Wilhelm Carl
Title
Wilhelm Carl
Description
Wilhelm Carl's account of the events at Wildemannsgasse 32.
Date
1944-05-05
Coverage
Language
Type
Publisher
Rights
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Contributor
Identifier
Record 79
BKasselVdObmv10079
Transcription
Translated from the original in German: Present is the sergeant of the air raid police Wilhelm Carl, born 9 April 1886, formerly of Wildemannsgasse 32, now lodging Leipziger Straße 13, and gives this statement:
(My son-in-law, the PFC Heinrich Straßmann and my daughter Elise Straßmann, née Carl, are missing. Our grandchild Gerhard has been buried with my wife.)
I was off-duty that evening and was in our flat until a quarter to eight. I had to be back in barracks for eight. All four members of my family were still in the flat when I left. The following morning, that was Saturday, I met a boy who was maybe eight or nine years old and who also lived in our house (he was the grandchild of the Papens). I asked him: “Listen, where are coming from? Have you seen anything of my wife or the Straßmanns?” “Yes, they were all in the cellar and three more soldiers with their wives.” “Good, and where are you coming from?” “I don’t know. We wanted first to get out through this breakthrough and then through that and then we ran into Fischmann’s house.” And this is where I found the bodies of my wife and grandchild. So I said: “How did you get out?” “Well, the door of Fischmann’s cellar was a little ajar and that’s where I squeezed through and ran to the Wall.” His grandmother died too, his mother had been out of town. I suspect, because of what the boy said about trying to get out first through one breakthrough and then another, that they ran into another breakthrough which may have collapsed and their buried by the debris. That’s all I know about the missing.
(My son-in-law, the PFC Heinrich Straßmann and my daughter Elise Straßmann, née Carl, are missing. Our grandchild Gerhard has been buried with my wife.)
I was off-duty that evening and was in our flat until a quarter to eight. I had to be back in barracks for eight. All four members of my family were still in the flat when I left. The following morning, that was Saturday, I met a boy who was maybe eight or nine years old and who also lived in our house (he was the grandchild of the Papens). I asked him: “Listen, where are coming from? Have you seen anything of my wife or the Straßmanns?” “Yes, they were all in the cellar and three more soldiers with their wives.” “Good, and where are you coming from?” “I don’t know. We wanted first to get out through this breakthrough and then through that and then we ran into Fischmann’s house.” And this is where I found the bodies of my wife and grandchild. So I said: “How did you get out?” “Well, the door of Fischmann’s cellar was a little ajar and that’s where I squeezed through and ran to the Wall.” His grandmother died too, his mother had been out of town. I suspect, because of what the boy said about trying to get out first through one breakthrough and then another, that they ran into another breakthrough which may have collapsed and their buried by the debris. That’s all I know about the missing.
Citation
Vermisstensuchstelle des Oberbürgermeisters der Stadt Kassel, “Wilhelm Carl,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 24, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/8807.
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