Chapter 12: Gertrude and Yoseph

In February 1945, Heinrich Himmler ordered the Harz Mountains to be Hitler’s Harz Fortress to defend central Germany. The headquarters was in Blankenburg to the east of Drubeck. Many Germans moved west because of the brutality of the Soviet Army, violating women and forcing villagers near concentration camps to visit them and look at what the Nazis had done. As Americans and British liberated concentration camps, the local villagers and city dwellers were rounded up and brought to the camps to look at the survivors, viewing them with their own eyes what their praised government did. They used bulldozers to bury the dead left behind as the Germans retreated. US Army General Omar Bradley crossed the Rhine River in March 1945 to advance into the Harz Mountains. He first reached Nordhausen to the south of Drubeck. He found resistance in the hills at Ilfeld and Ellrich, moving north towards Drubeck and Blankenburg. Most small villages put up little resistance to watch the Americans march through town. So much for Hitler’s Harz Fortress. By the end of March, all of Poland had been liberated by the Soviet Army. Finland was removing the Germans until they withdrew in April. On April 13, 1945, Vienna, Austria, surrendered to the Soviet Army and soon after declared independence from Nazi Germany. Switzerland was still neutral and shot down any planes invading its airspace. The Allies in Italy moving north were respectful and never entered Switzerland. They marched through Austria to enter Germany. News on the radio said Mussolini was executed by Italian rebels while fleeing to Switzerland with his mistress and friends. Their bodies were hung upside down at a petrol station. In the end, the Hitler Youth were pulled from school and given weapons to fight for Germany. Many of these children, as young as ten years old, dug trenches, tossed grenades, and learned to escape through barbed wire while under fire. Private Heinrich’s brother Rolf did not reach his tenth birthday until August, so he was not pulled from school. Private Heinrich pulled fifteen-year-old Greta from school to learn to fire an anti-aircraft gun outside the radio station to shoot down planes. German girl groups were also pulled from school to defend anti-aircraft guns in Berlin. Some Hitler Youth soldiers were killed on suicide missions, but many survived fighting in defensive positions to watch their commanding officer’s surrender. Some were given medals for bravery.

On May 2, 1945, the Battle of Berlin ended in surrender. The Soviet Army found the burned bodies of Adolf Hitler and his new wife, Eva Braun. Over the radio, it was said that in Berlin, Commandant Klein and his wife committed suicide and killed their nine-year-old son Helmut and six-year-old son Wilhelm with cyanide. Helmut was four months from his tenth birthday. He was a sweet boy, and it was a shame he died at the hands of his parents. Wilhelm was quiet and shy, so few kids knew him very well at church when they left at the time the camp closed. His son, Private Martin Klein, was in Blankenburg, joining the army at the last minute to witness the surrender. The daughter, Klara, pulled out of boarding school outside Berlin, was captured by the Soviet Army while manning an anti-aircraft gun at the airport on April 26. She was permitted to return to her boarding school in the autumn, but she discovered her parents had died and had not paid her school fees. She searched for her brother and found him in Drubeck. The newspapers said Joseph Goebbels and his wife committed suicide after killing all their young children. Many top officials committed suicide or disappeared. Many reached Argentina using the same Catholic Church networks Jews used, which always welcomed travelers to provide food and shelter for anyone who showed up at their doors. The last units of the German army in the Harz Fortress surrendered on May 7, 1945. The last concentration camp in the Harz Mountains was liberated. It was all over. Gertrude and Heinrich tried to convince Yoseph that the war was over and that he was safe to come out. He refused to believe them. Heinrich saw a tank coming through their valley pasture. He guessed it was on patrol to be alone.

“Go invite their commanding officer to supper here. We need to convince them to help feed all the people hiding in the barn. They might have a Jew in their ranks who could get Yoseph to leave the crawl space.” instructed Gertrude.

Heinrich started walking toward the lone tank in the valley. He raised his hands, hoping they would not shoot since Germany had surrendered and he was out of uniform. Getting close to the tank, it stopped.

“Hello, do you have a Jew in your ranks?” asked Heinrich in English.

An American soldier popped the hatch open.

“You speak English? Why do you ask?”

“A Jew hiding in my grandfather’s cellar. We tell him war is over, but he will not come out. He scared and will not believe us. Do you have a Jew in your army who can tell him that he is safe to come out?” Heinrich requested.

“Sure, hop in.” said the soldier.

Heinrich entered the hatch, excited to be riding in a tank since his father drove them in France, and they returned to the camp stationed at one of the deserted concentration camp mine factories nearby. He explained his mother’s invitation to the commanding officer. Their table could handle four guests if he wished to bring others. His mother was making hassenpfeffer.

“Why is your mother inviting the commanding officer with three guests to dine with your family?” inquired a soldier.

“I think she is looking for information about an old suitor when she was in America. My mother was an actress on Broadway and Hollywood for a year. She had a suitor in New York City she wanted to marry, but he married someone else when she left for Hollywood. His name was Jack Vanderbilt. He married Jessica Hearst.” answered Heinrich.

“I am from Queens, and Jack Vanderbilt died after the Stock Market Crash in 1929. His wife and butler were discussing a party she was hosting when they heard a bang. The maids cleaning the parlor heard the bang too and rushed out into the hall. They found him dead in his study from a gunshot to the head. She was pregnant with their third child and had a miscarriage. She married some Scottish Baron a year later. It was all over the newspapers. I think four of his mistresses came to his funeral, and his wife kicked them out of the church.” replied the soldier.

“My mother be sad to hear that,” Heinrich reacted.

They arrived at the base of operations. They introduced Heinrich to Colonel Addison. He was impressed that he listened to BBC broadcasts during the war to speak fairly good English. A Jewish soldier named Corporal Aaron Friedman was called to the commanding officer. The colonel of the regiment accepted the supper invitation and would arrive at six o’clock. Heinrich offered his translating services if he was needed. His mother spoke English and French. He explained what had happened at the concentration camp mine factories making rockets. At another camp, his friends and he smuggled food in the dark to the prisoners when they walked back from working on rockets. As they got older, their younger brothers took over. He explained the murder of the miners’ wives, children, and elderly who were placed in a mine and blown closed. He explained the film he made of the executions they did, and the Jew who survived was hiding in his grandfather’s crawl space, refusing to come out. He left with Corporal Aaron Friedman in a jeep to guide him to his house. Gertrude came out to welcome him. Corporal Friedman gladly accepted her invitation on behalf of the colonel, and his Colonel Addison, would bring no more than three people with him to supper. Corporal Friedman said Colonel Addison was from Brooklyn, as was his family. He spotted the movie poster of the Paramount film “An American in Japan” Gertrude had starred in back in the 1920’s. Corporal Friedman was delighted to meet a Hollywood silent movie star and Broadway leading actress. He heard of the wealthy suitor of Gertrude’s who had committed suicide after the Stock Market Crash in 1929. The newspapers announced many suicides after the crash. Gertrude was taken aback with sorrow and disappointment at the zero possibility of a reunion. They walked up to his grandfather’s house. He guided him to the cellar, and they opened the crawl space cover.

“Shalom, ani chayal amerikai, Corporal Aaron Friedman.” he spoke to the dark hole.

“Amerikai,” said Yoseph, peeking out of the crawl space.

Yoseph came out of the crawl space and conversed in Hebrew with the American corporal, who did not speak Yiddish. They left the house and walked down to the jeep. The corporal bid farewell and thanked Heinrich for the film of the execution he offered for them to watch. Colonel Addison arrived with three of his officers. He returned the film and had an interesting conversation with Yoseph. He had his news crew make a copy of the film to show to his superiors. He thanked Heinrich for his offer of a translator and was willing to have Heinrich work for him. He can come by tomorrow at 08:00 hours to start. Gertrude showed the scrapbooks of her acting days, and the Colonel was happy to know she visited Brooklyn, where he is from. She visited the same theaters, shops, and restaurants he did. She explained that her husband was in France and captured during the Normandy Invasion. She did not know where he was now. Hopefully, on his way home. Supper was meager. Heinrich, Greta, Rolf, and Ingrid sat at the dining room table. Gertrude served her hassenpfeffer, pumpernickel with apple butter, followed by a spoonful of peas for each person. She explained that our food stores are shrinking from all the people fleeing the Soviets. She heard of rapes and beatings of German civilians. The Soviet Army was brutal to the Polish civilians whom they were liberating. The barn hayloft was full of people. We could use some food until we got our crops planted and harvested. Colonel Addison requested to see all these people in the barn. He returned with Gertrude with assurance of sharing some food supplies with the people. He had Heinrich type up a notice for the Germans to receive food at the community center in Drubeck. Heinrich arrived at the base of operations to listen to the radio for messages and translate his orders to the German villagers and farmers. The civilians were permitted to keep their weapons, had to obey a curfew, and hoarding food and supplies was met with Allied raids. Black market trading was forbidden. He met the Comanche code talkers the Americans used on their radios. Navajo code talkers were used in the Pacific Theater of the war. Their languages did not have textbooks, so the Germans, Italians, and Japanese never cracked their coded messages. Despite Western films portraying the Native Americans a century ago in their leather clothing attacking white settlers in covered wagons, he thought the Comanche radio operators were genuinely nice. They also cut their hair short like the other soldiers, very unlike the long-haired Indians in the movies.

After Blankenburg surrendered, Helmut Klein moved to a rental house in Drubeck where he had friends, distraught that his parents and brothers were dead. His sister Klara moved in with him in the autumn when she was released by the Soviets and could no longer attend boarding school. She finished her education at the public secondary school. Helmut got a job at the petrol station to learn how to fix automobiles and motorcycles. Heinrich would meet him to get gas for the vehicles. Heinrich enjoyed taking his new motorcycle for a ride. Gertrude revealed that Heidi was still in Switzerland and sent her a telegram asking her to return home. Heidi sent a return telegram saying that she was selling her artwork first since she could not sell it while hiding; then she would return. While Heinrich was listening to communications between General Bradley and Colonel Addison, Corporal Friedman gave him a telegram from Switzerland. The Pfeiffer Family finally obtained visas to America with the war over, where Rifka’s uncle moved to when invited to work on a secret military project. Anshel’s sister Miriam was in New York City, so they planned to go there. Once he got home, he saw a lady walking along the road. She came to the porch where Heinrich was whittling wood.

“Guten Tag, my name is Talia Pfieffer. The priest at the monastery said you had Jews in your barn, a family. I am looking for my family who stayed at Catholic churches on their way to Switzerland. I am following their route to Switzerland to find them. I am looking for Anshel, Rifka, Herschel, Chavalah, Fievel, and Raziel Pfieffer.”

Heinrich looked down at the telegram from Herschel Pfieffer.

“Yes, Herschel sent me a telegram. They are leaving for America, where your aunt Miriam lives. Come inside, Talia.” replied Heinrich.

Gertrude invited Talia to spend the night there. Heinrich told her that he and his friends fed the prisoners of the nearby concentration camp that had closed, and she wanted to see the camp to look at graffiti her father might have made. The Soviet soldiers found a record that he was sent to a camp called Raketenmine-4 located near Ilsenburg. In Auschwitz, they wrote their names on the wall, and maybe her father did the same. He took her to the camp nearby and showed the forget-me-nots that were planted over the trenches of executed bodies. After the camp closed, everyone around came looking for items to take. The Americans took over the mine factory camp down the road, Raketenmine-2. Talia gazed at the barracks walls.

“Papa was here! His name is next to Berlin 1941. It is his handwriting. He was here. The guard said they were going to Poland? I pray to find him. The Soviet Army asked to return to Poland to testify at war crime trials. Maybe I can find him. Thank you, Heinrich.”

As they walked toward the broken gates, Talia felt cold fingers touch her, and she felt an inclination to look down. She noticed a shiny object in the dirt. She bent down to grab it. She gasped.

“My papa was here. This ring belonged to his grandfather. The garnet is missing. My father was wearing this when he was arrested at the factory. He must have dropped it, so the Nazis did not get it to pick it up later. He must be dead. He would have come back for this.” said Talia.

“Maybe Yoseph remembered your papa. He is at the headquarters of Colonel Addison.” explained Heinrich.

He took Talia to headquarters to speak to Yoseph. She showed him his ring, and he seemed to remember a Binyamin who had dropped it.

“Yes, Binyamin from Berlin, wife and children. Son killed in the Night of Broken Glass. Yes, he dropped his grandfather’s ring and stepped on it to hide it. He was shot along with me. He should be in your film of our execution. He was standing near me.” Yoseph recalled.

Corporal Aaron Friedman was awestruck by Fräulein Talia Pfieffer.

“Shalom, it is a pleasure to meet you. Where are you going now?” Corporal Friedman asked.

“I am going to Switzerland, where my uncle’s family is waiting to go to America. My aunt Miriam lives in New York City's Lower East Side of Manhattan Island. My aunt Rifka’s father lives in Princeton, New Jersey, as a professor at the university.” Talia explained.

“I am from Brooklyn in Brighton Beach. We will be close in proximity when I go home. May I write to you when you get to America?” asked Corporal Friedman.

“You may, sir. Let me write down my aunt Miriam’s address.” Talia replied.

Heinrich took Talia home and got out the film. She was certain she spotted her father, and Heinrich stopped the film before the shots were fired. Talia assured him that she had seen people executed before. Heinrich continued the film, and Talia cried while watching the men get shot. “Papa’s ghost wanted me to find his ring. I know it.” Talia said. “Thank you for helping me find out what happened to him.” The next morning, Heinrich took Talia to the train station in Ilsenburg and sent a telegram explaining to Herschel that his cousin was coming. He sent a return telegram explaining that she had arrived and that his aunt Heidi was coming home. A day later, Aunt Heidi arrived on the train. Her family picked her up from the station. She settled into her old bedroom with plenty of cash from her art sales. She painted during the war all she could, but she did not dare sell them and tell the Nazis where she was when all of Europe was being invaded. The Jewish family worked in the kitchen, and she worked in the laundry. They talked in the employee room where they ate lunch. Anshel stayed with Talia until she was approved for a visa.

The secret Manhattan Project Rifka’s father helped work on produced the world’s first atomic bomb that was dropped over Japan. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan to invade Manchuria, capturing the last emperor of China as he tried to flee. The next atomic bomb drop resulted in the surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945. The world was at peace again. In London, England, Adina and Isak, with their two children, rejoiced at the end of the war, partying in the streets. Some say the royal princesses in disguise were part of those celebrations. They returned to Copenhagen as soon as transportation was available. They adopted three Danish orphans the nuns said had Jewish parents. He flew planes for the airlines and the Danish Air Force. She returned to the theater to make costumes while her children attended school. One evening, Princess Margrethe (future Queen Margrethe II) arrived to view an opera and met the cast and crew backstage. Adina was delighted to shake the teenage princess’s hand and promised to make her a dress. She delivered the gown to the palace and received a thank-you letter from the princess.

Friedrich Harz, sitting in a prisoner-of-war camp in London, saw a glimpse of Tower Bridge from their window. He spent his days carving wood for the camp to sell to earn money for their food. The warden permitted him to play a violin to entertain the prisoners on Sundays. The British requested the French people to write affidavits about the treatment of the Nazis to begin war crimes trials for their prisoners. The soldiers took photographs of them and posted them in newspapers, requesting affidavits for the soldiers they captured. Several civilians offered to testify in person at the war crimes trials. At the London jail, Friedrich was informed of his war crimes trial in Rouen. He boarded a ship to Rouen to stand trial in the courthouse. Lukas Kovar had his war crimes trial at the same time. The courtroom was so filled that people had to stand in the back. The acting judge reviewed the affidavits of many people in Rouen about him. Friedrich drove his commander around to the churches and synagogues to post notices of Jew registration and roundups. He gave arms to the French resistance and gave a shortwave radio to a priest set on a German-used frequency. He warned that a fellow Nazi’s girlfriend’s French family was about to be arrested for hosting resistance fighters, resulting in the deaths of the bakery owner, his son, and other resistance fighters. The wife and daughter were said to have escaped to Switzerland. The dead son, Marc, arrived at the war crimes trial to declare he was aided in escaping by his sister’s boyfriend, Corporal Lukas Kovar. Marc showed Lukas Kovar’s scarf and coat that he was given to hide in a church. Marc asserted to be given weapons by Friedrich in exchange for not bombing food shipments. Witnesses came forward about how Friedrich helped them. The priest he often visited gave testimony. Friedrich was offered the opportunity to speak in defense.

“I just followed orders from my commanding officer, who also followed orders from Berlin. We both experienced the cruelty of the Nazi regime toward people we cared about. My deaf sister, who had to flee or be sterilized, could have been later gassed in a killing center for the mentally ill, blind, and deaf before gassing Jews began during the war. My commanding officer had his priest, whom he had known all his life, speak against Hitler, and the priest was executed; his church burned, and the school closed. We tried to help as many people as we could while following our orders. We sent the Jews rounded up by the French police and our units to Vichy France as commanded before Vichy France was overtaken by the Nazi army. I do not know where they went from there. I was not privy to those orders. Yes, I gave weapons to the French Resistance under orders of my commanding officer, in exchange for the French Resistance not bombing food trains heading towards Paris and Germany. My contact was Marc, known as Wolfman, who was the brother of my comrade’s girlfriend known as Raven. I have nothing more to say in my defense.”

Lukas Kovar was found not guilty and married Yvette at the Catholic Church to return home to his family’s Sudetenland farm. Friedrich was found not guilty of any war crimes and was sent home to Germany. He arrived on the train in Ilsenburg to walk to his house since his family did not know he was coming. Gertrude, doing the laundry with a hand-cranked washing machine on the porch and hanging clothes on the clothesline, saw someone walking down the road. He stopped at the gate to look at his wife. Gertrude dropped the sheet she was pinning onto the clothesline and ran to her husband.

“Friedrich!” shouted Gertrude to embrace her husband.

“Papa! Papa, you are home!” shouted the children, running out of the house.

Friedrich helped finish hanging up the laundry before entering the house. The family celebrated the return of Friedrich and mourned Johannes, who died of pneumonia outside Stalingrad. The family told stories of all the happenings during the war while he was gone. Friedrich took over as manager of the dairy and drove the delivery truck to the neighboring towns. A year later, he and Gertrude opened a cabaret named “The Copper Mine” in Drubeck in the evenings to engage his family to entertain the patrons. Friedrich played the violin, Heidi played the piano, and Gertrude sang and danced. They hired local people to sing, dance, tell jokes, and play music. Frieda was placed in charge of the kitchen. Heidi returned to doing the bookkeeping for the dairy and performed on the stage. Heinrich played the piano a few times to entertain the patrons. Many of the people living in the barn found new jobs and homes to leave. Friedrich sent a telegram to his comrade Lukas Kovar that he had made it home safely. Lukas messaged back that his brothers and he were planning to open a carpentry shop and furniture store in Prague. Each brother got married after the war. Jan married a Russian nurse. Fritz married a Polish farm girl. He said his brothers joined the Soviet army to watch the surrender in Berlin. The Soviets had a brief war crimes trial for guard Fritz and found him not guilty thanks to a prisoner he saved when he deserted the camp. Other prisoners in the camp left behind said he showed them kindness whenever he could by sneaking food and warm clothing to them. His friend Oskar was also given a brief trial and found not guilty after the prisoners said he was kind to them when he could, and was sent back to Salzburg, Austria, after the Berlin surrender. He also married a Polish girl at the Catholic church who took the train to Salzburg, Austria, when he telegrammed that he had returned home.

Heinrich took his siblings to the cinema in Drubeck. They sat down next to a group of ladies who attended their church. He sat down next to a girl named Gilda Meyer. During the movie, he whispered to Gilda, asking if she would like to go out to the cabaret with him on Saturday night, without their companions in the cinema. She agreed. Heinrich graduated from high school and worked as a translator for the American colonel. He was happy his father returned so he could be a carefree teenager again without constantly helping his mother support the family. He bathed and put on his Sunday suit. As he tied his tie in the mirror, his father entered the room.

“Must be an important date tonight. Is she a nice girl?” Friedrich asked.

“Yes, Papa. She is very nice and nothing like those snobby girls who look down on a farm boy with patches in his trousers.” explained Heinrich.

“Your mama explained to avoid fast ladies who kiss and tell?” inquired Friedrich, straightening Heinrich’s tie.

“Yes, Papa. She said fast women carry diseases I do not want and trap men into marriage by getting pregnant. I know to marry the nice, shy girl who will be faithful to me.” replied Heinrich.

“Should we invite her to Sunday dinner?” asked Friedrich.

“If you like, I am bringing her to the cabaret tonight, and she has to go home at ten to attend church in the morning.” Heinrich responded.

Heinrich took his lady to his family’s cabaret to dance, drink, and eat Frieda’s schnitzel. Gertrude sang a song as Gerta played the piano. Heinrich confessed how he was uncertain if Gilda would go out on a date with him when he was a poor farm boy with patches in his trousers. She was the prettiest girl at school who lived in town in a nice house of a hardware store owner. Gilda blushed. She thought he was cute, but with his father gone, he was focused on helping his mother. She remembered him earning money with a shoe-shine box at the train station when her family came to the cinema on Saturday. Heinrich invited Gilda to dance. She was quite a dancer and said she took ballet with Mrs. Muller at the community center. He took her home by ten o’clock and saw her again at church the next morning. She came home with them for dinner, and then Heinrich brought her home in the middle of the afternoon on his motorcycle. In two years, they were married at the Lutheran Church and moved into a house in Drubeck. He worked for the American Colonel until the occupation ended on May 23, 1949. Germany was split into four zones: American, British, French, and Soviet. The American, French, and British zones became West Germany, called the Federal Republic of Germany. The Soviet zone became East Germany, called the German Democratic Republic. Berlin was also split into East Berlin and West Berlin. West Berlin was an island controlled by the Western Allies inside Soviet-controlled East Germany. After the Americans left, Heinrich’s father gave him a manager job at the cabaret for a decent salary. Mrs. Gilda Harz enjoyed performing with her mother-in-law at the cabaret to earn many tips from the patrons.

The Soviets built the Berlin Wall to stop East Germans from escaping to West Germany on August 13, 1961, after losing much of their workforce. Many people died trying to reach West Germany. The Berlin Wall came down on November 9, 1989. Germany reunited at last on September 12, 1990. The Soviet Union collapsed on December 26, 1991, to become Russia again, and several regions declared independence.