Chapter 10: Yoseph and Heinrich

Yoseph was a professor of literature at the University of Berlin. He competed in chess tournaments and was head of the debate team. When the Nazis dismissed him from his job in April 1933. He migrated to Amsterdam in the Netherlands with many other Jews. In May 1940, the Nazis invaded the Netherlands. Queen Wilhelmina fled with her family. Within five days, the Netherlands surrendered, and the Jews had no way to escape as the Germans were on the verge of invading Great Britain. Many tried to hide when the Germans demanded that Jews register and wear patches with the Star of David. Soon, Jews were required to appear for work in munitions factories. Yoseph obeyed the summons, thinking he would work in an arms factory and come home later at night, not knowing what he walked into. They directed Jews onto cattle cars and traveled back to Germany. He was unsure where he was. He learned from listening to the guards that he was in the German Harz Mountains; old copper and silver mines had been converted into factories. His friend Yakob, who attended the same synagogue in Amsterdam, was a dentist from Salzburg, Austria, and removed gold caps from prisoners’ teeth. Later, a Jewish baker from Berlin named Binyamin arrived by train. He was wearing a ring that belonged to his grandfather. He dropped the ring in the dirt and stepped on it, hoping to keep it from being taken by the guards.

A few boys from the nearby farms discovered a corner spot where the searchlights cast shadows from the barracks building and began tossing food wrapped in newspapers through the barbed wire. When they returned to the barracks in the dark, they would bend down, as if brushing something off their shoes, to pick up the food. Little did the boys know, the newspapers were the most valued part of their package. The stories gave them news outside the camp, such as the invasion of the Soviet Union by the Nazis. They also told them what the date was since there were no calendars or clocks for them to look at. They had no idea what day of the week it was or even the month without those newspapers. Then one night in June 1942, the boys started asking about the trenches they fell into when coming to the camp. The prisoners said they were forced to dig trenches that day to test the rockets they made. The next day, the farmers and villagers heard rapid explosions coming from the camp. Guards in the village cabaret explained they were testing rockets and practicing maneuvers in the woods to prepare for the invasion of Great Britain. Heinrich decided to go film these rocket tests and maneuvers in these trenches. He had never seen a rocket go off except for fireworks. The Nazi government outlawed private films under strict controls, with the media only praising Hitler. Heinrich took the German Shepherd Rufus with him. He climbed a pine tree a good distance from the long trench so he would not be viewed and arrested. As the Nazis and prisoners came out of the camp to march toward the trench, Heinrich began filming with excitement to watch a rocket test launch.

Yoseph, Yakob, and Binyamin marched out to the edge of the trench they dug the day before. They were forced to strip naked to drop their uniforms on the ground and stand beside the trench. Men started praying the Kaddish Mourner’s Prayer, usually spoken by the living for the dead, for themselves as they undressed:

“Exalted and hallowed be His great Name. Amen. Throughout the world which He has created according to His Will. May He establish His kingship, bring forth His redemption, and hasten the coming of His Moshiach. Amen.”

They stood naked next to the trench. The guards then fired their weapons, and the men dropped into the trench. Heinrich sat in his tree, frozen in shock. The guards picked up the clothing to toss in a truck to return to camp. In the distance was a Kleines Schanzzeug vehicle with a large shovel in front to cover the trench of bodies with dirt. Once the soldiers returned to camp, a prisoner jumped out of the trench and hurried away from the camp. He stopped at Heinrich’s tree when he met his dog, Rufus, which cocked his head in curiosity and failed to bark. Heinrich started to climb down. A pinecone dropped and narrowly missed the man, causing him to jump.

“Sorry, I did not mean to hit you.” Heinrich explained as he climbed down.

The man looked up to see a boy climbing down the tree.

“Boy with the dog,” Yoseph replied.

Heinrich reached the ground and offered his jacket to the naked man with bullet wounds in his shoulders. Yoseph wrapped the coat around his waist.

“Follow me; my grandfather can help you. He was a soldier in the Great War. Come, Rufus.” directed Heinrich.

They hurriedly walked to reach the safety of his grandfather’s house and entered the front door.

“Grandfather!” Heinrich called.

His grandfather came out of his study.

“Guten Tag, Heinrich. Who is this?” Grandfather said.

“I am sorry, I never asked your name, sir.” Heinrich replied.

“Yoseph Bauman, Herr Heinrich.”

“Herr Bauman here was shot outside the mine factory. I filmed the whole thing from a tree.” replied Heinrich.

“Let us get you downstairs before anyone sees you,” directed Grandfather.

Heinrich took Yoseph to the cellar. Grandfather grabbed bandages, iodine, and pliers to remove the bullets. Heinrich grabbed blankets and clothes. Then he grabbed the liquor for the pain. The bullets hit Yoseph’s shoulder blades, and another further down hit a rib. Another grazed his head, which caused him to faint. Once the bullets were removed and wounds were treated with iodine and bandaged, Yoseph told them about the angel he saw in the trench.

“They marched us out of the camp, telling us they were testing the rockets we made. Then they made us strip naked and stand by the trench. Then they shot us. I felt the bullets hit me and cried to Adonai. I woke up to a voice whispering for me to get up. A woman’s voice then shouted at me to get up. I opened my eyes, and an angel was floating above me. I found myself in the trench surrounded by my barracks friends, all shot dead. She shouted at me again to get up and find the boy with a dog. I heard the engine of trucks. She shouted to hurry because they were coming. Then she disappeared. I realized I was alive and climbed out of the trench. I ran away from the camp as the angel told me to. Then I saw a dog, Rufus, by a pine tree, and it never barked at me. Then a pinecone fell, and I jumped. It did not hit me, Heinrich. Then Heinrich apologized for the pinecone hitting me because he did not purposely mean to hit me with the pinecone. Then he gave me his coat and guided me here. And you saved me. Thank you. Both of you. Thank you so much. Adonai bless you both.” explained Yoseph.

“You can stay in my cellar or stretch out under the crawl space if you feel you need to hide. I cook my supper in three hours. I will bring you some food.” Grandfather Harz said.

“We should say a prayer for the departed souls,” Heinrich said.

“Let me get my Bible,” Grandfather Harz said, to retrieve his Bible upstairs to flip through pages. “Here we are. ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

“Amen,” they said together.

“We have a special prayer for the dead. At the trench, men began to weep as we undressed to say this special prayer for themselves. It goes like this: Exalted and hallowed be His great Name. Amen. Throughout the world which He has created according to His Will. May He establish His kingship, bring forth His redemption, and hasten the coming of His Moshiach. Amen. In your lifetime and in your days and in the lifetime of the entire House of Israel, speedily and soon, and say, Amen. May His great Name be blessed forever and to all eternity, blessed. May His great Name be blessed forever and to all eternity. Blessed and praised, glorified, exalted, and extolled, honored, adored, and lauded be the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He. Amen. Beyond all the blessings, hymns, praises, and consolations that are uttered in the world, say, Amen. May there be abundant peace from heaven, and a good life for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen. He Who makes peace in His heavens, may He make peace for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen.”

“That was beautiful. I better go home now. Nobody will believe what I saw.” Heinrich stated.

“Be careful who you tell; not everyone is your friend and will betray your trust to the Gestapo.” Grandfather Harz explained.

“I will,” Heinrich assured.

He was true to his word. He only showed the film to his friends he found giving food to the prisoners. They were horrified. One boy said he found a spy by his barn who was an American writing a report about the concentration camps. The Nazis showed one camp to the British Red Cross, where they allowed education, plays, and recreation to the Jewish elderly prisoners. He will want to see this film. The next day the spy arrived with Heinrich’s friend Ernst. Heinrich showed him the film. The American spy took notes and then left. Ernst said the spy left to return to Switzerland, where the American consulate was still open. They stalled all visas to America until the war ended. Heinrich visited his grandfather after school to receive help with his homework. His mama quit school at age fifteen, so she could not help him much with his high school math classes. Yoseph helped him with his homework and played chess games with him. His teacher noticed he suddenly became better at his algebra. He said his grandfather was helping him with his homework. He was with the artillery in the Great War and was excellent at making calculations using algebra. Yoseph wrote stories in a notebook about all the people he knew in camp. As the war dragged on, Gertrude began praying for her son Heinrich. He was slowly reaching the age of military service: seventeen with parental permission in 1944, eighteen was conscription age in 1945. He had a younger brother, so the military would have no problem placing him in combat.

She inquired which branch of the military he would want to enter. Listening to the BBC to learn English and French, he thought he would like to work in intelligence as his father did. His father also drove tanks and was a sniper too. He visited the Nazi official at his office and inquired about radio communications to help with the war, like intelligence. His mother insisted on finishing high school first before joining the army or Luftwaffe, but finally relented since the war would soon be ending. Colonel Gunther Koffman enlisted him as a private in the Reich Army to listen to the radio signals from England for intelligence after school. Young Rolf took over delivering food to the prisoners at night. The younger brothers of Heinrich’s friends saw each other in the moonlight. Christmas arrived, and the Harz family had a wonderful dinner after the church service. Private Heinrich gave Yoseph a new pair of boots to wear. He helped him become good at algebra and physics. Maybe someday he might fly airplanes over Germany. He liked that better than the army or navy. His nine-year-old brother Rolf, in the dark, went with the food basket to find one night a soldier guarding their corner. Remembering what Heinrich said about surviving, Rolf approached the guard with his basket of food.

“Halt,” the guard said as Rolf came closer. “We know what you kids have been doing. We are leaving for Poland in the morning and closing the camp. Go home.”

“Will you give them the food, sir?” Rolf asked.

“What?” the guard reacted, letting out a loud exhale. “Give it here.”

The guard lowered his weapon, and Rolf placed the basket handle on his rifle barrel. The other four boys came out of the trees to place their baskets on his rifle barrel to thank him. The next morning, Rolf stepped out onto the front porch to find his basket. A note inside read, “Please do not think badly of me”. Rolf thought it strange that these guards knew what they were doing and never punished them for it. Gertrude explained that some Germans like her and his father were put in situations they never asked for. That was the message he was giving. The next few days, people entered the deserted camps looking for valuables or even left behind food supplies. Gertrude raided the kitchen for any cookware to swipe. They filled baskets of food in the pantry. The pastor gave them forget-me-nots flower seeds to plant over the disturbed soil where trenches were dug for executions. In the spring, the flowers were in full bloom. The collapsed mine where the miners’ families were buried had forget-me-nots flowers too. Private Heinrich drove over to Drubeck to work on the radios for intelligence on the war.

What he heard over the radio broadcasts and military conversations was disheartening as the Nazi Empire that would last a thousand years began to unravel. Once the German forces in the Soviet Union surrendered, the Soviet army forced a retreat toward Germany, retaking Polish and Hungarian territory. Worse, allies switched sides to fight against Germany once they were liberated by the Russians. The Soviet Army threatened Hungary, so German forces were sent to support them in March 1944. Radio activity revealed maneuvers being done off the coast of the British Isles in Scotland and the Devon coast. That meant a plan of invasion. But where and when? The German commanders moved troops to the coast, calling it the Atlantic Wall that stretched from Northern Norway to the border of Spain. Hitler had been building fortifications on the Atlantic Wall since 1942, and they were finished in 1944. Hitler thought maybe they would invade Calais, France, where the shortest distance from England was located, to concentrate forces there and at any other perceived targets. The British led a campaign of deception to convince the Germans they would attack Calais instead of their intended target of the beaches of Normandy, which was large enough for all their invading forces. Private Heinrich prayed for the safety of his father in Normandy.

Private Heinrich warned his mother that the end of the war may be on the horizon with Italy falling and the Soviets liberating the eastern countries. News came of the surrender of Rome to American and British forces with little resistance. The very next day, the British, Canadians, and Americans led a grand invasion on the beaches of Normandy. For months, they prayed for Sergeant Friedrich’s safety. Then a letter came with his cross, watch, and wallet. The letter stated that Sergeant Friedrich left them with a priest in Rouen to send if he died or was captured during the pending invasion. No German could figure out where exactly the Allies would strike, so forces were spread thin out along the coast to shift quickly when the Allies arrived. Normandy, not expected to be a target spot, was not heavily reinforced. Sergeant Friedrich Harz was in the center of the invasion forces. A bomb knocked him over, and he was found by the British next to his dead commanding general with a massive head injury. Rouen was liberated on August 30. He was brought unconscious to a field hospital where the priest visited to give last rites to the dying, and he prayed over him while the nurse bandaged his burns and scrapes. He did not have any bullet wounds. He woke up confused and later was forced to dig graves for the German dead along the coast. The French people put up a tombstone for his general with the epitaph, “Savior of the French”. Then he last saw him marching onto a ship and being taken to England as a prisoner. Gertrude was relieved he was alive and prayed for the war to end so he could come home.

Sergeant Friedrich’s friends, Sergeant Erich Schurman and Corporal Lukas Kavor, led the retreat during the Allied Invasion toward Paris. Sergeant Schurman was wounded in the shoulder, and Corporal Kavor was wounded in the leg during a skirmish with British soldiers during the retreat toward Paris. Sergeant Schurman helped Corporal Kavor to a farmhouse to the astonishment of the French farmers hiding in the cellar when they heard gunshots.

“Please shelter this soldier or the British will kill him; his lady is part of the French resistance under codename Raven. Please find Raven for him. I must go.” explained Sergeant Schurman in French.

Sergeant Schurman rushed out of the house with his troops, and the farmers took Corporal Kavor to hide him in the cellar and then put him up in the attic when the fighting was over. They heard the gunshots of the British and Germans. Sergeant Schurman was killed in the confrontation with his soldiers, who refused to surrender to the British soldiers chasing them. None survived. The farmers nursed Corporal Kavor and notified the French underground of their charge. On July 20, 1944, an assassination attempt occurred on Hitler. Thereafter, all German civilian and military personnel were required to give the Nazi salute. The conspirators were executed. In August, Romania switched to the Allied Powers as the Soviets liberated Bucharest. Two days later, Yvette, codename Raven, arrived at the Norman farmhouse as Paris was being liberated by the Allies. She nursed her lover back to health as he took on a fever from the infection of his wound. She showed him a photograph of his daughter Nicolette safe with her mother in Switzerland. Her brother Marc led French fighters to harass the Germans in their retreat to Germany. They found the dead British and German soldiers in the wheat field. On Schurman’s tombstone, they had the epitaph written “Friend to the French”. In September, the Soviets entered Bulgaria, and they quickly switched sides, declaring war on Germany the very next day.

Soon after, Finland made peace with the Soviet Union and agreed to remove the Germans from its territory. Running short of supplies because the invaded countries ceased shipments of food resulted in Food Rations in Germany. A formal rationing system with coupons for items like eggs, meat, and sugar was implemented. In December, the Allied Armies wintered in Belgium and Luxembourg along the Ardennes Forest, and the Germans tried to break through their battle lines, creating a bulge in the battle formations to call it the Battle of the Bulge. The Soviet Army was threatening Budapest in Hungary; the Germans sent forces to support them. Christmas was full of fear of the pending doom of being under Allied Powers again. Last time, Germany surrendered; they had to pay reparations, triggering the Great Inflation of 1923. But for some, the war being over and the Nazi Empire that would last a thousand years could not make it past a five-year war before beginning to retreat was a relief. The concentration camps in the Harz Mountains had already started evacuating and murdering as many people as they could before the Allies liberated everyone. Only a few were left for the Allies to liberate when they came. For many, it was just a matter of time before Germany surrendered.