  My Opa's Story: War From the Other Side Siegfried, my opa, or grandfather in English, was born on the northern coast of Germany, while his father was off fighting in World War One. He undoubtedly grew up hearing about that war and the restrictions put in place on Germany by the Allies after the war.
When Siegfried was a grown man, he heard all Hitler promised, and thought it sounded good. There was a depression, Hitler promised jobs; people were poor, Hitler promised riches; people hated being restricted by laws placed on Germany after the First World War, Hitler promised freedom. All in all, it sounded rather wonderful. Siegfried learned about Hitler's plan for the extermination of the 'undesirable peoples', though. This changed his mind about Hitler's regime. Jobs, prosperity and freedom were important, but they weren't so important as to kill people.
Nevertheless, when invasions and war broke out, Siegfried joined the army. It wasn't that he wanted to go defend the Motherland. He had all he needed already: a carpentry business, a wonderful pregnant wife and a home he loved. It was basically a choice of enlist or be shot or sent to a concentration camp. That's what happened to people who resisted.
Firstly, he was sent to invade Poland. He was a Sargeant and set up anti-aircraft guns. After the success of this invasion, he was sent to Manheim, where he set up guns an top of houses to shoot down Allied planes that came over to bomb. He developed a technique that was quickly adopted as being very effective at shooting down as many planes as possible. But now there was a new front to be sent to. Siegfried was sent to Russia to be part of the infamous siege of Moscow. Since the men were not given proper supplies for a Russian winter, many froze to death. The ammunition and tanks froze up and could not be used. Siegfried didn't want to die. He injured his knee and complained about it, saying he could hardly walk. His friend played up his stutter so that the officers thought he had shell shock. Their efforts were successful and they were both shipped back to Germany.
They were the only two from their unit who survived. Meanwhile, back home, Siegfried's wife, my oma Else, had given birth to a baby boy in the winter of 1940. There were bombs raining down every night on their town. My father remembers that one night he was hustled into the cellar, clutching his favourite stuffed dog toy. All through the night bombs and guns could be heard. When the morning came, he climbed out to see the entire town in flames around him.
My father was sent to his great-grandparents farm out in the country, where he would be safer. My great-grandfather fought in World War One. He was gassed and shot in the throat, so he couldn't breathe very well and was therefore not drafted to go fight in World War Two. He stayed behind and worked in the police force instead. But later in the war, even he, an old, infirm man was drafted and imediately put in charge of a unit to defend his town from the invading Russians. Who was under his command? Young boys of no more than 14 years, armed with old rifles and rusting sabres. The glorious last defense. The German army was desperate at the end of the war. Out of all the 40 000 men who had gone out in U-boats, only one in four returned.
Have you heard of the Hitler Youth? It was an organization put in place by the Nazis to indoctrinate the youth of the country and prepare them for military service. In 1939 their numbers were 7 million. As the war progressed, they started to draft this children, because they were running out of soldiers.
In 1945, only 5000 remained. My oma was drafted in 1944, along with her sister. They were sent to Russia to dig trenches against the Russians. When Siegfried got off the train back from Russia, all the men, whether they were wounded or not, were rounded up and formed into a new unit. They were packed off to defend against the Allied invasion in France. Siegfried was in charge of an anti-aircraft gun, with a group of newly-drafted boys, ranging in age from 13 to 15.
He told them to always stay undercover when the planes came and follow all orders. But they were very young and very frightened. Whenever the planes came they panicked. Within two weeks they were all dead. My opa was switched to setting up communications lines. Two days before the war ended, he was checking telephone wires when an American plane swooped down and bombed his jeep.
He was thrown with the force of the blast and had his head smashed in. He was taken prisioner by the Americans at the end of the war, but released later and passed himself off as a short-order cook and worked for the American army. It was a way to get food, which was in short supply. Back in their hometown, my oma and my father were reunited. They were in the part of Germany that was occupied by the Russians, later to become East Germany.
The next two winters were the coldest ones that anyone could remember and food was scarce. They went to a friend's farm, where Else sewed clothes and my father, a child of 6, helped with the harvest. The machines would go along, and the children would walk behind, picking up every stray grain. Nothing could afford to be wasted. When they went back to the city, Else began to sew clothes for the Russian officers, who would give her food in return. They could make a living, but they wanted to be with Siegfried, who was in West Germany. Siegfried left for Canada in 1952.
He built a house and found another carpentry job. This was the land of opportunity that Germany and ceased to be. He sent a letter to tell Else and Wolfgang to come. It wasn't so easy to get out of East Germany, but they were ready to try. They left with a group of others from their village and skirted round the mines in the minefield in the dead of night. They ran away frantically when the soldiers started shooting at them. Else and Wolfgang made it out, but many people had been killed by exploding mines or shot.
They found passage on a boat to Canada and embarked with 10 dollars and one small suitcase. The ship was a livestock transport ship though, with an area poorly partitioned off for the passengers. There was no bunk for Wolfgang, so he slept on the floor, where all the waste from the livestock area found its way under the partition.
The passengers weren't allowed on deck, so for three weeks they stayed in their bunkroom with one toliet for them, seasick people and animal refuse. (Is it any wonder that this ship sunk a year later? ) In 1993, my oma Else died. She had spent her life as a seamstress, and died of cancer and Alzeimer's Disease. At the end of her life, she was disoriented and didn't know her own family. Her stomach cancer was likely caused by metals and poisons in the food she ate and cooking utensils used in the time she lived in East Germany.
Four years later, my opa Siegfried died. He spent his life as a carpenter. After Else died, he went downhill and downcast. He couldn't remember things either and said strange things. He had cancer as well, but he recovered. Finally he succumbed to the disease many old people die of, pneumonia. He died the day before my father's birthday, and two days before mine.
The house he built has now been sold, the small suitcase sits in the basement, but their memory lives on. 
