Dresden,
second trip
(c) Jan Sjöholm
Toward Dresden
I have wanted to
visit Dresden for many years, but despite all my
travels in the area it never happened. It was always “Well, perhaps
next time”.
One day it actually happened. Early one morning I entered a Polish
tourist bus for a one-day trip to Dresden. My language skills are
limited and as I only can tell that I want two beers and explain that
I’m hungry in Polish it isn’t possible to get involved in a
intellectual conversation, how ever I use to be well fed. As there was
no bistro on the bus all I could do during the trip was enjoying the
view and try to block what I heard as I couldn’t understand it anyway.
After all, in Germany I could at least communicate a little more and.
Two hours and a coffee-break later we arrived to Dresden. Afraid to
loose the contact with the group I tried to memorise the other
travellers
and then I did my best, not to be left behind.
We walked, looked and whenever we crossed the path of another tourist
group I tried to sneak in and listen to their guides in languages that
was easier to understand.
Odd passengers
Three ladies in our company were, like me, a little odd. Two of them
only spoke German, but wasn’t interested in communicating. But the
third, which also spoke German kept trying to talk to our guide all the
time. After a while he was a little annoyed as the majority of his
group only spoke Polish, he for some reason tried to push her in my
direction. I don’t know why, perhaps he recognised me from other trip.
The lovely old lady and I started to talk as we walked along. I don’t
speak German by birth and can’t speak it fluently but this was an
excellent opportunity to exercise.
What I got was a fragment of her life, a very interesting fragment..
Evacuation
As a little girl
by the end of WWII, she, her sister and their mother
was on the run. The Russians was coming and the where coming fast. They
lived in Legniz, (today: Legnica) and the authorities had decided to
evacuate the civilians in the city. In a typical German order they
waited while block after block was emptied, then finally they was
ordered to the evacuation train On
the crowded evacuation train the only had the clothes they where
wearing. It was too many people on the train. In every wagon a soldier
tried to keep order among the frightened refugees. The destination was
Leipzig, but first they should do a over night stop in Dresden, a city
she never seen before. The train moved slowly on the damaged and over
loaded railway.
Over crowded
Just outside Dresden it halted. It wasn’t possible to
enter the overloaded station in the city, they had to wait on the train
during the night before it continued. It was February and very cold.
The breath from the refugees condensed on the window, froze and made it
impossible to see anything. There was nothing to do but wait and hope
for the best. Later on the night the girl’s mother was attacked by
fear. A fear she couldn’t control. She had to get away at any cost. She
asked and begged the guarding soldier of permission to visit her sister
in a village a few kilometres away. Perhaps it was their last meeting
in life. The Russians was coming and the rumour was that they spared
non.
The soldier hesitated. His orders were simple; no one enters the train,
no one leaves it. The mother kept begging and finally he gave after,
but they had to be back before first light or they would be left behind
at the mercy of the enemy. She couldn’t thank him, sobbing she dragged
the tired and frightened girls along as she darted into the night.
Finally they found their relative but it was hardly a joyful meeting.
Rain of fire
It was the night Dresden was bombed and burned into ashes. Bombs fell
all over the city. The explosions and fires could be seen several miles
away. The bombings started about midnight, and continued the whole day
after. No one dared to leave their shelters and terrified the girls and
their mother watched the devastation of the old city. The next day they
tried to get a little closer, but the fires caused so much heat and
such strong winds that they feared for their lives. They had to return
to the little village. On the third day they made a new attempt to get
into the city, frightened, confused with the only thought in their mind
to get to further to Leipzig, but not knowing how.
It still burned everywhere and on their way the passed where they left
the train. It wasn’t there anymore. In the huge, long crater only some
scrap metal remained. The rest of the train was scattered all over the
terrain. Survivors: Three, a mother and her daughters that just weren’t
present.
Glasgow
In a pause I carefully asked here where she lived now.
“Glasgow”
But then we could speak English! With a sigh of relief I changed
language and we spoke a little more.
The old woman’s husband, children and grandchildren wanted to visit
Wroclaw. On the German time the city was known as Breslau. Breslau was
declared as fortified city (Festung Breslau) by Hitler and it was one
of the last places to surrender after the fall of Berlin.
Back in Dresden
After a while the old lady was back in Germany, the English language
temporarily forgotten. After all, it was her second visit in Dresden.
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