Goetze, along with his mother and baby sister, fled Bartenstein, now named Bartoszyce, on the last train on January 22, 1945 during the Evacuation of East Prussia. They made their way back to the family home in Niederdünzebach. Gerhard attended the Gymnasium or college preparatory school, the Friedrich-Wilhelm Schule in Eschwege from 1946-1949 where he received his Abitur diploma.