From Terror in Berlin to Peace in America

Elsa Fabig

• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9781684564798
• eBook ISBN:
  9781684564804
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

This is the story of a young woman and the struggle she had to keep her family from the horrors of Nazi Germany. Beginning with her comfortable life as the wife of a successful doctor of political science in Berlin, she takes her three young children through a harrowing journey across Germany and to the East Sea in an attempt to keep them safe during World War II. Their escape took them from Berlin to Poberow on the East Sea, then on loaded ammunition trains as they narrowly escaped the Russians

The Escape

We didn’t have anyplace to go, so we ended up following all the other refugees. The roads were starting to overflow more and more with cars trucks and carts, and we had to constantly step off the road. We couldn’t count on anyone’s help, being that every man was out for themselves and just wanted to get out of the danger zone. At night we would sleep in a barn or tavern on the floor wrapped in blankets.

I was glad that I had the sense to trade some of our valuables for food and didn’t have to fall asleep hungry. After the long marches, we ended up sleeping so deep that we didn’t hear the air raids anymore.

As we arrived in Warnemünde, we saw a mass of people all waiting for the ferry to take them across. My first thought was that if we now fall victim to an air raid, we’d be all doomed, which thankfully didn’t happen.

The ferries came from Ostpreussen, and we heard many horror stories.

I felt sorry for the children who had to hear all of it and who stirred up all kinds of new fears. After waiting what seemed to be forever, we finally made it to the other side.

Where to now? The stream of refugees started to split into different directions, and we had to make a decision what direction to take.

After thinking it through, I decided to take the long trip to Thüringen. That was where the factory that my husband part owner of was, and I was going to try to save part of his money.

We wandered through completely destroyed towns and started to throw off one piece of luggage after the other because we couldn’t carry them anymore.

When our feet would no longer carry us, we gave the railroad a try, which was a dangerous venture in itself. As soon as the train arrived, people would throw themselves on the still-moving train, which I wasn’t able to with my children.

They even jumped through the window, and when my children would get ahold of a footrest, they would get pushed back off.

More often than not, we ended up walking great distances. We thought we couldn’t do it, but we ended up pulling it off, just don’t ask me how!

One night, at a tavern, I met a young woman with her two children. She was going to the Harz where her sister lived, and because we were heading in the same direction, we teamed up. Our luck changed, so it seemed when we were able to board a train without commotion. In our section was alone officer from which we would have gladly found out some of the current news.

He would only answer us in abrupt one word, so we gave up talking to him.

Suddenly, we heard the sound of motors and shots being fired. The train stopped on an open stretch. The conductor ran along the train and told everyone to get off. The officer jumped off one side, and the young women and her children to the other. My children jumped off, and then I took the plunge. The low-flying planes came back around, and we ran as fast and as far away from the train as we could and layed down on the open field. I threw myself over Lutz to protect him, although it wouldn’t have helped much because the bullets would have gone through us both anyways. As people around us were screaming from being hit, I heard Lutz pray, “Dear Lord, please help us!” He did, and we escaped unscraped.

As we got back up, I didn’t see Peter, who in the panic I thought to be with us. Lutz and I searched franticly, and as the sanitation brigade came, I asked the commander to help search, as Peter appeared to me in the distance. He had jumped off with the officer and went to the rail station to wait out the attack.

Peter was informed by the officer that one should always jump off to the other side were the planes were approaching. Why didn’t he warn us?

We fought our way through the rows of injured, pleading for our help. I was glad to have some painkillers with me that I had saved after my mother-in-law passed away. A paramedic was kind enough to bring us to the nearest train station tavern. We became aware of our friendly companion and her two children not being with us, and the fact that we had lost a bunch of stuff, including our camera. That didn’t matter anymore after losing so much in Berlin and Poberow. We were received at the tavern with open arms. The owner had made us fresh beds, and in the morning, breakfast was already waiting for us.

It was a shame we had to leave because there where new refugees steaming in that needed the same attention. I was ashamed that I only could pay with money, for which there wasn’t much of anything to buy anymore anyways.

The foot marches started to get longer and longer, but now with less luggage.

Most of the railways were destroyed by now, and the train service was hesitant. I wouldn’t have gotten Peter on another train anyways, after the air raid we endured. That something like that could happen outside of a train, didn’t want to sink into Peter’s head.

In the hope that Peter had forgotten about the air raids in Poberow, I suggested to him to travel at night when there were no air raids, and after hesitating, he agreed. We took a much-needed rest at a restaurant and could only secure a place at a table where a man was already sitting. As we ordered only something to drink, the kind man offered to share some of his cake with us. Although it was more creams than cake, it tasted great anyways. As he was ready to pay, he laid his briefcase on the table, and we saw that it was singed by a fire. As he saw our stares, he began to explain that it had happened from an air raid. I saw the fear in my children’s eyes and knew that we now had to continue to walk. We tried to take shortcuts by walking between the railroad ties. Large squadrons of airplanes would fly over but hadn’t thrown any bombs. One night, we ended up at a sugar factory that was converted into a refugee camp. We tried to find a few bunks next to each other without waking up the others.

The silence was broken as I heard Lutz saying, “Mom, hungry.”

I hushed him and told him that he had to wait until the morning. I saw someone in the dark get up and come back after a while. With the flashlight that was handed to me, I recognized a woman. She had a pot of food and three dishes with spoons. She smiled at us and layed back down.

After the tasty beef soup had satisfied all of us, my children fell fast asleep. I, on the other hand, was not able to and chose to quietly get up and go to the front door to get some air. The sky was crystal clear, and the moon and stars were illuminating the night. Next to the door, I saw a young man standing. He noted a hello but didn’t want to break the peaceful silence. As the young man said quietly good night, I stayed a little longer and sent my only wish toward the starry skies that someday after the war, I and my family would be once again together and happy. Then I went to bed and fell asleep.

When we awoke the next morning, most of the refugees had already gone to tavern were breakfast was being served. We couldn’t believe our eyes.

The tables were filled with eggs, ham, sausages, bread, and butter, and the owner of the tavern kept on filling our plates until we couldn’t eat one more bite. I engaged in a conversation with her and found out that she and her husband had been land owners in Danzig and had to flee wit...

Table of contents

• Rostock, Mecklenburg
• Berlin
• Berchtesgaden
• Berlin
• Poberow
• Krangen
• Poberow
• The Escape
• Rodesuette
• Escape to Kirchberg in Hunsrück
• Kirchberg
• Herrstein
• Bad Kreuznach
• Bad Kreuznach to America