From Terror in Berlin to Peace in America
Elsa Fabig
Copyright 2019 Elsa Fabig
All rights reserved
First Edition
PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.
New York, NY
First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc. 2019
ISBN 978-1-68456-479-8 (Paperback)
ISBN 978-1-68456-480-4 (Digital)
Printed in the United States of America
Table of Contents
On January 30, 1933, Reich President Paul von Hindenburg signed Hitlers appointment as reichskanzler and inevitably brought the Nazis to power.
After the death of Hindenburg in 1934, the fhrer and reichskanzler began with terror to undermine any opposition of human rights and made himselfwithin the German people, who had to obey the fhrermany enemies.
As he appointed himself in 1941 to the highest-ranking member of the Wehrmacht, the Third Reich began to sway. His dilettantism started the beginning of the end and left Germany in ruins.
The pain and suffering he caused his people passed him by, being always well protected. He never felt the burden of what he had caused. He chose a less painful road by taking his own life.
Rostock, Mecklenburg
As the signs of an upcoming war cast its shadow on us, we were living at the time in Rostock, Mecklenburg.
I was forty-one years old; my husband, forty-three; my daughter Marianne, nine; my son Peter six years old, and my son Lutz was born in August 22, 1938.
My husband was self-employed and didnt have to worry about losing his job, although he was under constant threat for not belonging to the Nazi Party.
We were saved from being one of the mass murderers and blind sheep. Until the end of 1938, our lives were in a content daily flow.
My husbands income was good, and we were able to live our life on our own terms. In our days off, we would drive to the nearby Ostseebad, Warnemnde, where the children could play at the ocean. In the evening, we would leave the kids with my mother, who lived with us, and would then go down to the local tavern to discuss the here-and-nows of daily events and to try and forget the lingering fears of things to come.
We were jolted out of our peaceful life as the Jewish persecution began since we had Jewish friends and were very worried about their fate. One particular event that unfolded nearby threw us in upheaval.
Marianne invited her friends from school to a party. One of them was a Jewish girl. The children were outgoing and playful, and nothing was going to change the atmosphere. The next day Marianne was going to bring her Jewish girlfriend the party gift that she had won the day before and had left behind and became a witness to furniture and family pictures being tossed through the window and on to the street. The Jewish family was no longer present, and we have never heard from them again.
Our life steered clear of any further horrors. With the acceptation of a single air raid in which the train station was damaged, we were still able to enjoy our days at the ocean, see our friends, play tennis, and spend time at the local tavern.
Belonging to our circle of friends were also an English fellow who was an antic art dealer, and his fiance, an operetta singer from Berlin. On his word of honor not leave town, he was set free later as the war took on a larger scope. He was rearrested. We also never heard from him again.
My husband was given the responsibility to take over the factories in Heinkel by Warnemnde, which made window treatments to cover any light that could give a building away during air raids. He also was given to oversee the experimental work factory of Werner von Braun. As this position came to an end, he was transferred to Berlin in order to take over there. We werent happy to leave our beloved and peaceful life.
Berlin
Throughout the beginning of our stay in Berlin, our lucky stars were still shining on us. We had gotten ourselves an apartment, decorated it in our own taste. Every child received their own room. Mariannes room was decorated for a young girl; Peter and Lutz had connected their rooms with electric trains; the children had bicycles and toys of all kinds. There was nothing left to wish for.
We only had a short time to enjoy the pleasures of life because the grayness of war was starting to cloud up our sunshine.
It started with air raids, which scattered us into the basement. As soon as the sirens started to howl, my husband, Marianne, and I would jump out of our beds and would take our predestinated post. My husband would wrap Lutz in a blanket and grab hastily his briefcase with important documents. Marianne took her luggage, and we ran down to the basement. I would run the fifty-feet down the hallway to Peters room and would tear him out of bed, helping him out of his pajamas and telling him to hurry. Then I had to run back down the hallway to the kitchen in order to get some food together, which would help make the time in the basement pass by a little easier.
As Peter still wasnt on his way, I had to go back down the hall to find him back in bed and deep asleep; so I grabbed him forcefully, took his things under my arm, and we shot down four flights of stairs where the others were alreadywith fear in their eyeswaiting for us. Later, as the bombs that where dropped exploded near our building, it didnt seem hard at all to get Peter out of bed.
A letter arrived in the mail from our nephew Joachim who lived in Berchtesgaden. He worked the phones at Obersalzberg. He had joined the SS after he dropped out of college. His mother, a World War I widow, did not have the money to keep him in school for the rest of the year.
Hitler promised anyone that joined the S.S. a free education, a promise he never held.
Our nephew wrote us to come to Berchtesgaden where there were no air raids.
My husband couldnt leave his job but wanted us to be protected and have some piece of mind. We really didnt want to leave him behind.
With a heavy heart, we finally packed our belongings, said goodbye to our father, and left behind our happy family life and beautiful home.
Berchtesgaden
Joachim picked us up at the train station and took us to the villa Freiburg where he had reserved two nicely furnished rooms for us. The house was just south of Salzburg, and with our good binoculars, we could see all the way to the teahouse where political rallies were held.
My nephew picked me up as often as he had time off and would take me to the local tavern where the boys would hang out, many of which had joined the SS for the same reasons.
Everyone there drank more than they could handle, and as the old saying goes Loose lips sink ships. I heard a lot of things that were not reported in the newspapers. That was where I heard, for the first time, about the concentration camps and their purpose. I couldnt believe that German people could fall prey to Hitlers violent orders and that there was no help for these poor and innocent people. The upset and worry I felt canceled out any kind of piece or joy Id had in Berchtesgaden.
We had lived a summer and winter in Berchtesgaden, enjoyed mountain hikes and boat trips across the beautiful Koenig see. In the winter, we would take sleigh rides, but all of our joy was difficult to engage in fully, being that our fifth member of our family was missing and the world was in flames.
We had just planned to climb the mountain Watzmann, as Marianne came down with jaundice. She recovered very fast, but in the meantime, I had contracted the disease. With the trough that I too could also quickly get rid of it, I ended up not calling a doctor and took the leftover pills that were prescribed her. They did not help. My health kept declining day by day, and as I was not getting any better, my husband came to pick us up.
