John Stieber - Against the Odds - Survival on the Russian Front 1944-1945 [2nd Edition]

Game was not rationed and we were lucky occasionally to have our diet supplemented with venison, hare or wild fowl. Extra food allowances were available to special categories, but we did not qualify. These only applied to heavy labouring jobs, people on shift or working long hours, sick people, pregnant women or breast-feeding mothers. Men at the top of the scale got ten pounds of bread, 30 ounces of meat and 20 ounces of fat in a week.

Lack of adequate clothing was something else that gradually became a problem. Ration coupons for clothing were valid for one year and could be used for whatever one chose. However, the amount of goods to which I was entitled was limited and I often wore clothes that I had outgrown. Footwear could not be got for ration coupons. In this case, a detailed purchase application had to be made giving reasons and justification for one’s need.

When I arrived at Haubinda, I was at an age when boys in the Jungvolk moved up into the Hitler Youth, but, just as it had been in Gebesee, we formed our own unit and had our own leaders. Of course, we still followed the prescribed routine and went through recommended tests, but it was all done as physical recreation without any propaganda creeping in.

Membership of the Hitler Youth had been mandatory in Germany for boys over fourteen years of age since 1933, and by 1939 the membership stood at 1,723,000. Total membership of all youth organisations, including the Jungvolk and the BDM (Bund Deutscher Mädchen – Association of German Girls), was about 8 million at that time and all were under the direction of Baldur von Schirach, who had been charged by Hitler in 1933 with setting up these state-controlled organisations. There was something of interest for everybody. Besides an emphasis on athletics, there were camping and hiking trips that were thoroughly enjoyed by all the young people taking part.

I remember spending quite a lot of time in the Hitler Youth doing a form of orienteering and having to pass tests, which included map-reading, using a compass and rifle shooting. Although people have termed these activities pre-military training, I must say that I never saw any of our pursuits in that light and I know that I not only benefitted in some way from everything we did, but really enjoyed myself. Having had lots of practice with my air-gun in Carlow, I quickly got accustomed to rifle-shooting on the full-size range. It gave me great pride when I managed to win a medal for achieving the “sharp-shooter” standard.

All Lietz schools remained in private ownership right through the war, despite every effort by National-Socialist bodies to find a reason to have them nationalised. It was well-known that a liberal spirit existed and was fostered in the schools and, also, that pupils came from families who would not have been bracketed as loyal Party followers. At the same time, it appeared that the authorities were reluctant to take any action unless they could accuse the schools of unpatriotic practices or behaviour. This was a pleasure that every staff member and every pupil was determined to deny them.

The main credit for balking the authorities must go to Dr Alfred Andreesen, the director of the Lietz schools, who parried all attempts at cajoling him into giving up the schools’ independence. In order to find a chink in Dr Andreesen’s armour, each Lietz school was visited a couple of times a year by a group of six to eight National-Socialist inspectors, who spent a full day at a time attending all school activities. What happened was worthy of a comedy from the Ealing Film Studios. We invariably got a tip-off that the inspectors would be calling and everybody helped to spruce up the school. When the big day arrived, we all turned out spotless – heels were clicked and “Heil Hitlers” resounded. Our voices suddenly lost their gentility and our answers in class were shouted out as if every teacher was stone deaf. It is hard to imagine anybody being so stupid as not to have seen through our act, but we could not be criticised for lack of discipline or for appearing to be perfect. And so, we were left in peace to resume our normal lifestyle until the next visit when the whole charade would start all over again.

In Haubinda we did not get much news of the outside world. Special speeches by Hitler were listened to communally, and Wehrmacht (Armed Forces) reports were read out in the assembly room. One or two national newspapers were displayed in our reading room, but not on a regular basis. I got the impression that all this was part of an act of putting up a pretence of political loyalty should questions be asked of any of us when we were away from school. Nobody paid much attention to the papers, but the army reports did interest us a lot.

Outstanding German military victories were heard communally over the radio in the assembly room. They were always ushered in by the rousing main theme from Franz Liszt’s symphonic poem, Les Preludes, which was aimed to strike an emotional chord. Despite my aversion to military conflict, I could not but feel a sense of pride at being German at a moment like that.

Notwithstanding my dislike of Hitler, I did not altogether condemn Germany for having gone to war. I felt very strongly that the injustice of the Versailles treaty in 1919 had created the conditions under which “a Hitler” would come to power. I think I hoped that the demonstration of a strong nation would put it in a position in which a peace treaty could be negotiated which rectified some of the wrongs done to Germany.

Anybody in Haubinda who had a wireless was allowed to use it in his bedroom. I had a little “cats-whisker” crystal set which I had bought second-hand from a boy in my class. It could receive only one station, the Deutschland Sender, but reception was quite good and I sometimes listened to classical and middle-brow concerts.

Although I was able to attend church services during my holidays, the situation in Haubinda was different. It was the policy of Hermann Lietz that each school director gave an address with a religious theme during assembly on every Sunday morning. In this way members of all denominations were brought together and religious barriers were bridged. We were nearly all Protestants in Haubinda and when the time came to attend confirmation classes, a clergyman visited the school regularly to give us religious instruction. Special arrangements were made for us to travel to a church for the actual confirmation ceremony.

I thought the entertainment industry was very good during the war and I enjoyed going to the cinema in my school holidays. Although many Jews and liberals had left the country and films were often produced for propaganda purposes, some very prominent producers and actors remained. Among the best-known were Emil Jannings, Werner Kraus, Gustav Gründgens, and Lil Dagover.

The war dragged on and the chance of an early end became more remote than ever. Luckily, the rural location of the Lietz schools gave us immunity from the air-raids which were being increasingly launched on German cities. I never so much as heard a plane cross overhead. It was only during holidays in Döllnitz that I sometimes experienced air-raid alarms. The nearby Buna/Leuna chemical works attracted allied bomber attacks at night-time, but the massive vaulted cellars of the Goedecke’s house provided us with complete protection.

I must admit that, despite the war, I continued to have wonderful holidays. I had a great rapport with my Aunt Hella in Karlsbad and we were always engaged in a whirl of activity. Going to the opera in the evening, or to concerts, was a cultural delight. In those days people still dressed up to go out. The ladies wore long evening gowns, and furs abounded, while the men put on evening dress. Bowling along to the opera house in the customary Fiaker, and walking up the double sweep of the magnificent marble staircase, has left me with the memory of an era which will never come back.