning.
Rottlander was a slight man, I think if you kicked him he would blow away, but his temper tantrums continued, urging me to go "Faster, Faster". One particular day, I think someone had upset him down in Overath, and he was looking for someone to take his frustration out on. He came up to me shouting,
he shouted, and got up and went back to the house where his telephone was.
Well I knew what was going to happen now, and sure enough, in 20 minutes the police van arrived, and three SS men got out. Black uniform, death's head on the lapels, the genuine article.
"In three or four days you'll be hanged. Not shot, because the rope is cheaper than bullets. We need bullets for the war, but a rope can hang many people, it's cheaper."
I was wet, cold and hungry and I was wondering where Jesus was now? I prayed; I've always prayed throughout my life.
After 3 days in the cell, The SS called Rottlander to come in and sign a statement saying what I'd done, so that I could be hanged. The Germans never did anything without the correct documentation. The Guard came up to me and joked with me
"Your boss is here to see you!
"Hey, Mr Rottlander, what about that calf skin? We'll be all hanging together if I tell these men what I saw!"
I went on,
"You might have put a few leaves over it, but I could take them to it and show them."
At this point one of the Gestapo men came in with the statement in his hand.
"Please sign here Herr Rottlander"
I looked at Rottlander, and he spluttered,
"I've changed my mind! I'll take him back on the farm, I need the workers"
The Gestapo man looked at him, then at me and said,
"What if he tries to kill you again, he's a Pole! These Poles are rough people!
"No, Sorry for wasting your time, I'll take him back."
We went back in the car to the farm without a word. He dropped me off, told me to get back to work and walked over to his wife, Maria, who had come out to meet us. He told her what had happened, and Maria came over to me looking angry. This big woman stood in front of me, hands on hips and said,
"Czeslaw, how could you tell those lies about my husband?"
"It's not a lie, it's the truth", I replied, "do you want me to go get a spade and dig it up to show you?
Maria told me to go in to the room where us foreigners eat our food, and she came back a few minutes later with a sandwich and sat down next to me. She could see that I'd not eaten properly for days. Rottlander came in and sat down and we talked small-talk for a while until Rottlander looked at me and said that we should agree to say nothing more about the incident, unless I wanted both of us to be hanging from ropes together.
Well from that day onwards, I was treated much better on the farm. I was a good man from then onwards, "Chassa" they called me.
No more "Faster, Faster" no more beatings, and I turned a blind eye to Herr Rottlander's black market activities.
(7) Farmer again
Rottlander was married to a big woman, Maria who had three children, two girls and one son. She used to say "When we win the war, all you foreign men will be castrated, and we'll build a little hut on the farm for you to live in" She showed me the place, it was near the main road, in some bushes, and close to a well.
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