Ford Tri-Motor

[Terry, NJ]

Werner, I feel sorry for what your father and every other German had to go though. I knew some Russian prisoners of war and what they went through was incredibly bad. If the allies had treated the Germany better after World War 1, perhaps, Hitler would never have been elected in 1933. If Lenin had not died in 1924, Stalin would not have been elevated to 1st secretary of the communist party, USSR. However, They were elevated to positions of power in their respective countries. It was only a matter of time. "Barbarossa" was begun on June 22, 1941. Most people thought this was a terrible act of aggression, few knowing that Stalin was planing then same thing, only later. Hitler knew it and was only being prudent. Yet, it became a "Rich man's war and a poor man's fight". Men like your father and my friends Andrei and Sergei had to endure the horrors of the "Eastern Front" winters and places like the
Pripyet marshes. I knew some Germans who had fought there and they told me that these marshes were full of poisonous snakes and they came out of hibernation in the spring. They were worse than the Russians! So, This is my understanding of the war! Andrei told me he was captured near Voronezh and they made him walk from there, across Poland, to a camp near Hamburg (Later the British zone) He was hospitalized until two British officeres came to him one day and told him he would have to go back to Russia. That night, he broke out and headed for Denmark, where he hid out for a year. Because Russia never signed the Geneva Conference. Russian prisoners were treated horribly. Receiving less food and supplies than British or American. They were given the worst jobs, such as going into Panzer tanks where the crews had been killed and the hatches were jammed with a shell and removing the bodies. I'm sure your father suffered no less in Russia. Imagine how different the world would be if these two monsters , Hitler and Stalin, had not been been elevated to power!
Terry

Originally Posted by Werner

My father was flown out of Russia with "Aunt Ju". In the plane layed many soldiers with lost frozen feet and shrapnels in the body. They only just screamed. They only got schnapps.



Later, my father had to go back to the front and starved 4 years in Russian captivity with bugs and fleas. He has never been able to enjoy the Ju again.