OneMansCourage

Stalag 12a
In Limburg, Germany, situated between Frankfurt and Cologne, was
Stalag 12a, which mainly functioned as a transit camp for newly
captured prisoners from the Western Front. For this reason, Stalag
12a was consistently overcrowded.

Newly arrived prisoners could hear the stern threats over a loud
speaker.

"For every prisoner who tries to escape, ten of your comrades will
be shot."

As the train came to a jerky halt, Donald mentally tried to
prepare himself for what awaited him at Stalag 12a and wondered if
his mom and dad could have ever imagined the tumultuous life yet
to come for their son.

Donald challenged his convictions and began reciting in his head
the six articles of the CoC he learned during his induction.

The Germans first processed and interrogated prisoners, trying to
find out anything and everything they could about the United
States. When intimidation and threats of being shot or hung didn't
work, some prisoners were put into solitary confinement for not
giving the information demanded by the Nazis.

Prisoners were forced to give up any money they had on them and
certain articles of clothing, such as extra items not being worn
at the time of capture, including blankets, shoes, overshoes, and
personal belongings. Prisoners were then given one worn-out,
threadbare blanket to keep them warm.

Newly processed prisoners were usually sent to other Stalags in
Germany within a few weeks of being processed, but not before
learning the basic rules of Stalag law. One in particular was a
warning that they would be killed if they placed as much as a
finger on the tall barbed wire fence that encircled the camp.

A notice to all prisoners of war was posted in every camp, warning
of the consequences they faced if they attempted to escape. It was
titled, "The escape from prison camps is no longer a sport!"

Other parts of the notice read, "Germany is determined to
safeguard her homeland, and especially her war industry and
provisional centers for the fighting fronts. Therefore, it has
become necessary to create strictly forbidden zones called death
zones, in which all unauthorized trespassers will be immediately
shot on sight. Escaping prisoners of war entering such death zones
will certainly lose their lives. They are therefore in constant
danger of being mistaken for enemy agents or sabotage groups."

The notice then gives urgent warning against making future
escapes, stating in part, "In plain English, stay in the camp
where you will be safe! Breaking out of it is now a damned
dangerous act. The chances of preserving your life are almost nil!
All police and military guards have been given the strictest
orders to shoot on sight all suspected persons."

With no furniture to speak of, prisoners were forced to sleep in
cramped barracks back to back on the hard cobble-stoned floors. In
extremely rare moments, prisoners received a loose scattering of
straw for bedding.

Depending on the prisoner's rank, division of military, and
sometimes whether they were Jewish, determined which prisoner of
war camp they went to after their stay at Stalag 12a.

When the time came to leave Stalag 12a for a more permanent camp,
prisoners were crammed into boxcars and shipped to other Stalags
in Germany. An unknown prisoner of war once said, "One would walk
the longest hike with an empty stomach rather than ride in a
boxcar so jammed with prisoners of war that one couldn't even sit,
and sanitation was absent."

Donald described the boxcars as disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.
Further telling me, "I don't think anyone can imagine what it was
like unless you traveled in one."

There were probably twenty or thirty more prisoners than there
should have been in each boxcar and, because of the overcrowded
conditions, most prisoners had to stand for the entire trip.

With their diet, or lack thereof, most prisoners suffered with
diarrhea and, as you can imagine, most prisoners couldn't get to
the 'toilet' in time. The toilet was a tin can. Prisoners had to
stand in their waste and travel with the stench for anywhere from
one day to a week.

Stalag 9b
After a short while at Stalag 12a, and still nursing his injuries,
the enemy again crammed Donald into a boxcar with perhaps sixty
other prisoners. Then, without lights, ventilation, food, or
water, he and the others were en-route to the infamous Stalag 9b.

Stalag 9b, also known as Bad Orb, was situated in a rural setting
about thirty-six miles from Frankfurt and described as a
collection of five large, one-story wooden barracks. Three
barracks had no beds, and the other two barracks had only half the
number of beds needed, which meant approximately 1300 prisoners
slept on the floor.

While at Stalag 9b, the Nazis were determined to separate the
Jewish prisoners from the rest by forcing the prisoners to
identify themselves during interrogations.

In an attempt to intimidate prisoners, the Nazi Commander shouted,
"I'll kill ten men every hour until the Jews identify themselves,"
but his threat proved empty.

The Commander shouted again, "The only thing worse than a Jew is a
German who betrays his country," filling Donald with an ominous
fear because he was of German descent.

The enemy would ask the prisoners for their mother's birth name or
religion, which was a direct violation of the Geneva Convention.

On July 27, 1929, the Convention Relative to the Treatment of
Prisoners of War was signed in Geneva, Switzerland, which covered
the treatment of prisoners of war during World War II.

Since the Nazis had to fill a quota for forced labor, they rounded
up 350 American Prisoners of War, including Jews who identified
themselves under pressure, prisoners the Nazis viewed as
troublemakers, and those the Nazis believed resembled a Jew.

Subsequently, they were crammed into boxcars and transported to
Berga Concentration Camp. Out of the 350 soldiers, approximately
eighty were Jewish, but they all suffered. Thankfully, Donald
wasn't part of that group.

Each barrack at Stalag 9b consisted of two large rooms that had
one stove for heating purposes. However, these rooms were too
large for the stoves to heat, and they were in great need of
repair. Both rooms within the barracks had only one light that had
a weak bulb, making the lighting inadequate for prisoners to read
by.

In addition to poor heating, the ceilings in the barracks were
always damp, aggravated by the fact so many windows were broken
and replaced with only cardboard or wood; harsh conditions to live
under in thirty-degree weather.

Within the Stalag 9b compound, there were three latrine houses,
along with three latrine trenches, described as primitive. Each
barrack had a washroom with a single latrine hole that emptied
into an adjacent cesspool.

Most prisoners suffered from dysentery, and the system couldn't
accommodate the number of prisoners using the facilities on a
daily basis. As a result, human waste would spill over
continuously, making the unsanitary conditions, filth, and stench
in the barracks deplorable, even painfully vile.

Fine wood shavings had a dual-purpose for prisoners. They not only
slept on it, but also used it as a means of toilet paper, since
they rarely had any. Prisoners were in urgent need of toiletries
such as razor blades, shaving cream, shaving brushes, toilet and
laundry soap, toilet paper, toothbrushes, and toothpaste.

Rations consisted of bite-size loaves of sourdough bread, which
were usually stale, watered-down barley soup around midday, and if
they were lucky, more watered down barley soup at night. As a
treat, the enemy fed prisoners Black Bread, which consisted of:

During that same visit, the ICRC did a clothing check and stated
in their report, "It wasn't possible to obtain a clear picture of
the situation. It is not known how many of the men possess a
complete outfit, but according to the man-of-confidence, the
position is exceedingly bad. Some men possess underclothing only,
with trousers and shirt, but no tunic. Others are without proper
boots, and about one-fifth of the men have no overcoats."

The man-of-confidence is a prisoner picked by prisoners themselves
to be their spokesperson, responsible for delivering to the
International Committee of the Red Cross any wants, needs, and
complaints the prisoners might have had. He was also in charge of
any dealings with parcels, clothing, and all matters concerning
the welfare of his fellow prisoners.

Bad Kreuznach, Germany
As American troops advanced closer to Stalag 9b, the Nazis forced
chosen prisoners on a weeklong Death March out of 9b and into Bad
Kreuznach. Donald was among the chosen.

Bad Kreuznach is a beautiful and old city, built around the Nahe
River Valley, and dates back to Roman times. During both World
Wars, Bad Kreuznach was the major headquarters of the German High
Command.

One building erected in 1929 was a Catholic home for children, yet
at the onset of WWII, the German Wehrmacht (German Army) took it
over as a military hospital and named it Hospital Kaserne.

It officially became a permanent military installation of the
German Wehrmacht on November 12, 1937 and housed German soldiers
in emergency quarters until October 1938 while suitable barracks
were built.

Donald didn't think it could get any worse than where he was
before, but suffering and death were everywhere inside this
compound. Like the other places, food was scarce. Daily meals
consisted of one small bowl of barley soup and two slices of old
bread. To make an already bad situation worse, the Army was
bombing Germany's military installations twenty-four hours a day
in an attempt to disrupt the nearby rail lines.

There were no warnings given or steps taken by the Nazis to
protect Donald and the other prisoners from the bombings and
gunfire raids. In fact, during the aerial raids, the Nazis would
lock the prisoners in their barracks, next to the railroad tracks.
The Nazis knew the rail lines were a primary target of allied
forces and pulled the trains alongside our barracks.

The barracks were set on fire a couple times by incendiary bombs
during strafing, which occurred frequently. The machine gun
bullets penetrated Donald's barracks, injuring several prisoners
at once. The concussions from the artillery and bombs were so
forceful, "blood oozed from Donald's skin." In the middle of these
raids, the Nazis forced prisoners to clear rubbish and debris off
the dead bodies of German soldiers. They also made prisoners watch
as dead prisoners were thrown into piles, as if they were trash.

Donald witnessed three Americans die in three separate incidents
during the raids at Bad Kreuznach, standing close enough to have
their blood splattered on him. Donald found it difficult to get
close to anyone. He figured if he didn't know them, it wouldn't
hurt so much when they left.

Donald recalled a time when they were marching back to their
barracks and a fighter plane began dropping bombs. As the bombs
hit their targets, prisoners tried to run for cover, but the
concussion threw them to the ground, cutting one prisoner in half.

Injured prisoners were treated horribly. Their wounds were ignored
until the lice were so thick and the wound smelled so bad, the
Nazis had no choice but to treat the injury.

Prisoners had their clothes and shoes confiscated, leaving them
with only their winter undergarments as they were forced to march
down the rail lines through the towns during the brutally cold
months. All prisoners fell victim to intimidation, beatings,
physical torture, and isolation. They were forced to work at night
repairing rail lines damaged in the bombings, even while allied
forces were dropping bombs.

Donald recalled one night while repairing rail lines, he wasn't
moving fast enough for the Nazis, and they hit him across the
middle of his back with their rifle butt. "I remember falling to
the ground in excruciating pain. I truly thought they had broken
my back. They didn't care how much pain I was in because they
yanked me up and forced me back to work."

Donald found himself again doing night repairs on the rail lines
with other prisoners; however, this night was different. He
spotted an opportunity, when the German's weren't watching, to run
into the dark of night. He focused solely on the sounds of allied
gunfire and his freedom. Nothing more. He went alone, knowing the
Germans would soon be looking for him when he was found missing
from roll call.

Donald was caught by mid-morning and marched back to Bad Kreuznach
where he was punished. They threw him into the hole, which was
nothing more than a hole in the ground, deep enough you couldn't
get out and small enough you couldn't get comfortable.

The Nazis fed Donald hard sourdough bread and taunted him with
drops of water, hardly enough to quench my thirst. "I'd close my
eyes and try to imagine drinking a ice cold beer"

It's unknown exactly how long Donald remained in the hole, but it
was clear, not long enough to teach him a lesson.

When Donald came down with scarlet fever and diphtheria, he was
marched to Hospital Kaserne, which was near his barracks within
the compound. While there, he was given information that an
American flyer was shot down and put into an empty room somewhere
in Hospital Kaserne for almost a week. Hospital personnel wouldn't
allow any American prisoners of war to see or talk to the injured
American flyer.

A French woman named Nicole Leigh was also a prisoner, forced to
work at the hospital taking care of the sick and injured. Although
Donald didn't understand French, and Coley, as Donald called her,
didn't understand English, they quickly became confidants, sharing
a special trust and bond.

Over time, Coley confiscated a map, money, and compass from the
sick and injured, while Donald walked the halls freely, making
mental notes of entrances, exits, and hallways in preparation for
his great escape.

Before leaving, Donald wanted Coley to understand that once he was
free, he'd be back to free her also. Somehow, this French
Confidant knew exactly what Donald was trying to tell her, and she
nodded graciously.

Weak, hungry, and full of lice, Donald walked out of the enemy
hospital unnoticed in the dark of night, and once again headed
toward the familiar sounds of allied gunfire.

Donald was forced to seek refuge in an abandoned building when he
unexpectedly found himself caught between American and enemy
lines. He tried several times to identify himself to allied forces
to no avail. He jumped up and down, waving his arms. He took off
his shirt and waived it. "It was as if they believed I was the
enemy."

Dodging bullets no longer mattered to Donald because the beauty of
seeing his own troops meant freedom at last. Nonetheless, he was
puzzled as to why allied forces couldn't or wouldn't identify him
as an American soldier, even though he was in his military
uniform.

Confused and not wanting to die, Donald felt it would be best to
remain in the abandoned building and wait for the Americans to
come to him, unaware of the living hell he was about to
experience.

Unimaginably, the enemy captured the building and Donald first,
which meant, once again, with a machine gun to his back, the enemy
marched Donald back to Bad Kreuznach and threw him into the hole
for an undetermined time.

Donald learned later of the mandate to stay vigilant of enemy
trickery. Seems the Germans were stealing military uniforms off
dead American soldiers. Clearly, Donald was mistaken for a German
soldier in an American uniform.