Paul: Tell me how - you were in East Germany at the end of World War II, what became East Germany after everything was divvied up. How did you get to the United States?
Volker: Well, we have to go back to 1946, one year after the war. The year didn't count, so I should have gone to high school in 1946. However, as the son of a capitalist, that path was blocked. A capitalist was any businessman. You might have had a woodworking shop or an automobile dealership, or you could've had a garden center. You couldn't go to high school. So how to get to high school?
Fortunately for me and for many others, the 4 powers - the United States, Great Britain, Russia and France - agreed that everybody could go back to where they lived before the war, before 1939. So, I was lucky enough that on a rainy day, I walked in back of our house, and strolled across our lawn.
I must say that our house was ransacked. We had left the house in order to survive, and the Germans - not Russians, Germans had ransacked the house and scattered all sorts of papers on the back lawn. There in the rain - soaked, I found my report card from 1st grade from Munich in West Germany. That saved my skin.
With that - armed with that report card, I could take a train to the border. We walked across. I was one of many. And legally crossed over into West Germany into the British zone. And it was quite an experience. The very first thing in the refugee center, we were deloused. Never mind if we had lice. We were deloused, and then faced a number of officials who checked on us to see if we were truly residents or future residents of West Germany. Yes, I was.
So, I first stayed with 2 aunts in Hanover, in the British zone. Where by the way, I saw my first British troops. They were very neat and formal. And they were a wonder to behold, after living under the Russian occupation for a year. So, from Hanover, I took a train. A train to Munich, which is about 455 hundred miles.
It took several days, because Hitler had given the order to detonate all bridges. So, I would take a train from Hanover to points south. The train would go, say 40 miles, and everybody had to stop because there was a bridge out. You would go on a bus. The bus would go down through the valley. And you would come up on the other side and take a train back to the tracks, and eventually I made it to Munich. I think it took 3 or 4 days.
What I remember vividly was sleeping in, on the floor in the train station. And I had all my belongings in a seaman's bag. And the seaman's bag was my pillow. And that bag had a long, long cord which I wrapped around my middle - just in case somebody - while I was sleeping, would try to steal my belongings.
Okay, the porter tells me I only have a minute here. Anyway, I made it to Munich, I encountered no problems. And I had - at the border, I had received ration cards, a train ticket to Munich, a picture ID. I realized I had not just shaken off the Russian occupation but that I had entered an area of freedom. Seeing the first British uniforms was a revelation. At the time it was less a feeling of freedom, but the knowledge that I would now most likely survive and lead a normal life. Those thoughts were overshadowed by getting into high school, catching up on what had happened in the West since the end of the war, and last but not least, securing enough food to survive. Believe it or not food was a constant on everybody’s mind. Not just mine.
The West German state was wonderful. I got into high school. I spent 4 years in high school and graduated in 1950. And in the same month, I received a scholarship to study in the United States. I had won the lottery.
Paul: And I'm sure as heck glad you did, otherwise I might be speaking Russian right now.
Volker: Yes.
