Читать книгу A Letter from Frank - Stephen J. Colombo - Страница 8

Auf der Suche nach einer Heimat

In Search of a Country

Frank was fifteen and had been in the Sudetenland only a few months when what was left of Czechoslovakia began to disintegrate. One after another, ethnic regions either declared their independence from the Czechs or were occupied by neighbouring countries. From Leitmeritz, Frank followed with interest any news from his old hometown, now part of the German Reich. He was happy his family and friends in Freistadt and Ostrau were finally safe. Whether those who had threatened Germans faced any consequences for their actions, either from civilians or the new German authorities, he had no way of knowing.

Although the Sudetenland had been annexed by Germany less than a year earlier, the Nazi Party already had a strong presence. It affected Frank’s father’s position as a court official in the prosecutor’s office in Leitmeritz, which could only be confirmed after Franz produced documents proving he had no Jewish ancestry for at least two generations. The Nazis also made their presence felt through social clubs, which had a long tradition among Germans. Nazi clubs arose to compete with those run by social organizations or church groups. Franz joined one of those run by the Nazi Party, a car club, for those interested in driving. To join, he had become a member of the party.

Frank was angry when he learned his father had joined the car club. He believed his father joined the club only because he wanted to learn how to drive a car or motorcycle, something he had hoped to do for some time. Frank felt it was insincere, and if his father was going to join the Nazi party, it should not be to take advantage of the opportunity to learn how to drive or to gain an advantage at work. Later that summer, Frank’s mother Josephina also took the pledge of allegiance and volunteered for a position with the local branch. For many, joining the National Socialists was a means of advancement, not a passion or a cause. For German emigrant Sebastian Haffner, who fled Germany with his Jewish fiancée to Great Britain (intermarriage was by then punishable by law in Germany), the “true” Nazis could be distinguished, as he wrote in 1940.[1]

German troops assembled in parade formation on the main square of Leitmeritz, October 12, 1938, shortly after the occupation of the Sudetenland.

(German Federal Archive [Bundesarchiv], Bild 146-2006-0017, photographer: o.Ang)

Who is a Nazi? How can he be recognized? Certainly not by his hanging a swastika flag out of his window; everyone does that in Germany today. It means nothing. Nor by his being a member of some Nazi organization or of the Party itself. Everyone who has a family to care for and cannot afford to lose his job is in one or another Nazi organization, and if he had the bad luck to pursue a calling in which membership of the Party is demanded, he joins the Party.

In Haffner’s view,

The real Nazis, therefore, are not to be easily identified. There exist, however, a number of signs by which a man may know, until he has proof to the contrary, that he is dealing with a Nazi. Roughly speaking, the Nazis are found among the older SA or Storm Troop formations…. the lower Party functionaries, “leaders” of the Hitler Youth, and, above all, the SS or Black Guards.… But the Party badge … is no sure proof — even if acquired before (the Nazi’s seized power) in 1933.

But if it is not easy to recognize the Nazis from external signs and badges, there are some … touchstones from which it is possible in every single case to establish whether a particular individual is a Nazi. Of these the most important and the most simple is the attitude to the policy pursued towards the Jews in Germany. Many people who are loyal adherents of the regime disapprove of the anti-Semitic excesses, others seek to ignore, to minimize, or, in border cases, to excuse them. All such are not Nazi. A Nazi is one who assents unreservedly to this general and permanent sadistic orgy, and takes part in it.

When Frank’s family arrived in Leitmeritz in 1938, he found Germans from many different backgrounds. They were from Germany, from the Sudetenland, from Czechoslovakia, and from Austria. But they were all Germans. Back in his home in Freistadt, Frank’s friends were not only ethnic German, but also Czech, Polish, and Jewish. In Leitmeritz, such friendships were frowned upon, especially if one’s friends were Jewish. However, anti-Semitism was not restricted to Germany; it was also far from a uniquely Nazi characteristic. But the extreme anti-Semitic environment Frank was plunged into at the age of fifteen was far more pervasive and violent than anything he could have imagined, and it was now demonstrably a part of government policy.

In school, he learned about the German Reich of Bismarck, reborn under Adolf Hitler. However, it was not long before Frank realized that in the German Reich, this “pan-Germanic nation,” there were two types of Germans: those from the homeland and those ethnic Germans from outside the nation’s boundaries. He could see that Germans born in Germany viewed those from outside the homeland as somehow lesser.

This was made even clearer when he listened to those who had come from Germany to Leitmeritz to instruct the Sudeten Germans in what it meant to be a German. Frank knew what his German heritage meant and resented the idea he needed instruction to understand it. He and his family were just as legitimately German in their own way.

What was really being taught was what it meant to be part of Nazi Germany. This concept Frank and other younger people did not understand. The teachers talked about the superior Aryan race of which they were a part, and how it needed to be kept pure. They were told the Nazi Party was necessary to protect the German Reich from its enemies, especially threats from Socialists, Communists, and Jews. And they also talked about Hitler in a manner that elevated him from a regular man and political leader to the personification of the German nation. Such an idea was not only foreign to Sudeten Germans, but for Frank at fifteen, was impossible to conceive.

Frank’s parents, however, were being drawn more deeply into Nazism. The first Christmas in the Sikora home in Leitmeritz began as any other. The Christmas tree was decorated and the special Yule-time dinner prepared. The Sikoras were a Catholic family, and after dinner, as was their custom, Frank, as the oldest son was expected to read a passage from the Bible. He prepared for that special time and privilege. But when it came time for the Bible reading, Frank’s father announced, “This year we are going to do things differently.

“Now that we are in the German Reich,” he told his wife and children, “we will do things as the Germans do. Tonight, Frank will read from Mein Kampf instead of from the Bible.”

Frank was shocked. “Why should we change what we normally do?” he asked. “There’s no reason we have to do this.”

“Things are different here,” his father insisted. “Here is the book, now read.” Franz placed the book with Hitler’s photograph on the cover on the table in front of Frank.

“Where should I start?” Frank asked angrily, not knowing what to say. He hesitated, hoping his mother would intervene. But she said nothing.

“It doesn’t matter, just open it anywhere and read,” said his father.

Frank reluctantly opened to the beginning of the book and began reading. But he read only a few sentences before pushing the book away. Scowling at the book on the table, then at his father he said, “This is so stupid!”

Now that he was in German territory, Frank was required to attend meetings of the Hitler Youth (Hitler Jugend, or HJ). Meetings were held once or twice a week for about two hours, with boys fourteen to seventeen required to attend. Adults who had come to Leitmeritz from Germany were in charge of the HJ, and children of these Reich Germans were appointed the junior officers in the troops of local boys. On April 20, Hitler’s birthday, a ceremony was held for new inductees, who took an oath of allegiance: “I promise to be faithful to my Führer, Adolf Hitler,” they were required to recite in unison. “I promise obedience and respect to him and to the leaders he shall appoint over me.”

Much of the time at HJ meetings was spent playing sports and in physical training, with an eye to preparing the boys for eventual military service. The training might involve throwing practice grenades or using small arms. The children also were taught the history of the Nazi party, its important people, places, and events. The story of the Felderrnhalle, the site of the unsuccessful Nazi coup attempt in 1923, was told. This occurred in Munich, where the Bavarian State Police confronted a Nazi march to overthrow the government. When Hitler, with Great War heroes Hermann Göring and Erich Ludendorff, led their supporters forward after being ordered to halt, the police fired on them, killing sixteen. After Hitler seized power in 1933, the Nazis who died there were declared heroes, and a memorial was erected at the Felderrnhalle.

The volunteers from Germany found the boys of Leitmeritz full of youthful enthusiasm. That summer in 1939, Frank was excited when his HJ troop leader, only a few years older than the rest, received permission from the Bannführer (the city’s senior HJ leader) for a group from Leitmeritz to visit Munich. He decided they would go by “Autostopp” (hitchhiking, in German), a new method of travel in the Reich. The boys’ parents had reservations about them travelling so far away without an adult, but none of the parents were openly critical of the idea. Even Frank’s parents, who were Nazi party members, were afraid to express their concerns, lest it be taken as criticism of the Bannführer or the party.

During a Hitler Youth meeting in Odenwald, Germany, a young instructor describes how to use a rifle. He stands in front of a map of Europe with the inscription “Das Deutsche Reich Adolf Hitler’s.”

(German Federal Archive [Bundesarchiv], Bild 146-1973-060-53, photographer: o.Ang)

When Frank’s mother, Josephina, did speak with the Bannführer about the trip, it was to insist the boys wear their Hitler Youth uniforms while travelling: the brown shirt, red and white armband with swastika, black scarf with a leather thong to hold it in place, grey shorts, and the Hitler Youth knife with its inscription “Blut und Ehre” (Blood and Honour) at their side. The Bannführer agreed with Frank’s mother, and all the boys were instructed to arrive the morning of the trip dressed in their uniforms.

On the day of their departure in the summer of 1939, Josephina gave Frank a postcard with their home address on it. She made him promise to mail it as soon as he reached Munich. He put the postcard in his jacket and left with his friend, Rudy Hoch. They met the other boys and went to the outskirts of Leitmeritz, divided into pairs, and stood in their uniforms waiting for a car to come. After a few minutes one approached. The boys watched expectantly, but the driver passed without even slowing. Soon another came, but it also passed, the dust it stirred stinging their eyes. One car after another left them standing there. After an hour, not one group was picked up. Their HJ leader decided they’d take the train to the town of Eger to try their luck, about 165 kilometres away, nearer the German border.

They wondered if their Hitler Youth uniforms might be causing motorists to be apprehensive, so they decided to change into their street clothes. When they went to the roadside at Eger, uniforms in their knapsacks, the first pair of boys was picked up within minutes. Soon they were all on their way. Frank and Rudy, who were travelling together, made great progress, but with little knowledge of the roads or the geography, they became lost, and rather than arriving in Munich they instead came to Vienna. It was a wonderful mistake. They spent the rest of the day exploring the old city. It was the largest Frank had ever been in, with ornate architecture and palaces, but what he marvelled at most was for the first time in his life hearing nothing spoken but German.

The next day, Frank and Rudy made their way back to the highway and reached Munich that evening. There they found the rest of the boys, who had been waiting impatiently. When Frank and Rudy excitedly told the others about Vienna, the rest of the group was jealous.

Now that they were in the heart of Nazi Germany, they donned their Hitler Youth uniforms and began their tour of Munich. Their HJ leader took them to the sites of important early Nazi events. They stood before the Felderrnhalle on Odeonplatz, where they were told Nazism had started. Meeting people in the streets, the group from Leitmeritz extended their right arms in the Nazi salute. The people they met responded not with a matching salute but by laughing at them. They met with similar reactions at other sites important in Nazi folklore. What had started out an exciting trip, visiting places Frank had been taught had a larger meaning, was becoming a disappointment, if not a joke. It was clear that even their HJ leader had no real interest in what they were seeing.

Disappointed with Munich, Frank was glad when the HJ leader decided they should travel south to Berchtesgaden. Maybe there, Frank thought, he would feel more inspired. They would visit the Obersalzberg, the area above Berchtesgaden where Hitler and other senior Nazi party leaders had their country estates. When they arrived, they found the mountains impressive, but Berchtesgaden was an unremarkable small town, and Obersalzberg was inaccessible, the tight security zone around the Nazi leaders’ estates preventing the boys from seeing the homes. They had hoped to be lucky and see some of the famous German leaders in person, but once again were disappointed.

Map of western and central Europe showing the approximate route of Frank Sikora’s trip across the German Reich in 1939. Cities and towns named are those mentioned in Frank’s story. National boundaries are those in 1938, including changes brought about at that time by German expansionism and aggression. German city names are used although Czech and Polish names of cities in Czechoslovakia were used concurrently. Based on a map reproduced with permission from Stanford University’s Spatial History Project on “Building the New Order: 1938-1945.”

(www.stanford.edu/group/spatialhistory/cgi-bin/site/pub.php?id=51&project_id=)

The group could not decide what to do next. Some wanted to head back to Leitmeritz while others suggested climbing the hiking trails on nearby Watzmann Mountain. The second highest mountain in Germany, the Watzmann was not a climb to be taken casually. Although Frank was the youngest in the group, he had previously climbed a two thousand-metre mountain. He knew that in street shoes and summer clothing, they had no chance of reaching the summit. The others disregarded his warnings and went ahead anyway, Rudy among them, leaving Frank by himself.

Alone, he wondered what he should do. They might be gone all day, and if they were fortunate enough to reach the Watzmann House, an inn high up the mountain, they might have to stay there overnight, leaving him stranded in Berchtesgaden.

The longer he sat there thinking back on almost every stage of the trip, the angrier he became. He was disillusioned and upset. The planning for the trip was poor, and no one they met seemed the least excited by the “glorious German Reich.” He was angry at all the time spent in HJ meetings, the meaningless political slogans they were taught, and the indifference of the people they had met in Munich. The travellers had not spoken about it, but Frank was certain he was not the only one feeling that way.

What was he to do? He was fifteen, far from home and his parents for the first time. He wanted to explore Germany, and if the others were not interested, then he would go on his own. He decided to travel west as far as he could. He went to the roadside, stuck out his thumb, and in a few minutes a car pulled over. He was on his way, not sure where he was going, but excited about discovering Germany for himself.

Frank took leave of his ride at the Swiss border near Lake Bodensee. He unfolded his map and spread it out. Before him was all of Germany. Everywhere were borders: France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Poland. Within those boundaries Germany waited. He returned to the highway and continued his journey.

From Lake Bodensee he travelled to Karlsruhe, then to Cologne, Hamburg, Rostock, and Berlin. He met many people along the way, some providing rides, some offering a place for the night, and still others giving him dinner. At one point he stopped and helped a farmer, fulfilling a pledge all German boys were to carry out during their summer school break. The further he travelled, the more apparent it became that Germany was more or less the same as home and not nearly as exciting as it had been made to seem by the HJ leaders.

When the other boys returned to Leitmeritz after a week, all they could tell Frank’s parents was that he was gone when they had come down from the mountain. They had returned to Leitmeritz expecting to find him there. Two weeks later, Frank showed up at home. He looked ragged, and when his mother saw him she nearly collapsed.

“Where have you been?” she demanded, relieved but exasperated. “I reported you missing to the police, and they are looking for you!”

It was only then that he remembered. Reaching into the side pocket of his jacket, he pulled out the postcard his mother had given him.

“I am starved. What is for dinner?” Frank asked, handing her the postcard.

That night, Frank’s mother spoiled him with a local specialty, a dumpling made around a plum and sprinkled with sugar. Normally, three or four was enough for a meal. Frank ate twenty-one. He was not punished by his parents for leaving the travel group. On the contrary, they admired his spirit and resourcefulness and wanted to hear all about his trip. They were impressed that he had seen Germany. He had even seen Berlin, which they never had. His trip had taken him completely around the country, from the Alps in the south to the Baltic Sea on Germany’s northern coast, covering thousands of kilometres.

Frank kept his disappointment about the earlier part of the trip to himself. The Bannführer in Leitmeritz, his friend Karl Habel’s father, heard about Frank’s trip and thought so highly of the fifteen-year-old’s initiative and resourcefulness that he asked Frank if he would be willing to be a troop leader for the Pimpfe, the Hitler Youth for ten to fourteen-year-old boys. Leitmeritz was divided into two distinct social groups. The north side of the city was wealthy and the children well-behaved, the south was poorer and the boys had a reputation for being wild. Frank, who lived in the north, agreed to be “Troop Leader South.” The Bannführer presented him with the green and white cord for his uniform, signifying his position.

The first meeting took place in the main square of Leitmeritz, where he planned to teach the boys to march and to stand at attention. As the boys arrived in the public square and Frank called to them to stand in line, some of the older ones began to loudly mimic Frank’s Czech accent. Many were barely younger than he, and soon it was clear they had no intention of taking orders from this outsider. Frank was helpless as the boys he was supposed to lead broke ranks and ran wildly around the square, yelling and laughing, ignoring Frank’s shouts to return.

From behind where he stood Frank heard an adult say, “Someone should be in charge of these hooligans and get them under control.”

Turning, Frank saw it was his schoolteacher, and his face flushed. He had been proud when the Bannführer asked him to be a leader. Now he felt only embarrassment. The next day, he returned the green and white Hitler Youth cord. Frank blamed himself, but his vision of turning the boys into a well-trained troop had always been doomed to failure. He should have received help from someone older.

But Frank’s enthusiasm had gotten the better of his common sense.

Frank’s exploration of Germany happened the summer before Germany invaded Poland. On September 1, 1939, Germans were told the invasion of Poland was necessary to protect fellow Germans in Poland from attack. Hitler also declared in the Reichstag and through German newspapers and radio that attacks by Polish forces on German territory had taken place the evening of August 31, precipitating action by German forces.[2] German troops invaded Poland from the north, west, and south, and Polish resistance collapsed after Russia invaded from the east on September 17.

France and Britain were treaty-bound to come to Poland’s defence. An ultimatum was issued that if German armed forces were not withdrawn from Poland, war would be declared. Hitler ignored the threat, and Britain and France formally declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. People in the German territories were not anxious to go to war. However, after a few weeks without a major attack from the west, the mood relaxed, and by the end of September, Poland was subdued. The quiet seemed destined not to last, as Britain and France assembled their forces and German troops no longer needed in Poland rushed westward. For the moment, the countries did little beyond firing verbal assaults through their leaders.

Since joining the Nazi party in Leitmeritz in 1939, Frank’s father had always worn a Nazi party pin on his lapel. But during a family vacation to Freistadt in 1940, Frank noticed it was missing.

Frank asked, “Where is your Party pin?”

Without saying anything, Frank’s father turned over the lapel of his jacket to reveal pin.

“While in the Beskydy Mountains of our ancestors,” his father explained, “it is only important we be ourselves, not Party members.”

“You are such a cheater!” Frank said accusingly.

On May 11, 1940, German newspapers reported the opening of the offensive by German Army West through neutral countries Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The Nazis called it a preventive strike, needed because Britain and France were planning to attack Germany through those countries. In coming weeks, the military seemed nearly indestructible. The victories were rapid and the setbacks few.

Daily reports through May and June told of success after success. May 14 — Liege falls, German paratroopers in Rotterdam. May 15 — Holland capitulates. May 18 — German troops enter Brussels. May 19 — German Army West advances into the heart of France, Antwerp falls. May 20 — 110,000 prisoners taken. May 28 — Dunkirk in flames, Paris airport bombarded. May 29 — Half a million Belgian soldiers surrender. May 31 — Great air attacks on British troops fleeing Dunkirk. June 4 — 330,000 prisoners taken at Flanders. June 5 — Over 1.2 million prisoners taken; weapons and materiel for 80 divisions captured. June 6 — Dunkirk falls, 40,000 prisoners taken. June 11 — Italy joins the war on the side of Germany against England and France. June 18 — France is finished. Petain requests peace. June 22 — France capitulates.

A message issued by Hitler to German newspapers, published on June 25, 1940, reads:

German people! Your soldiers have in just under six weeks fought an heroic battle in the west against a brave enemy, which has now reached an end. Their deeds will go down in history as the greatest victory of all time. We thank God for this victory. The flags will fly throughout the Reich for ten days and the church bells will ring for seven days. Signed Adolf Hitler.

The newspapers also described the fate of some found guilty of listening to enemy radio reports. The newspaper Rheinische Landeszeitung in Düsseldorf[3] reported:

From Berlin 28th June 1940 comes the following report:

In recent days more radio criminals have been charged by the courts for listening to enemy propaganda and passing it on to others.

Andreas Kottke was convicted of listening to enemy hate-news and passing it on. He was given four years prison and four years loss of honour.

In Magdeburg, Otto Schulze was sentenced to five years prison and ten years loss of honour. Schulze listened to the enemy radio and passed on hate propaganda at least ten times between October 1939 and January 1940.

Otto Watzrodt talked his work colleagues into listening to foreign broadcasts, which the supervisor then allowed them to do. All these criminals received tough sentences.

These traitors listened to and passed on the lies broadcast by our enemy: by committing this crime, they destroy the spirit and morale of the whole German people! There is only one thing to do with such traitors, and that is to make them a head shorter! Give these creatures the death penalty.

As 1940 drew to a close, Frank readied himself for the last semester of high school. On turning eighteen after graduation, he would enter compulsory military training. Beyond that, his mother had plans for him to attend university. He was young, healthy, and like most boys at seventeen, felt indestructible. He was anxious to begin the next phase of his life. However, Frank had no way of knowing how chaotic and difficult the next few years would be.