It is difficult to even imagine what life is like without electricity. No television, no radio, no fridge or deep freeze, no Ice cream no lights. When I think of it now - - life was very primitive. Electricity reached our area in the late thirties but the Russian army exploded the dam in Zaporhozye (Summer 1941) and plunged us into darkness again.
Everybody in our village had to evacuate as the German Army approached. It was summer 1941. We were to cross the Dneper river in Zaporozhye and head east. The wagon train came to a complete stop at Lukashevo. Here, on the wagon train in Lukashevo, my aunt, Maria Quiring, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. By the time this ordeal was over, it was too late to cross the river for the Russian army had blown the Dam, which served as a bridge also. Here I saw the first German soldiers arrive who were told of a Jew by the name of Levine being in our midst. The German soldiers killed him the very same day. Levine was a good man and they killed him for no reason at all. We were able to return to our village a few days later. Life for us now improved dramatically and my mother regained her health. The German army now took a breather and since we spoke German very well, they would come and visit and enjoy the Mennonite cooking. On one visit, the German officer asked where my dad was so mother told him of his arrest. He wanted to know who had accused him. My mother would not say anything to him for fear he would go and kill the suspected characters, as had been done in neighboring villages. At this time we were still waiting for Dad to come home for we did not know of his execution until 1952. In a week or so the German army attacked the east side of the Dneper River and we never saw the soldiers again, only heard and saw the planes drop bombs. The peaceful life did last only a little more than 2 years. The Rumble of war could be heard again and it did not take long before the shells started flying overhead. October 1943 is when we left the village of Adelsheim forever. I remember my mother standing and looking at our house as tears rolled down her cheeks, she said - Dad will return and he will not find us- . Life would have been much easier had we known that he had been executed shortly after his arrest.
Some of our things were loaded onto wagons and we headed to a railway station which was to take us in the direction of Germany. A big surprise greeted us - the Russian army was closing in and no train was coming. The situation was desperate and panic set in. Finally the German authority informed everybody to rush to the railway station in Apostolova. This was a long distance of more than 10 km. I can’t remember whether we walked all the way but the luggage was taken to Apostolova by wagons. My brother was not with us at this point for he went by wagon train in the direction of Poland. A number of the men folks took grain and other things and headed West. Mother and I were loaded into a rail car, open to the sky with medium high walls. Many families were packed into this car, mostly Quiring relatives and others as well. The Russian military decided to give us a fare thee well party. At least three lanterns were hung in the sky lighting up the whole area so one could easily read the finest of print. Moments later the bombs started to fall. My mother, with me at her side, wanted to get out of the rail car but a man stood at the door and refused mother to leave the rail car. I can still hear my mother argue, saying "We should not sit here and let them kill us". The fellow just said - "If we die we’ll all die together". Another wave of planes started to drop bombs and moments later a bomb hit the repair shop which my mother wanted to hide behind. The blast covered us with dirt and a brick hit one person on the head causing a minor wound. A huge crater was all that we saw the next day. The bombs had not hit any of the rail cars or tracks which was to our great relief. Certainly - God leads in mysterious ways. The train was fully loaded and eventually began to move - heading west. Every time the train came to a halt - everybody dashed into the bush to spell relief. When no bush was available the open fields would do. There were many new experiences for me, for you get to know how careless some people are. In the rail car ahead of us, a night pot was used. While the train was moving at a good speed, the folks ahead of us decided to empty their night pot. Of course, the wind took the contents and blew everything into our car. We all came out smelling like a rose. Remember that this train lacked all sanitary facilities and water was a scarce commodity. The train made many stops on the way because of partisan activities. Surprise and shock is the only way to describe the sight of Russian tanks on both sides of the track who were moving much faster then our train. The tanks disappeared in the distance and we lost sight of them. Our train came to a halt and the locomotive disconnected and disappeared in the distance. I do not know how many days we were stranded - - it seemed an eternity - - but eventually, we could hear the activities of heavy fighting. Much later the locomotive reappeared and we headed west again. Soon we were at the place where the fighting had occurred and saw the devastation. Many dead bodies were scattered all around. Our train came to a halt because of damaged rails, giving us a chance to see, first hand, the brutalities of war. I crawled onto one burned out tank and looked into the escape hatch to see the dead bodies. The stench of burned bodies was horrendous. I don’t remember to whom these tanks or bodies belonged, whether German or Russian. We arrived at this location shortly after the battle and it is hard to describe the scene of shock and horror (I want to add that this is the only place where I witnessed a scene where the German military machine took a stand. All the other scenes were German soldiers on the run and were they good at it - I am stating my experience) Soon we were on the way heading west and soon I experienced the humiliation of going through a delousing center. As fate would have it, I was channeled through the system with the women and girls. This was in or near Pabianice in Poland. After this we were sent to a former monastery in Lisek, which is south of Warshau (Warsaw) Poland. We arrived in the beginning of December 1943. My brother, who was on the wagon train, came in Jan 1944. Living was very tight for many families were housed in one large room and blankets were used to partition the room. Running water and hot showers were just wonderful, something I had never experienced before in my life. The local School brought a Christmas program and one song those young children sang had a profound affect on me and I remember every word.
Mütter euch sind alle Feuer, alle Sterne aufgestellt,
Über eine tiefe Ferne, bricht das Herz der weiten Welt
(Mother all the stars and fires are awaiting you,
over a deep distance the heart of the whole world will break)
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which cost me another thousand, and food for the most part is cheaper thogh some things like fruit are about the same though the more exotic stuff can begin to get spendy. (I actually have a smokin hot gf at the moment been dating her for a bit now but sometimes kick myself in the ass for jumpin into a relationship!! hahaha!!!) you can make a decent lengthed trip or a short one for fairly cheap... but then again you had interpreters, and an agency lining everything out for you!! I saw those tours when I was researching info for my trip... glad you had fun on it!! that's cool!!
