A22 Father`s years in the war

Narrator: Hubert Zach
Reporter: Birgit Zach

My father had to join the army like anybody else at that time. Since he was a car mechanic he had do his duty as a truck driver.

After some time they had come to Russia. It had become winter then and it was freezingly cold. The vehicles could hardly be started. Every trick was used. They even lit fire under the engines to warm the motor oil so that the engines could be started. On the other hand the few Russian trucks they had didn`t cause any problems in those low temperatures. So some weeks passed until all the vehicles stopped working.

The Russian army moved on and took all German soldiers prisoners of war, my father as well. In Russian imprisonment there was very bad food. There was mainly grey soup with a few peas and beans. To get better food and a few cigarettes my father did any work he could get while imprisoned. He repaired cars and machines, he cut wood etc.

Finally they got the good news that the war was over. But the journey home was very difficult so that my father came home only after a long time.