Evening star., 1948-07-10

the rich German merchants q Danzdg and
Koenissberg were fleeing from the Russian
advance-ths little people also were on the
move, the small peasants, farm workers and
shop-keepers, facing not only the hazards Of
the road and season, but the dangers Of attacks
by bandits, too.
T next saw these same people in Berlin
shortly before Christmas Of the same year; ut
least I saw those who were lucky enough to
get that far. Some Of them had arrived by
train, herded together In draughty and un-
heated trucks and carriages, many dying Of
cold exhaustion and starvation on the journey.
With those who had come by road, they were
taken to the bpnkers (sir-raid shelters) and
fed with what was to many their nrst good
meal for MONTHS bowl Of thin soup with
potato in it, perhaps small cube Of meat, q
slice OF bread and cup Of ersatz coffee. Here
they waited, sleeping in badly ventilated cubi
cles, three tiers Of hunks in each, hoping to
recover = bit Of strength, ana to nnd out
where they could 60 further west.
Temptation to Crime Problem
Throughout the following year I saw more
of them. BY this time they were settling
down in Western Germany, some trying to
be respectable citizens, earning living and
bringing up their children as they themselves
had been brought up; others drifting aimlessly
and hopelessly, and still others frankly living
on the black market ana petty crime.
The memory Of one man stands out parti-
cuiarly. He was leaning on = bridge over
small stream which Joined two lakes in the
lovely hills just south Of the Ruhr. Beneath
him on the bank was q sign saying Fishing
Prohibited" and beside the sign was his son,
a ragged urchin, intently fishing. The man
pointed down to the boy, and said to me:
What can do with him? I cannot forbid
him to fish when there is no food at home;
but, hate to think OF him growing UP with
no respect for the law
He then told me OF q small but prosperous
business he owned before the war in Allenstein
In East Prussia, selling electric fittings. He
took tattered photograph from his wallet,
which showed 4 picture Of himself, hardly
recognizable IN his smart clothes, standing
proudly In front Of his shop window, with
refrigerators, radios and electric stoves in the
background. He had been mobilized in 1910,
and had spent most Of the war on the Eastern
front. When he eventually returned home he
found his shop in ruins, the town in the oc-
cupation zone of the Russians and his family
missing. In some mysterious way he tracked
them down, and eventually rejoined them in
Westphalia. Now they were living As the
unwanted guests Of small farmer in q
tumble-down clubhouse with an oil stove and
q few pieces Of furniture.
He and his wife had both tried to earn
some money by working on the land, but she
had her hands full with the children, and his
health, never strong had been ruined by what
he had been through in Russia. In any case,
honest work brought practically nothing, as
even If you could buy your rations you could
not live on them, and few eggs or potatoes
stolen from neighboring farmers would bring
untold wealth when taken in to the Ruhr
towns.
wonder what has happened to him, and
to su those others whose ruined homes are
being brought back to life once more by
people who in their turn have been uprooted
from their old surroundings, and who now
find themselves stepping, often unwillingly
Into the deserted homes Of refugees like
themselves.