I understand you were sent to Africa, were you part of the Afrika Korps then?

E. Mayer: No, I was in Africa but by that time we did not think of ourselves as the Afrika Korps, those were the earlier men with Rommel. We were sent to help fortify the Panzer army in Africa, which was now threatened by the Americans. You must know my full story here. I was sent to Poland to stay in a hospital where my knee was hit badly. I had to learn to walk again after they did surgery, and I had a very strict nurse who had a child I felt sorry for. She was a person who demanded strict attention to the rules and protocols. She would not bend with me or anyone. I was written up for sneaking a cigarette and wine when I was told not to. You know those types; she was not someone you wanted in the bed with you. I was able to stay warm that whole winter, and it was a bad one. I spoke with other comrades from the east who told of the horrors of it all. The Mongols took no prisoners, and were quite cruel. I must tell you this.

The first snowfall brought very cold temps; we were on a recon mission, and stopped to look around as we heard shooting. A BA20 scout car appeared just like that and our gunner shot it down knocking it into a ditch. The commander called for the men to come out and surrender; instead they jumped out and started shooting at us. This was unusual at this time, and they all went down in a hail of bullets. Our commander and driver jumped down to see if they were alive. They were all Mongols which we had not seen yet. We were amazed at their stupidity and bravery at the same time. We heard more engines and saw an attack column so we turned around and reported to our company commander. Everyone was surprised to hear we were facing eastern troops, up until then it was all Europeans. My wounding saved me I believe as shortly after my comrades were killed that January during an attack by a massed amount of these newly arrived troops.

I was healed up nicely by that March and was sent to France where some of the division was by Dieppe, where the British tried an attack. I was able to see the aftermath of this. It was much larger than what you might think. They made headway with their tanks and caused a lot of damage. It was by sheer luck that alarm units with anti-tank weapons were able to stop and destroy this attack. The British suffered a lot of dead and prisoners, and we felt a slight vindication for our time in the east. We knew we could still win. I was assigned to a new crew, and we trained while the south of France was occupied. That April it was decided we would go help Rommel, and so we received kits and training for the desert. We loaded onto big Italian ships and made the journey to the continent. We had losses going over so the entire division did not make it. We landed in Tunis and I was amazed at the way of life there. It was hot, smelly, and dirty. The people welcomed us all as friends and tried to sell us everything under the sun. You know our first action was against the Americans, and we destroyed them like it was nothing. It gave us a false sense of superiority, which did not last long. I remember we stumbled onto an American patrol and opened fire on them knocking out a few of their vehicles. We searched what was not destroyed and found so much food on them, I remember being worried.

We had been told they were not prepared for war, and could not sustain a long war. The food they carried was considered by us delicacies that we did not have. They had big packets of coffee, biscuits, and meat. They had cheese in pouches, and chips that we all enjoyed. I thought if they gave their army this, then what else might they be able to field weapons wise? The division blunted the Americans and knocked out many of their tanks, but we were surrounded. I was wounded early on, by a shot to the stomach. I was sitting on our car, eating American rations, when we were surprised by heavy artillery fire; I took a nasty round while jumping off for cover. I was hit badly, and lost a lot of blood. I remember thinking this is it for me, we knew that ships were being sunk quite easily by the Allies now. I was to be sent back to Italy for treatment, when the medical people gave me the card, I almost said keep it. I did not want to be stuck on a sinking vessel. Lucky for me, it was a hospital ship, and even though the British did attack a couple of them, mostly they were respected.

I made a safe journey to Italy, and then was sent up into Austria to have my stomach, spleen, and intestines repaired. I was kept in the hospital for a long time. This time I had a much nicer nurse, she was a French girl who was training with Germans. I forget her full name but her first name was Bel, short for Belsis. Every soldier tried to have her attention, but she made it clear she was only here to help us, and nothing more. She would always say "there will be no Bel in your bed, as I am already spoken for, and it would be a dishonor to try." We would always joke about that saying, but she stuck to it. My wounding was so bad; it brought an unfit for frontline duty label to me. I was depressed then. Africa had fallen and many of my friends and comrades had either been killed or captured. The war was not going well at all, bombings started, Italy was invaded, and the east was not good. I was assigned to work in the supply side of the army replacement units. I was moved to Holland to help with the supply trains. I did paperwork for what was allocated to the Atlantic defenses in Holland. This was in December of 1943.

What was life like in Holland and what were the people like? Did you see any acts of resistance or abuse of the civilians?

E. Mayer: I found the people quite pleasing to me. We had many foreign soldiers in Holland I remember and they did not like this. We had many of the captured Russians who agreed to fight for us here. I felt uneasy, as there were whole regiments of armed Russians, Georgians, and so forth who could revolt at any time I thought. You know in the end they did, they figured the war was lost and they needed to make it seem like they were forced to serve us. I have read that in one area they raised up and killed many Germans right at the end. That is what we get for turning them loose. They tell all these stories the press reports on, how they aided the resistance and spied on us the whole time. But, the people in Holland were very welcoming; we shared a lot in common. I met a girl in Rotterdam while I was at a café. I remember her smile and that we talked about the war situation, and how it did not look good for Germany. She of course told me she did not want to see the war go on, and wished we would just surrender. We laughed at that and shared ice cream. For the rest of my time there I saw her often, and we developed quite a relationship. They say today that there was a very organized resistance but I never saw it or heard about it. Life so very peaceful, only the drone of Allied bombers coming from England reminded us there was a war.

I would go tour the bunker sites with my commander and write down orders for the supplies that were needed. I was amazed that this Atlantic wall was nothing more than loose groupings of small bunkers and defended positions. The Allies would have been largely able to just walk into Europe from what I saw. In April I was sent into France to see some of the other defenses, and when I saw them I knew it was over. Our propaganda made it sound like there was a massive array of bunkers, guns, ditches, and mines to stop the enemy. In truth, there was hardly anything. Supplies were lacking, and replacement times were very backed up. Speer and the generals never did really fix this until almost the end. When I look back now it is amazing German arms were able to cause such losses to the Allies in Normandy. It is testament to our training and equipment. When the Allies landed at Normandy, they pretty much just walked ashore, with only a few points putting up a heavy defense. In Holland, when the invasion happened, there were strikes, I remember, where the workers shut down all the railroads and ships. It took a lot of threats, money, and begging to get them going again. This caused some tension, and I could tell the people wanted us out. Even my new friend was tired of it all, and just wanted the war over. She would often say that she liked me but it could never be, due to the war.

The Allies had started bombing Holland quite badly in 1944, and there was much death and destruction. I was witness to a bombing aftermath, and the people just looked forlorn and tired. I helped with what I could, and they blamed us for the bombs. I would hear them say if we were not here the bombs would not be either. It is a strange feeling to be an unwelcomed guest in a foreign land. That fall, I was recalled to Germany when the Arnhem operation started so I avoided being trapped. The train I was on was hit by fighters who were free hunting. They shot up a car close to the front, and I heard many civilians had been killed. Here the war came too close for me. I was sent to Aachen for a supply detail and was caught by the Americans. I was taken prisoner by young cowboys who treated me very well after seeing my silver wound badge. I had papers showing I was medically unfit for action and so therefore was treated better. I was released in 1945 right before winter set in. I was able to come home, although my home was destroyed. My parents were living in the country with a relative. I showed up right before Christmas. The time came to put the war away and start rebuilding.

What was life like for you right after the war?

E. Mayer: It was bad for all Germans. Our cities largely lay in ruins, there was much sickness, as the medical system broke down. I remember a deep feeling of despair, we fought for six years with all our strength and we were worn out. Many were missing, refugees flooded in from expulsion areas. There was no place to house them I remember. We took in a family from Silesia who had a daughter slightly younger than me. They had a very bad journey and had to hide her from the Russians. She was very pretty, and my mother said she would be trouble for the house. She went on to become my bride in 1948. We all worked together to tend the fields, and worked with other farmers to build a unified group to provide for each other. We were in the American zone so it was largely peaceful and we were left alone. I went to the city of Munich for some supplies once and was amazed at the level of destruction I saw. The Americans did not do much to help it appeared, at least early on. I saw women working on mounds of debris and children left alone to play in the rubble. Germany was a nation destroyed then, there was devastation in every large town and city. The amount of expelled refugees was quite sad to see.

This was truly one of the worst crimes in all of history, yet it goes unspoken today, most young people know nothing about it. I have learned that in the very cold winter of 1944/45 and the next winter many countless Germans who were old, weak, infirm, and sick were killed due to being forced out of their homes. I remember seeing all the cards, notes, and papers put up all over the area where relatives and friends were looking for each other. The victors took many children and they were never seen again. Perhaps they were taken to a better life than what post-war Germany could offer. Many people killed themselves when they learned of the death of a child or spouse. Prisoners were slow to return home, and due to a lack of men, crime was bad until the Allies got it under control. Many of the former camp inmates were free to roam around and took revenge on innocent Germans, which was kept quiet in the press. I saw evidence of this outside Munich. As we went through these years we took stock of what we had lost, and vowed to remember the dead. Also we vowed to move on, to rebuild, and to become happy again. Out of all this despair and hopelessness a new hope was born that the world would get better. Just look at us now, it is not perfect, but we rebuilt this nation into the heart of Europe again.