Between Two Homelands: Letters across the Borders of Nazi Germany

The Brother (1940–1944)

148 THE BROTHER (1940–1944) The so-called Grebbelinie, one of the Dutch lines of defense, crossed through Amersfoort. The planned attack on the city on 13 May 1940 was ultimately deflected to the south, where fewer tracts of land had been flooded and the artillery fire was less intense. On 14 May, German bombers destroyed most of Rotterdam’s downtown, killing some eight hundred to nine hundred people. A day later, the Dutch army surrendered. By June 1940, rationing had been imposed for staples such as bread, flour, coffee, tea, and various textile goods. At the same time, the Germans began sending huge amounts of fruits and vegetables back to Germany, further depleting the food stocks available to the Dutch people. After Belgium surrendered on 28 May, German troops pushed into northern France toward the English Channel. Wilhelm, the oldest grandson of the former kaiser, was among the casualties; another grandson, Oskar, had already fallen in Poland. The former kaiser himself refused Churchill’s offer of asylum in the wake of the German invasion; at the same time, he made it clear that he would never return to Germany without the restoration of the monarchy. Wilhelm II died in Doorn, Holland, on 4 June 1941. Germany launched the final offensive against France on 5 June 1940; Paris fell on 14 June, and France capitulated on the twenty-seventh. At the same time, the Royal Air Force dropped the first bombs on Germany on the night of 10 May. Attacks on Braunschweig began on 17 August. Almost every night for the following weeks, the city’s population sought the safety of air-raid shelters. Only authorized citizens were allowed in the shelters; Germans of Jewish origin and foreign workers were barred from entering. Before the anticipated attack on Amersfoort, the city was evacuated; Immo and the wife of one of August’s colleagues went to Haarlem with their children, while the two men stayed behind in the crowded hospital outside the city carrying out their duties. After Holland’s surrender on 15 May, Immo immediately returned with her children to a dark and nearly deserted Amersfoort. Children went back to school on 24 May. In July, August’s hospital was requisitioned by the SS and later the Wehrmacht; the patients had to be moved. In early June, Eberhard visited his sister, and until August 1943 he returned to Amersfoort regularly despite political differences of opinion with Immo and especially August. Immo would not see her grandmother again, but they continued to write each other; Minna’s letters often bore the stamp “Am Schalter eingeliefert” (“Posted at the Counter”). The Brother (1940–1944) 149 Eberhard’s diary, 10 May 1940 Obersalbach. [. . .] News of the invasion of Holland and Belgium. My dear Holland! Let it come to an end quickly against honorable but hopeless resistance. [. . .] Eberhard’s diary, 13 May 1940 In the Leischwald. [. . .] Awakened to unload a column of trucks carrying ammunition. Then fired shells, but fewer than yesterday, in general less artillery activity. Fortunately the weather is good, and our position is very scenic. Life is a combination of utmost seriousness—which I am aware of with every shot I fire—and a kind of hobo existence. When will the French start firing back in earnest? Eberhard’s diary, 14 May 1940 In the Leischwald. [. . .] Very little news about Holland. A lot of free time at the moment. Glorious weather continues. [. . .] Eberhard’s diary, 19 May 1940 In the Leischwald. [. . .] The unprecedented offensive in the north all the way to St. Quentin and Laon is announced. In the evening the bombshell: a telephone call from division headquarters that by order of the OKH [Supreme Command of the Armed Forces] I am to be put immediately on leave. I am resolved to do everything I can in Berlin to return to duty if I am not offered an especially interesting civilian task. The idea that I should take my leave from the combat troops now of all times is almost unthinkable! As a consolation prize, I am informed that I have been promoted to the rank of sergeant. [. . .] Eberhard’s diary, 22 May 1940 Berlin. [. . .] After breakfast straight away to the OKH. For an hour, the most diligent attempts in various offices to be released. I am told that I am not being posted back in the RWM [Reich Ministry of Economics] but in the military administration of the occupied territories. Reported to Ministerrat Dr. B. in Giessen. [. . .] Minna von Alten...