Mark Creedon - Caught Between Two Devils

As part of Operation Pomeranian, the Red Army had reached the outskirts of Elbing, Germany, by January 23, 1945. The German generals pleaded with Hitler to make a conditional surrender, but he ordered them to keep fighting.

Elbing Work Camp, February 3, 1945

Jadwyga spotted the U.S. markings as the bombers thundered across the cloudless sky. She stood on a small snow-covered hill with her husband Antanas and his sister Maria. The knoll from which they gazed upward was just beyond the spruce-planked warehouse that the Wehrmacht (the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany) had assigned as a foreign workers mess hall. Jadwyga felt as if the earth might split beneath her from the roar above. She covered her ears.

Theyre mostly B-24s with a few of the big B-29s! And they have Mustang fighter escorts! Antanas shouted to the women over the rumbling of the bombers engines.

We arent the target this morning, but what about tonight? Maria asked worriedly as the planes disappeared overhead. We cant stay here much longer. If the Americans dont kill us, the Brits will!

Jadwyga turned to Maria and cautioned her in a low voice. Quiet, the guards.

Maria spat into the snow. The Germans keep telling us that Hitler is winning the war. But the Germans are finishedand it wont be long now before everyone knows the truth.

At thirty, Antanas was the oldest of the three. He was a fine-looking man of average height. Prematurely bald, he had a well-shaped head, a square jaw, and soft brown eyes. His build was slim and muscular. He had been a graduate electrical engineer in Lithuania. Then in April 1944, the Wehrmacht had ordered him to travel to Germany to assume the role of head mechanic of the Elbing Transit System. He was technically part of the Wehrmacht but really he, Jadwyga, and Maria were all prisoners of the Third Reich. They were forced labour imported from Lithuania.

Jadwyga was twenty-four. She had raven hair, fair skin, and the captivating smile and dark blue eyes of a movie star. Maria, at twenty-one, was the youngest but also the feistiest. She had the body of an athlete and her beautiful pale blue eyes revealed a strong and determined spirit.

Antanas waved for Maria and Jadwyga to come closer to him. Listen. Theres another sound thats more terrifying than the bombers. Can you hear it? Its Soviet artillery. It sounds like its east of Elbing now but how long will it take the Red Army to reach us?

Maria peered towards the east. They would love to level this city, she said gravely.

Antanas nodded in response. Yes, they want to destroy the war munitions stockpiled in Elbing. Besides the Soviets, the British and the Americans are closing in. Elbing will be a pile of rubble soon.

They had all witnessed the kind of damage that the Soviets could inflict when the Red Army seized control of Lithuania and Eastern Poland in the early part of the war. Antanas stared up at the sky and saw two ravens circling the German-controlled compound where he, his wife, and his sister had been forced to live and work for the past ten months. Living under the heel of the Germans has been bad enough, but we must avoid liberation by Stalin at all costs, he said with an anxious expression.

He glanced around to see if anyone was within earshot. Well leave tomorrow night. Therell be no moon by then. Ill need some time to steal a truck, he said decisively.

Jadwygas face turned white. How can you steal a truck? she asked.

Ill take one from the garage. Ive been hiding diesel for a while now, replied Antanas.

I dont like this plan, said Jadwyga fretfully. If you get caught stealing diesel from the Wehrmacht, theyll kill you on the spot. Look what they did to Wladek, just for having a crystal radio set. Jadwyga reached out and took Antanass hand in hers as she clasped Marias arm protectively.

Antanas gently squeezed Jadwygas hand, but Maria pulled away. And you have a better plan? Maria confronted her sister-in-law. We cant stay here! The Red Army soldiers will rape every single woman in Elbing and theyll kill every single man.

But the Wehrmacht forced us to come to this work camp; it wasnt our choice, replied Jadwyga.

There are no excuses where Stalin is concerned, Maria said grimly.

But Maria, we arent Germans! uttered Jadwyga.

That doesnt matter, Maria responded, shaking her head. The Russians dont care that Antanas and I are Lithuanians, and they despise Poles like you, Jadwyga. They hate the Poles as much as they hate the Germans.

A whistle blew once and then a second time. The three hurried back to their respective work stations. Jadwyga returned to the sewing and tailoring shop, Maria to the cleaning depot, and Antanas to the garage where the German army units trucks were serviced.

Antanas knew he would need help to steal a truck from the garage. He had already selected one of the vehicles for their escape. He was acutely aware that it was a risky move, but he had decided to ask Marias German boyfriend, Private Peter Baur, to help them. He needed the assistance of someone who knew the Wehrmacht guards procedures and routines. It was indeed a dangerous move. Private Baur had the power to hand them over to his commanders in return for a reward. However, Antanas reassured himself by focusing on what he knew of Peters character. Peters just a good farm boy. Hes no Nazi.

***

Shortly after work, at about 5:40 p.m., Antanas saw Peter enter the garage. Tall and slim, Peter had brown hair and dark blue eyes. Before the war, he had been a farmer. When he was fourteen, a belt flew off his fathers thrashing machine, splitting his skull. He had a nasty scar as a result, but his thick hair covered most of it. Antanas knew that his sister loved Peter, and he also understood why. Hes handsome and intelligent, but more importantly, hes brave and hes kind.

Antanas beckoned for Peter to join him in a spot in the garage beside some barrels of grease. They often met there to share a cigarette. Antanas set a large tin full of tobacco on top of a forty-litre grease drum and he checked for papers for rolling cigarettes stored in his overalls. He opened a jar of purple cleaning jelly to remove the grease from his hands before wiping them with a clean rag. Antanas needed a few moments to collect his thoughts. He pulled out two papers from his overalls and rolled two perfect cigarettes. He handed one to Peter and stuck the other one between his lips. He lit the cigarettes and they both took a long drag.

Peter believed that this particular spot in the garage was a relatively safe place to meet. For one thing, Captain Johan Ninehaus, who was Antanass boss, trusted Antanas. He appreciated the fact that Antanas did an excellent job keeping the buses of Elbing in good working order. He also acknowledged that Antanas didnt complain when the garage became increasingly short of the proper parts and tools needed to run the buses. Consequently, Captain Ninehaus gave Antanas a lot of slack, and he looked the other way when he observed Antanas and his mechanics talking to Wehrmacht soldiers, including Peter. Officially Antanas was a member of the Wehrmacht but he was not a soldier. He was a Lithuanian mechanic forced to work for the Wehrmacht. Captain Ninehaus should not have trusted him but he did.

The garage was large enough to work on three buses and two cars at the same time. It was a relatively safe place to seek protection when the Americans or the British dropped bombs on the camp. But the concrete walls and roof amplified sound, so it was not the best place to conduct a covert conversation.

Antanas pointed to the yard outside. Peter, lets go talk behind the garage. Beyond the back of the garage was a large dumping area about twenty-five metres by thirty-five metres. Here, two broken-down old buses, a green army car missing tires, and the chassis of a black 1925 Mercedes-Benz sedan had been stripped for parts. Ten empty grease barrels were lined up against a chain-link fence. The snow crunched under their feet as the two men stepped outside. They could see their breath and the cold air stung their cheeks.