Franz N and Elisabeth N

Franz N and Elisabeth N

Franz N and Elisabeth N's account of the events at Wildemannsgasse 19, Pinne.

1944-03-10

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Record 18

BKasselVdObmv10018

Translated from the original in German: Present are the children, Franz N., born 10 February 1930, and Elisabeth N., born 5 February 1932, and make the following statement:
We lived in Schäfergasse 30. When the alarm came, we went directly to the Pinne [a pub]. We weren’t allowed to use the shelter in Fliegengasse where we usually went because we didn’t have tickets. My sister can’t remember anything but I can recall quite a lot. At first, I had a book and read. The air raid warden Mohr said to me: “That’s good, my boy, it would be useful if they were all like you.” Then a bomb dropped on the house and there was an enormous amount of smoke and dust. The back entrance was buried. Then some men came in and asked whether we had gas masks. They wanted the masks to put out the fire at the back, not for people. Fires had started at the emergency exits. In the space where the men were fighting the fire, there was a crash as if something had collapsed. And because the lights were out, the men asked whether we had a spare torch. They were given one.
Before that many people had come in from Wildemanns-gasse through the emergency exits. People started shouting: “Mr Mohr, please help me, I don’t have any water for my child! My child will suffocate.” And so on. Then I fell asleep. And when I woke up again, I was lying underneath the bench and had bumped my head against something. A woman was still shouting: “Mr Mohr, I cannot take it anymore, please help me!” Someone replied: “I’ll be there in a minute; I don’t have time right now!” Already before that some people wanted to leave and he supposedly said: “I am not allowed to let anyone out, I have to do my duty.” (Pub landlord Karl Mohr of Töpfenmarkt 13) Allegedly, he did however save himself and his family. For himself, he had the courage to run through the fire. After a long time soldiers came in. They put the dead at the front to one side and rescued first those who had lost consciousness. Then they brought me and my sister to the Hessenkampfbahn [a stadium]. As I was carried out I could see how a soldier lifted my mum. I felt her heart beating at that time. Since then, we have no knowledge of our mother. My father is stationed in the north of Norway. From the Hessenkampfbahn a car took us to the town hall where we should have been deposited but we weren’t. The town hall was completely overcrowded. We were taken to the Wittich barracks where they bandaged my legs as I had bruises. After three days I could walk again. We went through the city to look for our mum but we did not find her. We met an uncle who took us with him to Minden in Westphalia. We never heard from our mum again.