Chapter 7: Johannes and Friedrich

Private Johannes Harz was sent to invade Poland with the artillery in 1939. He helped set up defenses around the airport in Warsaw to protect the skies from any enemy planes that could possibly bomb them, like the British were bombing Germany. He watched the Jews be forced into ghettos and wear armbands by the infantry soldiers. Jewish businesses were closed, and houses were confiscated. The general took over the finest Jewish house he could find for his headquarters. He even brought his family to live with him in Warsaw. Schools kicked out Jewish children. Many Poles and Jews fled to the Soviet side of Poland and Finland. The Soviet Union also invaded Finland. Strange how France and Great Britain declared war on Germany when it invaded Poland, but not the Soviet Union when it invaded Poland and Finland. Private Johannes watched the skies for Finnish airplanes that might invade Warsaw airspace. He enjoyed eating out at restaurants and watching movies in the cinema with other soldiers from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia. Then soldiers from Hungary and Romania arrived once they joined the Axis powers in 1940. He mainly stayed in barracks near the anti-aircraft guns by the airport. Soon the Jews in the ghettos were given starvation rations. Those who could work received permission to leave the ghettos to work in the factories supporting the war economy. Private Johannes made friends with his fellow soldiers and pilots. Pilots were the most arrogant people Private Johannes met, but they completed dangerous missions with a slim chance of surviving, so that high confidence coming across as arrogance did become an advantage in dogfighting to survive the battles. He enjoyed letters from home about his wife and eldest daughter driving the delivery truck. His father oversaw the dairy farm employees and did the bookkeeping himself. His stepbrother’s family was doing well in school. His stepbrother was sent to invade France in a Panzer Tank division.

Private Friedrich Harz was sent to invade France in 1940. He drove the tank and went out to complete reconnaissance with his sniper rifle. His fellow soldier was a Czechoslovakian from the Sudetenland named Private Lukas Kovar. His elder brother was sent to Poland with the Luftwaffe, and his younger brother was a guard for a concentration camp, as the last surviving son held back from combat. His sister was part of the Czech resistance in Prague once she finished school. Since Private Friedrich had been in Paris before, his commanding officer asked about the geography of fortifications. Once Paris was conquered, Hitler and other officials came to visit. Private Friedrich received the privilege of playing his violin for the officials’ dinner at a ritzy hotel. On leave, he wandered the streets of Paris that were mostly deserted of residents, where he had visited before when he proposed to his wife. He stopped at a little café to drink a cup of coffee with a croissant. The owner was a lady with a son whose husband was in the French army. She had no idea if he was alive or dead. He left a good tip. The German Navy set up headquarters in Rouen, Normandy. Then his troops were directed to occupy Normandy, and he became the driver of the commanding officer, General Wolfgang Langebartels from Hanover. He took him all over his section of control to observe the towns and farms. They marked maps where they saw synagogues and churches. Soon the Nuremberg Laws went into effect. Jews were required to register, wear patches of the Star of David, were dismissed from occupations and schools, and then wealthy Jews had their property confiscated. Foreign Jews were to be rounded up into camps and sent to Southern Vichy France. Vichy France collaborated highly with the German government. Germans sent the Jews to Vichy France, and they interned them in concentration camps. The Vichy Government also confiscated Jewish property. In 1941, synagogues started being bombed. When requested, Vichy France sent the Jews on trains into Germany, where they were placed in concentration camps. Later in 1942, Germans and Italians conquered Vichy France too.

General Wolfgang Langebartels had Private Friedrich drive him around the towns to introduce himself to the local population. He marched units into each town to take up residence and selected a place for offices with radio receivers for communications. On Sunday, he drove the general around to the mainly Catholic churches and a few Protestant churches to announce the new laws on Jews that were to be enforced. The General spoke excellent French, and Private Friedrich understood most of it from his wife.

“Heil Hitler. Good morning. I am General Langebartels, and I oversee this town and surrounding farmland. I have been given my orders. How I fulfill those orders is my decision. Give me problems, and I will solve them violently. Do not give me problems, and we can live peacefully. I am to register all Jews, give them patches to wear, dismiss Jewish lawyers, doctors, teachers, and public servants from their jobs. I am to confiscate wealthy Jews' property. Next week, I am ordered to round up the foreign Jews and send them to south of France internment camps. If you hide them or render aid for them to escape to England across the sea, I will not waste my time hunting them down. But do not think I will never harm you. I fought in the Great War and killed many men in battle and executions. I will shoot you to maintain order in my section of Normandy if I must. Heil Hitler.”

They left the churches, and Private Friedrich questioned how the French would respond. General Langebartels was unsure, but he was willing to report to his superiors that the locals said the Jews heard they were coming and left for England on every boat around. Next, at the synagogues, he nailed notices of the Nuremberg Laws and where their office was located to register as Jews and purchase their patches. The orphanages run by Catholic nuns suddenly expanded, with Jewish children being sent there to hide by their parents. Along the coast, many boats left sailing toward England. General Langebartels ordered his men to let them leave, giving him fewer Jews to round up when all the Jews would be shipped to Germany later on. General Langebartels decided to have his headquarters in Rouen at a Jewish merchant warehouse, and he took over a Jewish lawyer’s house as his own. Private Friedrich slept in the guest room that was quite comfortable. Private Friedrich later in the week stopped to pray at a church in Rouen. He viewed a man in robes in the Catholic monastery gardens behind the ancient iron fence. As the sun grew low on the horizon, the man in the garden returned inside. He thought maybe he was a hiding Jew, starting their Sabbath soon. Private Friedrich entered the cathedral, crossed himself with the holy water, and approached the closest pew to the altar to pray. He heard soft footsteps, and a priest in robes walked up beside him to sit down in the front pew.

“Bonsoir,” said Friedrich.

“Bonsoir,” replied the priest. “Are you Roman Catholic?”

“No, but my commanding officer is. That is why he is not feverishly hunting down Jews to arrest and send to concentration camps in Southern France. I heard stories of concentration camps in Germany shooting prisoners to make room for incoming Jews from Austria and Czechoslovakia. My son once told me he found Jews in our barn, and they were given false papers by Catholic nuns because the Catholic churches were helping people escape Germany. My wife, who once had a Jewish friend, gave them food and shelter. The Jews said the church gave them money for train tickets and transportation to the train stations, along with shelter and food inside the church. I imagine French Catholic churches are helping the Jews now to hide from us. I pray for your success and that my country does not invade Switzerland too. My deaf sister is there, and she would certainly be killed as an undesirable if we conquered Switzerland. I give you this short-wave radio that is set to the frequency we often use. Here is some of the money we took from the Jewish lawyer when my general moved into his house. Would you pray for my sister’s safety? Her name is Heidi. I really do not mind what happens to me. I deserve death for praising Hitler when he first became Chancellor and gave me a job building a highway when I was unemployed. Now he is murdering people across Europe to create a master race. That is all I will ask of you. Peace unto you.” explained Friedrich.

“God bless you, my son, and keep you safe from harm to help the French people,” blessed the priest.

Unknown to Private Friedrich, the man he saw in the garden was a rabbi in hiding. When his commanding officer announced his intentions, he requested help from the church. They trimmed his long beard and curly sideburns to appear like a Catholic priest. He even wore a crucifix. He completed Sabbaths for the Jews in hiding in the monks’ private rooms. To the Jewish children in the orphanage, he gave Hebrew lessons. His wife dressed as a nun and taught reading to Jewish children in their parochial school separate from the others. Priests knew Greek and Hebrew to read the original scriptures and taught Hebrew to the students. They prayed daily to protect as many Jews as God could. Many Jews ran for England, but the Jews away from the coast decided to hide in plain sight. Many French joined a resistance group to cause trouble for the German invaders, bombing their food supplies being shipped to Germany or weapons shipments arriving. The priest who spoke to Private Friedrich gave the French resistance the short-wave radio.

Soon Private Friedrich was promoted to Corporal. When on leave, Corporal Friedrich walked around town to enjoy a café. He enjoyed a croissant and a cup of coffee with milk. The café owner was a widow whose husband died in battle when France was invaded. She had a daughter who was in primary school. The owner asked why he seemed sad.

“It is my anniversary. My wife and I were married in Paris, where she was a singer in a cabaret. I proposed to her on the Eiffel Tower. Being in France brings back memories for me. She spoke French and English to teach me some. She acted on Broadway and in Hollywood silent films in America for a year.” Friedrich explained.

“She must be beautiful to be in silent films in America,” the café owner said.

“She is. Here is her picture.” Friedrich said, showing a picture of Gertrude followed by a picture of their children. “And she gave up acting to be my wife and live on a dairy farm my papa owns.” “Beautiful family,” the café owner reacted. “Merci,” Friedrich replied, giving the café owner a handsome tip. “Merci, Corporal Harz.” replied the café owner. “Are your friends from underground meeting here tonight? My commanding officer knows about your meetings in the cellar and your fundraising performances where nobody claps. But if your friends were elsewhere purchasing weapons in exchange for not bombing the food supplies leaving tonight for Germany, they would not be here to get arrested, would they?” explained Friedrich. “And why would you want to help the French resistance?” inquired the café owner Lilette. “Because of my sister. She is deaf and hiding in Switzerland. Hitler decided she was undesirable and needed to be annihilated. Thereafter, I promised God I would help who I could. My commanding officer has a like mind and told me to come here. I just obeyed his orders. Have your underground friends meet me at the ruins of Jumièges instead of bombing the train and coming here afterwards. At least consider it, madame.” explained Friedrich. Corporal Friedrich left the cafe owner in bewilderment. Later that night, General Langebartels and Corporal Friedrich stood at the train station watching the food supplies on the refrigerated cars leaving Rouen going towards Paris. They heard a whistle in the distance and knew it reached Colonel Schumacher’s section. “Better go meet the resistance and thank them for not bombing the train.” Friedrich said.

“Better go raid the café,” General Langebartels replied.

Corporals Friedrich and Erich Schurman drove a truck and motorcycle escort to the ruins of Jumièges. They waited nearly an hour smoking cigarettes until the French resistance arrived in a truck.

“You are late; we were about to leave.” shouted Friedrich.

“Our apologies, we were busy bombing food trains outside Paris.” replied a member of the French resistance, Marc. “You must be Harz. Allô, I am the Wolfman. And this is?"

“Schurman,” Friedrich replied.

“Why are you giving us weapons in exchange for not bombing a food train and then raiding Lilette’s café?” Marc inquired.

“Just following orders, monsieur." Friedrich answered.

“Do you know why the General is helping us and warning Jews what he has been ordered to do?” Marc asked.

“I believe it has something to do with a Catholic priest he knew all his life who spoke out against Hitler in his sermon. The priest was arrested, the church burned to the ground, and the school his grandchildren were attending was closed. He went to visit the priest in jail, but he had already been executed.” Friedrich explained.

“Holy mother of God,” Marc reacted as he crossed himself. “I believe we understand his purpose. And you help us because of your deaf sister hiding in Switzerland.”

“Oui, and if the Nazi government knew that, they would execute me for being a traitor. I follow my orders and help as I can.” Friedrich explained.

“What is your excuse, Schurman?” Marc asked.

“I do not wish to tell,” Corporal Erich Schurman said.

“I will not turn you in, and neither will they.” Friedrich explained.

“My brother. He was sent to a blind school to learn Braille and carpentry. The Nazi government started gassing the patients in the mental hospitals, deaf schools, and blind schools. Mama received a letter that he died from pneumonia. But that was a lie; I saw the orders. He was twelve years old.” explained Corporal Schurman.

“Oh, dear God in heaven, these people are monsters. One day the entire world will know what they did here. I swear to it.” Marc reacted, crossing himself.

“It is a matter of time before the Nazi government gasses all undesirables, like my sister, his brother, Gypsies, and Jews.” Friedrich said.

“We understand you now; we are sorry for your loss. We must go now.” Marc said.

Corporals Friedrich and Erich Schurman rode off on the motorcycle with the cab, and the French resistance took the truck. The truck of weapons was reported as stolen by armed men who surrounded the truck. General Langebartels reviewed the raid on the Lilette’s Café. Nobody was in the cellar or upstairs, and no patrons were in the café. The café owner, Lilette, was at the cinema with her daughter. The French resistance focused their attacks near Paris, outside General Langebartels’s section of control. Private Lukas Kovar, visiting a French lady he had become acquainted with at her home, ran into a group of young men who assaulted him while they listened to the radio broadcasts from London. The men who attacked him delivered a strange message saying the Wolfman sent his regards. The French lady’s family owned a bakery making baguettes and pastries that were popular in Rouen. Soon, orders came to round up the Foreign Jews. They went around the towns looking for synagogues to burn, burned Jewish-owned businesses and homes that they did not find use for, and shot anyone who came out of the buildings. He used the registry to arrest the Jewish population, and many French police who tracked foreign Jews since 1933 gladly helped arrest Jews for deportation to Vichy France and into concentration camps. General Langebartels wrote a report stating that the locals said many of the Jews along the coast fled to England. Jews were found more in the interior. Following orders, the Foreign Jews he found were sent to Vichy France on cattle cars once they gathered a thousand people.

“We saved who we could; it is in God’s hands now.” General Langebartels watching the cattle cars leave the station.

Another business was found to be a French resistance meeting place. This time it was a bakery run by a couple and their two children. His fellow sniper, Private Lukas Kovar, was enjoying the company of a young French lady named Yvette, who was the daughter of the bakers. Corporal Friedrich found them at a popular café that served croissants and crepes. He walked in, and Private Lukas stood up to greet his corporal.

“Heil Hitler. Take your lady to the cinema; we are preparing to raid her parents’ bakery as a resistance meeting place. The General prefers not to shoot his private in the middle of the raid.

"Heil Hitler.” announced Friedrich, and walked out of the café.

Corporal Friedrich arrived to partake in the raid as the bakery served its last customers. The Nazis marched in and surrounded the bakery. Anyone caught running out was shot. The bakery owner and his son Marc were arrested. The wife and daughter Yvette were not there. Half a dozen French resistance fighters in the cellar were arrested. A woman and her daughter were escorted out of the bakery with their purchase of bread. The captured prisoners were taken to the Gestapo holding cells for interrogation. The father was later executed by the French police, but the son, Marc, was tortured for information about the resistance. He never gave up any names, including the Nazis he took weapons from in exchange for not bombing food trains to Germany. Private Lukas Kovar visited Marc, explaining he could not save his father from the French police who shot him for marrying a Jewish woman, and that his sister and mother were hiding. He had orders to execute him, but he had a plan to help him escape. He explained he would miss, and Marc was to collapse into the grave until he covered him up with dirt. His grave would be shallow, at three feet, so he could just sit up to start climbing out of the dirt pile. Afterwards, he could escape in the moonlight and hide in the nearby Catholic Church. He gave him his Nazi scarf to avoid attention from any Nazi patrols he could come across. He took Marc out of the yard at half past two in the middle of the night to have him stand on the edge of his shallow grave that had been dug. He fired his gun to hit a tree. Marc collapsed into the shallow grave. Private Lukas took off his coat to place it over Marc, wearing his scarf, and covered him with dirt.

Marc raised his forearms to his chest to create an air pocket under the coat as the dirt fell on him. He squirmed and kicked his feet to move the dirt around once he was covered up, to climb out quickly before he suffocated. He was to stay there until the church clock struck three, which would be about twenty minutes. Private Lukas walked away. In the moonlight, Marc got up when the church clock struck three, pushed up on the loose dirt, kicked his feet, and tried to sit up. He finally sat up under the coat and then climbed out of the hole to run for the Catholic Church. He found his mother and sister hiding at a nunnery. His mother was beside herself. She was born Jewish, but joined the Catholic Church upon her marriage. The French police still regarded her as a Jew and not a French citizen when they killed her husband, who was considered a race traitor under Nazi laws. Worse than that, it was the French police, not the Nazi invaders, who killed him (if Private Lukas was to be believed). Sister Yvette was discovered to be pregnant. They decided to run to Switzerland, entering illegally if they must for their own safety. Marc continued hiding at the Catholic Church to participate in sabotage and intelligence. Believed to be dead, he went solely by his codename Wolfman. His sister’s codename was Raven. Private Lukas learned he was going to be a father from Yvette at the cinema and looked forward to Yvette’s return after she gave birth to their child. The Nazis and French police continued rounding up Jews and raiding places they thought resistance fighters met.

After a couple of years watching the radar and skies in Warsaw, Poland, Corporal Johannes was sent to invade the Soviet Union. First, they invaded Soviet-controlled Poland in June 1941 and then went into the Soviet Union itself. The army pushed forward, rounding up Jews in areas the Germans controlled to place them on cattle cars headed towards Polish concentration camps, or simply executing them with their rifles to fall into trenches outside villages. Jewish synagogues were burnt to the ground. The Nazis were busy destroying any evidence of Jews ever living in Europe. They even took down Jewish tombstones to make roads. They advanced with artillery to shoot down Soviet planes dropping bombs. In July, the Romanian army invaded the Soviet Union. Smolensk in Russia and Kiev in Ukraine were captured in September; then the Baltic lands were invaded, and Leningrad (St. Petersburg, Russia) was besieged by Finnish troops. The capture of Kharkov, Ukraine, happened in October, then they pushed towards Moscow. Rostov-on-Don and most of Crimea were captured in November, and Sevastopol was besieged. Facing logistical problems with supply, muddy terrain, and not being prepared for the Russian winter, which began in late November, the German advances slowed outside Moscow in December when the Russian Army, with resistance fighters, began a major counteroffensive. The Germans were still in their summer uniforms when faced with the harsh Russian winter.

The 6th Army of Germans, with units of Italians, Hungarians, Croatians, and Romanians, got trapped when their flanks were overrun during the Battle of Stalingrad (formerly Tsaritsyn and today Volgograd, Russia), and air drops were made to resupply them, and troops were sent to aid them from the outside. Then during the winter of 1942-43, food and ammunition ran low, dysentery was rampant, and men began to get frostbite still wearing their summer uniforms. January 1943, Corporal Johannes shook in the cold while eating his meager rations on his campfire in a bombed building where his artillery unit slept. He reported to his Commanding Officer that the artillery supplies were running low and that if the Soviet aircraft came in hard, they did not have the missiles to shoot them all down. He then collapsed in front of his Commanding Officer. He was removed to the infirmary. The doctor said he had pneumonia. Soon a Soviet bombardment began; the Germans retreated from the suburbs of Stalingrad to the city, and Corporal Johannes, who was cold and sick with pneumonia, died at the new infirmary with bombs surrounding the troops. The airfields were lost to evacuate the wounded. Hitler rejected Field Marshal Paulus’s request to surrender to save his men. Hitler demanded he fight to the last man and last bullet. Corporal Johannes was buried with the other dead German soldiers after the surrender of Field Marshal Paulus on January 31, 1943, outside Stalingrad. Around 91,000 soldiers, cold, starving, and lacking ammunition, were taken prisoner by the Soviet Army. Hitler was furious at the surrender, expecting the Field Marshal to commit suicide and fight to the last man like the Greek Battle of Thermopylae, where three hundred Spartans died fighting Persians while other Greeks retreated, because Spartans never retreated. The surrendering general was said not to want to give Hitler the satisfaction.

Frau Frieda Harz received a telegram of the death of her husband before the surrender. Frau Frieda replaced the red candle in her window representing a soldier in Russia with a black candle representing death. Her sister-in-law Gertrude prayed over her blue candle representing a soldier in France for Sergeant Friedrich’s safety. In February, members of the White Rose Munich Anti-Nazi group, who had distributed leaflets and pamphlets encouraging resistance to the Nazi regime and speaking against the oppression and murder of Jews, were arrested by the Gestapo after they dropped leaflets in a university hall and were soon after executed.