There were about lO,OOO British and American POW's who gradually left
the compound. We formed a line down the road to the southwest through
the pine forest, in the cold, as the snow fell gently. We looked back,
Bruce and I, at our home for the past eight months. There was a red
glow in the sky above our compound as someone, in a last act of
defiance, had set fire to his barracks before leaving. This march was
to last for six days and we were to walk sixty two miles. There was
about four inches of snow on the ground. and during the first mile we
began to realize that we were too weak to carry everything. I took the
heaviest cans of food out of my coat and threw them in the snow. I kept
the powdered milk as it was the lightest and most nourishing food. Soon
the road was littered with food and extra clothing. We knew that we
would need the food later, but it was a choice between that or falling
behind and possibly losing our friends.
About a mile down the road we could hear the Russian guns getting much
louder (they were thirty miles away). Suddenly there were some rifle
shots and we all scattered off the road, diving head first into the
snowy brush. It turned out to be a false alarm so we stopped praying
and got back onto the road. At daylight the wind began to blow and for
the next two days we marched in a blizzard. We stopped at intervals for
ten minute rest periods, dropped into the snow and just dreaded getting
up again. We marched this way until noon the following day when we
reached Freiwaldu, a distance of eighteen miles in eleven hours. We
stopped at a farm house and the barn was full so Bruce and I laid down
in the snow against the back of the barn out of the wind. During the
afternoon we took turns going to the farmhouse to get warm. Bruce and I
got into the kitchen and the farmer and his wife were there just
looking bewildered. The German soldiers were noted for taking
everything from the people in the countryside in the places they
occupied and the Americans were just the opposite. After our time was
up and we were warm, Bruce and I took some cans of food out of our
packs and gave them to the woman. It was our way of saying thanks to
them for allowing us to get warm and we received a smile from her as
thanks. Then we returned to the blizzard.
Later on during the march we did pick up some things around the farms
and it must have been hard for the farm people. Having thousands of
Americans crowding into every space must have been traumatic for them.
The British prisoners were soon mixed in with us, as all became
scattered in line. They were the most amazing people I have ever known.
They were always happy and singing, innovative in finding ways to carry
their packs. After a few stops at farms they would come down the road
with baby buggies, carts and makeshift hand carts created from old
wheels they found. I recall one group with packs piled high in a buggy.
They also found sleds which worked until the snow melted.
Under the miserable conditions no one gave thought to trying to escape.
The American Colonel who was in charge of us recommended that we stick
together for reasons of safety. We had few guards with us and they were
mostly old men. The old man with our group rode a bicycle and carried a
rifle. It wasn't long before he was walking too and when we had rest
stops we immediately fell to working on the blisters we had developed
on our feet. We even patched up the guard's feet and it wasn't long
before we took turns carrying his rifle and pack. This was the only way
that he could keep up and we felt sorry for him. We began again at 6 PM
and marched all night in the blizzard. The next day we arrived at a
little village named Muskau. Thus far all we had to eat was cold food
that we were carrying and some bread the Germans had given us. We were
so cold and hungry as we looked for a place to get inside.
Bruce and I found a place inside a small stone church in the center of
town. We were crowded in so tightly that the only spot Bruce and I
could find to sleep was next to the altar. On each side of the altar
was a section filled with dirt, with many small white crosses stuck in
the dirt. We removed enough crosses to make a place to lie down and
when we left we smoothed the ground and replaced the crosses. This was
Monday and the first sleep we had since the Friday before. We were very
weak and desperately needed it. It was also a relief to get inside away
from the cold and snow. We were still eating cold food and more bread
from the Germans. With so many men on the move, they had no way to feed
us and by this time in the war they barely had enough for themselves
anyway. I know our guards had even less than we did.
When we started marching again we were really in bad shape. We were so
weak with aching muscles and blistered feet that we began to worry
about whether or not we could keep going. The boys from our barracks
were still together and wanted to keep it that way. The only good thing
was that the blizzard had stopped and it was beginning to thaw a
little. Many of the guys were falling out now and laying along side the
road. Bruce and I were having trouble and soon our knees began to
buckle and we would fall down. Our legs were so weak that they wouldn't
hold us up any longer. We would help each other up and go a little
further. After several falls we crawled to the side of the road to rest
awhile. We were worried about being separated from our group so
struggled on as long as we could. Finally, so far behind our group, we
gave up. After many falls we decided to lay there on the ground with
the others who had dropped out. Then we began to worry about what the,
Germans might do to us and concluded that we might be shot. That
thought was enough to make us get up and keep going no matter what. We
made it to Sremburg where we were going to spend the night.
When we later arrived at Nuremburg we discovered that those guys who
had fallen out along the road had been picked up by trucks at the end
of the line and sent by train to the camps to which we eventually
marched. They got there a week ahead of us. Ironic things like this
seemed to happen to me all through these years.
I stayed that night in a very large building 1ike a gym or a warehouse
and we were packed in so tightly that there was barely room to lay
down. There was only one small light bulb hanging about forty feet up
on the ceiling. You couldn't see anything once it got dark. In the
night when someone had to go to the bathroom there was no light to see
by or room to keep from stepping on someone. We just ran as fast as we
could, with our shoes off, over the top of everyone. There was only one
small door at the far end of the building and everyone that was stepped
on would yell, swear and wake up the rest of us. At least it was dark
so they didn't know who did it to them. When we got up the next morning
they were passing out watery barley soup from a big drum outside the
building. This was the first hot food we had had in four days and we
were very hungry. I got a cup full and took a big drink of it. The
broth was so hot I burned my tongue and mouth so I couldn't taste the
rest of it. I downed it all and was warmed inside.
I was lucky not to have any back problems on this march as the weight
of all my belongings in the bottom of the coat really pulled on my
shoulders. When we left this place we walked a few miles to the
railroad yards where we were to make the two day trip by train to
Nuremburg and Camp X-111D. By this time we were all getting diarrhea
from drinking the water we got along the march. It was not the same as
the spring water we had in Sagan. With all the cloths we were wearing
it was not easy to suffer from diarrhea. At this time we thought the
worst of the march was over as at last we were getting a ride, but it
was nearly a disaster. We were put into box cars, fifty men to a car
with out guard. We were packed in so tightly we could not sit down and
there was very little air. In order to sleep, we sat down all wound
around each other and tried to Keep our heads out at best.
A couple of the guys fastened their blankets across the corners on
nails and made a hammock in order to make more room. It didn't help
much because they were always getting in and out due to the diarrhea.
There was always someone at the door in a bit of a rush waiting for the
guard to unlock and open the door. Two guys would hold the victim by
the arms while he let his rear hang out the door. When the train made
stops we were all outside immediately with the same problem. One time
the train stopped at a station in the middle of a city and we all
jumped out onto the platform between the trains with the same problem.
We all went right there on the platform with the German civilians
walking around us. We didn't have time to be embarrassed as we couldn't
wait any longer. We were so miserable we didn't care any more and
everyone was in the same condition. After two days of this we arrived
at Nuremburg. It was approximately February 4. We were farther south
now and the weather was a little warmer. We were relieved to have made
the trip without being strafed or bombed by our own comrades as we knew
the Allies were aiming at all the trains they could find. It just gave
us out more thing to worry about.
We walked three miles to the new camp outside Nuremburg. The conditions
at this camp were much worse than those at Sagan. The camp had been
used by Italian officers who were prisoners and it was filthy, dirty
and muddy. Bruce and I managed to stay together and get into the same
barracks but we had lost Ullo and the others from the barracks at
Sagan. The barracks were in sections with bunks for twelve men on one
side of each section. A cooking area with a table was on the opposite
side with an aisle down the middle. Each man did his own cooking on a
stove which we turned on its side to make more of a cooking surface.
When we found something to burn, we cooked on the stove. The remainder
of the time we ate cold food. It was becoming more difficult for the
Red Cross to deliver food parcels to us and some weeks we got half a
parcel, other weeks none. We were hungry all the time and gradually
getting weaker. The water, however, must have been good here as we were
finally getting over the diarrhea.
I should mention one of the observations I made about men at this time
and know I'll always remember. The prison experience really separated
the men from the boys, as the saying goes. I suppose it was because of
their background that some of the biggest and strongest men were the
ones that could not take this situation. They couldn't carry packs,
cook, even light a fire and needed the most help during the toughest
parts. The men you least expected to would become a tower of strength.
It made me realize that I was a better man than many of the men I would
normally have looked up to.
There was a dirt road through the center of camp and we used this for
walking for exercise. We didn't get enough food to exercise much and
there was no room for sports. One of the guard towers was close to our
barracks and it had a searchlight which rotated back and forth at night
to keep us in our buildings after dark. They threatened to shoot anyone
outside after dark as there was no wide open space between our barrack
and the barbed wire fence with the pine woods beyond. They also didn't
have the large guard dogs loose in this camp.
We didn't have any hot water here so we did not take any baths or wash
our clothes for two months. Our mattresses were burlap filled with
shredded paper and so filthy that every day that the sun shone we would
take them outdoors to air with our blankets. We soon discovered we were
infested with bedbugs lice and fleas. Don't ask me why but they never
bothered me at all. I would lay on my bunk and they were so thick that
I could see them jump from the guy on my right to me then on to Bruce
on the next bunk. Some guys were scarred all over their bodies from the
bites, but I can't remember having a single bite. A boy named Lindstom
was in the bottom corner bunk and he was so sick he didn't move the
last three weeks we were there. His skin was Just raw from the fleas.
One of his buddies was feeding him and I wondered what happened to him
when we moved out of this camp as he couldn't walk. When I was in
Atlantic City for discharge I met him on a street corner and had a
visit with him so I knew he made it. About a week before we left this
camp, the Red Cross sent in some insecticide and we put it all over
ourselves and our clothes and blankets. By the time we moved out a week
later we had rid ourselves of most of the insects.
Next to our barracks was a large one room building used for a wash
house. It contained only some old sinks and two cold water faucets so
we seldom used it. The old boards ran up and down on the sides and we
were gradually taking them off the building to use for fire wood for
cooking. The Germans forbade it so we had to sneak around when they
were not looking. The nails would make a terrible noise when you pulled
the boards off so we would loosen them very carefully during the
daytime when the guards were not looking and at night we would time the
sweep of the searchlight to dash out and rip one off, then run for the
barracks before they turned the searchlight back and shot us. The noise
of the nails was awfully loud in the night and would alert the guards.
By the time we left this camp, all that was left of the wash house was
the roof. We had outside toilet buildings for daytime use but no inside
toilets for nights although we weren't allowed out at night. At the end
of the barracks was a small room with a twenty gallon garbage can for
use at night. It had to be carried out by two men in the morning and
emptied into the outdoor toilet. It was almost always full and running
over when you carried it. We drew cards every morning and the two low
cards got that dirty Job. Bruce had terrible luck and got the low card
about twice a week whereas I only did it once or twice. We didn't have
any toilet paper, but. found that a cigarette pack contained four
sheets of thin paper if you separated it carefully. I cut the tail off
one of my shirts and used that then washed it out in the wash house.
One day there was a rumor going around that a shipment of toilet paper
was coming in and we all lined us to get it. By the time it was divided
up each man received three sheets. Big deal! We finally got a chance to
take a shower at the other end of the camp, about a mile down the road
that ran through the camp. Every so far in that wash building there was
a one inch pipe hanging from the ceiling. They only turned the hot
water on for a few minutes for each group so you had to work very fast.
About five guys would get under a pipe and we would Jostle to all get
wet as it was only a small stream of water coming out. We soaped
ourselves then crowded under again to wash the soap off before the
water was turned off. In our group were four or five white men and one
black man. We must have made a beautiful sight all trying to get under
the water at once. As I look back on it this is what was meant by true
integration! On the walk back to our barracks some of the guys were too
weak to make the trip and fell down. We didn't realize that in our
weakened condition the hot water was too much for our systems. The
stronger men carried the weaker ones between them back to the barracks.
This was the only good bath I had during the final two months as a
prisoner. Each morning we had to line up outside for roll call which
was the way they kept track of the number in each barracks to determine
that no one had escaped. We had a bugle player who played revile when
the German Camp Commander and his group came in every morning. As soon
as they arrived Inside the wire he would start playing a swinging
revile. He really played some hot music and we would clap and cheer
which made the Germans angry. We stood there while they counted us and
once in awhile someone too weak to stand would fall and lay there on
the ground. After roll call we would carry them back to the barracks.
Most of the weakness was caused by inactivity and having only barely
enough food to survive. Once a day they gave each of us a cup of soup
which was all that they prepared in the cookhouse at this camp. One
soup was barley and water (mostly water) and a dirty gray color. The
other was a green soup made with dehydrated vegetables. This soup had
black bugs, about the size of ladybugs, floating on top of it. Some of
the guys could never eat this soup but I was so hungry that I did. At
first I took my spoon and skimmed all the bugs off the top and ate the
rest. I wondered why it was so crunchy until I discovered that there
was a beetle inside all the dehydrated peas in the soup. After that I
just stirred the soup up and ate it as fast as I could. These two
months were very nerve wracking due to the continual bombing of
Nuremburg which was only three miles away. The Americans bombed it
almost every day and the British at night. Nuremburg had a large
railroad terminal and was a favorite target. When the bombs fell, the
ground and barracks would shake and everything fell off the shelves as
the windows broke. During one raid the bombs were so close that one
wall of our barracks moved Six inches. At night we crawled under the
lower bunk together for safety as we couldn't leave the building. In
the daytime we look two bed slats with the blanket folded on top and
held it over our heads to go outside and watch the bombing. This was to
protect our heads from all the shrapnel that was falling on the camp.
The camp was right in the middle of the ring of big German anti
aircraft guns that circled Nuremburg. One of these guns was in the
woods just over the fence from our barracks and the noise was terrific.
We watched the smoke rising from the city of Nuremburg those days and
nights. When the British bombed at night they dropped flares which lit
up the entire area and the searchlights that were probing the sky. We
watched from our windows and worried that a bomb meant for the railroad
yards so near us would fall on our camp. We had begun to dig trenches,
but they were only a couple of feel deep so we never used them. We were
more interested in just standing around and watching the planes go
over. We began to see more of our fighter planes flying down low and
one day a P-51 flew very slowly over the middle of our camp, only a
hundred feet up. We could see the pilot and we all ran around waving
our arms and yelling at him to get out of here before he was shot down.
We began to hear rumors and sounds of battle again and were told we
would be moved. We didn't know where, but after the poor food monotony
and misery we had had for two months, we were glad to be leaving this
place. We didn't need to prepare for this march because we had nothing
but the clothes on our backs and blankets so were ready to go any time.