Flight Into Terror
Flight Into Terror 3. My Last Days as a Prisoner of the Nazis in Germany By Leon Blum Th* American public—and with rood rcanon—has ahown special interest la the personality of Leon Blum, th* man...
...But we were together...
...Again our convoy took to the road...
...By the time we reached Ratisbonne it waa evening...
...I don't care what you •ay...
...From , all the guards and Jailers hsr desperate questions drew nothing but monoaylabie evasions...
...Once when he has reached the other end of his promenade my wife suddenly speaks: "How far are we from the American linear Patton ahould be between Wurs-burg and Nuremberg, perhaps 100 or 160 kilometers...
...This calamity was th* only on* which she would be unable to endur...
...The preceding chapter* described ths wild night ride of the automobile convoy without benefit of lights ss the fear-stricken Nazi* carried their prisoners with them in their effort to escape from the oncoming American Army...
...Two hour* passed, and still we remained motionless...
...Can't you s...
...The plainclothes man dismounted, entered the gate and disappeared...
...In the tavern, food was being distributed...
...It is his opinion that they have prepared a place for us somewhere in the environs...
...The Gestapo has its hesdqusrters in a targe and sncient building which fronts •n a shaded and deserted square...
...Again the key grated in the lock and there was th* man in military uniform, I shouted at him: "Where is my wlfs...
...Suddenly I heard my wife's voice in a strained whisper: "But it Is a prison...
...I express my fears: "Listen...
...Later he was surrendered to the German* and spent two years in the concentration ramp at Buchenwald...
...It wss centered orv ths woman who had refused to desert me through all our danger...
...What would they do with her...
...I was separated from her and from all that mattered in the world...
...Our unpleasant guide indicated a building at some distance to our left...
...To ray amazement aha entered, sank down on my cot and, with the tear* rolling down her checks took ms in hsr arms, Hurriedly she told m* an unbelievable tale...
...We hsd again taken up our place at the head of ths procession...
...At the doors friendly women gossiped gaily 'and everywhere the children played...
...She was not a prisoner...
...Occupied with theae disturbing thought* I hsrdly realized what was happening a* my captor* climbed a stair, tramped down a long hallway, opened a door and throw m* on a cot...
...His "yes" was mor* frightening than anything elss which he could hsvs said...
...If we attempt to escape now, we have only a slender chance of succeeding...
...Suddenly the chauffeur turns and speak* to us...
...Pulled by them and supk ported by my wife I was finally extracted from the corner in which I had been Wedged during our long journey, but I was helpless, could not stand or place on* foot before the other...
...Listen...
...And suppose we reach the front lines—how shall we get across...
...Flight Into Terror 3. My Last Days as a Prisoner of the Nazis in Germany By Leon Blum Th* American public—and with rood rcanon—has ahown special interest la the personality of Leon Blum, th* man who I* now in Washington aa th* representative of th* French Government, *««kjng economic aid for his country...
...We left the center of the town, and I could tell from the look of things that we were approaching the railway station...
...But we w*r* resolved to suffer together and, if worse came to worst, to die together...
...Every time on* of those women come* through the door she is escorted by a guard with * bunch of keys...
...A table fixed to the wall...
...I ask whether we have reached the end of our journey...
...That is up to the Captain and the Gestapo...
...This ancient town, center of highways leading to the Tyrol, Munich and the Salsburgian Alps, had been severely punished by American bombers...
...Time passe...
...Up and down he goes, across the little squsr...
...Thia was not, then, the end...
...Just then half «-dozen men surged down the step* of th* building, threw themselves upon me and carried me away, I made no outcry, but I heard behind me an outraged *hri*k from my wif...
...Will she be brought in here...
...We were descending a rolling valley...
...Our officer and the chauffeur got out of the car, opened the back door at my aide and offered me their asaiatance...
...My wife murmured to me: "Really, it is beautiful...
...We're almost there," he says...
...For twenty hours, I explain, I have been wedged into my cramped position in the car, I cannot hold out much longer...
...We stopped...
...Thar* are maps in this pocket in the door of the car, I will start the ear, and we will make a run for It...
...The walls were bare...
...With him came a shifty.looking fellow, a plain-clothes man of the sort that we had learned to know at Buchenwald...
...The Soviet* hav* also Increased their economic demands upon Austria...
...Buchenwald we were, both of us, prepared for whatever might come...
...My wife replies in thst grave tone of inspired conviction which was always a revelation of the courage with which aha faced imminent peril: "All that you say is true snd logical...
...The trees and the meadows were of the most tender and delicate green...
...And yet Communists everywhere deny indignantly that Russia is seeking to Soviet!** all countries within her sphere of influence...
...My thought was not for myself...
...I sit there and ponder, cruelly torn between the counsels of wisdom and this urgent and exalted call from the wife whose intuition of futur* events haa so often proved to he correct...
...I could not have moved if it had been permitted...
...Pain and weariness had paralyzed me...
...No windows—just a tiny aperture to admit ¦ir and light...
...Very well...
...It wss one of ths most cruel moments of my life...
...She had placed herself in these iron jaws on my account...
...We seemed to be far from war and danger...
...The whole place had the air of peace and happineas...
...Bnt she had managed to escspe from a sort of anteroom in which they had secluded her and, driven by fear of what had happened to me, had found me...
...The officer overheard us, turned his head and interjected brusquely: "It will be a lot more beautiful when this war is finished...
...Before the chauffeur can give the alarm, we shall have a good start...
...But if we remain here, there is no chance at all...
...Only at the last inoment someone slipped us through the window a loaf of black bread and two slices of sausage...
...The prisoners have no notion of whst is in store for them, but as the third section opens they seem to be on their way toward Ratisbonne...
...Look...
...Thia is the third chspter of his vivid secount of hi* perilous sdventares during the Nazi collapse in April, 1945...
...The little village was peaceful, completely intact...
...The weather was fine...
...1 - / THERE w* were in the..village square of Neuatadt...
...It was large, bare, unpleasant-looking structure separated from the street by an iron fence...
...The sir ws* fresh, the light of the sun agreeable...
...The guard finally explained that another cot would be brought in for her...
...We have no papers...
...And he was not alone...
...But our debate is soon cut short...
...Ah, about, thsm I know nothing...
...The chauffeur geta out from behind the wheel to atretch hi* leg...
...In the meantime my ungentle bearer* reached the top of the steps, ths door opened to sdmit us and clanged shut behind ua...
...Would I aver »*• her again...
...He explsins thst he knows us very well, thst it wss he who csme two or three times at night to take me to the dentist's office...
...It wss a prison) The cell was narrow and high...
...The first on* will'pick us up...
...SOViniZATION OF AUSTRIA...
...Ws knew that there was practically no chance of our ever again aeeing our country...
...They were hers...
...In the distribution of food, no one had thought of us...
...The whole countryside, line and color, composed itself in a picture of perfect harmony...
...We were to remain only for the night...
...The officer in charge of us suddenly appeared and came down the steps...
...The Red Army paper published in Vienna announced that th* Russians have handed over the Boehler steal work* to a worker*' council—I.e., a Soviet, working under Russian direction...
...I recognized them...
...Again we waited, trying to read our fate in the lines of stony facade which faced us...
...They all stretched their legs about the square — always, it need not be said, under the sharp eye* of armed SS men...
...Yes, ys*, take it easy," he replied with an unpleasant grin...
...I can half understand and half guess his meaning...
...The automobile slowed down...
...And now it had happened...
...The chauffeur clambered back in haste...
...For in Germany, where, the civil population suffered from famine, • an SS officer was furnished with abundance of luxuries...
...Imprisoned aad placed on trial by th* Vichy government, he mad* such a brilliant defense that th* Pctain crowd did hot dare to convict him...
...As we looked, one after the other women came through th* door, descended the steps snd walked off down the street...
...My presentiment doe* not deceive me...
...A final chapter will be published in an early iasue...
...You know that I make a bud job of speaking German...
...Since the railways had been th* special objectives of the Allied bombers, we rolled along between buildinga which had been reduced to piles of rubble...
...On the pavement, just beside us, a girl of seven or ' eight years, poorly dressed, jumped rope with the agile grace of a professional dancer...
...After I had been carried out of aight she had been forbidden to follow...
...Our police officer reappeared accompanied by a man in quasi-military uniform...
...Our eav draws up, the officer gets out and— ****ia> as wait...
...Th* door was closed and ths key grated ominously in the lock...
...On the height beyond the little stream perched a tiny, romantic hamlet...
...And the other prisoners...
...Since she came voluntarily to *h*re my fate at...
...We alone were left secluded in our narrow little car...
...We were, of course, famished...
...A bench—and in a corner, near to th* door, that ignoble utensil with which I hsd become acquainted at Riom...
...The officer took his place, and the.plain-clothes man perched on th* hood to serve as our guide...
...Separation waa the on* peril before which we felt ourselves In 1(1...
...If we are ever to escape, now is th* time...
...But just then I hsard steps In th* corridor...
...But before we set off, our officer hastily piled before him the bulging parcel* brought to him by a soldier: white bread, sausages, boxes of cigars, bottles of liqueur...
...On these emaciated faces one could note even in passing the mark* of misery snd fear...
...We are lost...
...Simultaneously a Soviet "trade union" delegation from the USSR protested to President Ksrl Renner that Austrian industry is not being socislized rspldly enough...
...When France was beaten thia great Socialist leader, who might bar* escaped, elected to remain aad •bar* th* hardships and danger* of hi* people...
...Men, women, and children got out of the autos and busc...
...Before we reach the combat zone we shall find guards at every crossroad...
...The groups which we passed in the street or saw quietly gossiping at the doors of the shops exhibited no signs of triumph or arrogance...
Vol. 29 • March 1946 • No. 13
