Rottach-Egern: Seniors describe their war experiences - "Those were terrible times"

Created: 03/18/2022, 18:32

By: Jonas Napiletzki

Many residents of the Rupertihof in Rottach-Egern are well informed about the world situation.

In our series (from left) Manfred Grässel, Christine Renner, Adolf Hauschka and Horst Niehues-Paas share their memories.

© Thomas Plettenberg

Four residents of the Rupertihof in Rottach-Egern tell one after the other of their personal experiences of the war.

Horst Grässel remembers the difficult years in bombed-out Cologne.

Rottach-Egern - Bombed cities, bloody street fights and cruel soldiers: "I had hoped that I would not see such pictures again in my life," says Horst Grässel.

With shimmering eyes behind his glasses, he adds: "Unfortunately, that's the case now." The 89-year-old originally comes from Brandenburg an der Havel and now lives in the Rupertihof senior citizens' home in Rottach-Egern.

He wants to share his war memories.

"Those were terrible times," says Grässel of 1945. His memories range from soldiers who wanted to eat cherries and cut down the whole tree to do it, to those who stood on the roofs to shoot people from there.

"My mother and sisters dyed their hair gray with ash to make it look older," says Grässel, who was only 12 at the time.

This was customary to protect against rape.

Grässel fled under a truck tarpaulin

The senior explains: “Brandenburg an der Havel was an industrial city that was badly damaged by bombs.” The family probably escaped the war through luck.

His father persuaded a truck driver to take the family through Russian territory to Bad Harzburg.

Hidden under a tarpaulin, Grässel fled around 200 kilometers to the west with his parents and three sisters.

"We hoped that we would not be discovered."

Horst Grässel now lives in the Rupertihof in Rottach-Egern.

© Stefan Schweihofer

Would not you.

Very lucky.

“Back then, the population had no electricity, no water, no heating.

It was catastrophic.” When Grässel sees today how little luggage people are fleeing Ukraine with, he can empathize with them.

"It's incredibly difficult to get back into normal life."

Grässel did it.

After the war he graduated from high school, studied business administration in Frankfurt and worked in the German economy.

First as a board member, then as chairman of the supervisory board.

The way there – Grässel never forgets.

The 89-year-old is worried about Ukraine

The former manager does not spare himself.

Not before.

And not today either.

In the news, he faces the war pictures from Ukraine every day.

And so he faces his own memories.

They cannot be erased, not even after more than 70 years.

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"I believe that Putin is razing the city of Kyiv to the ground," he says.

The Russian ruler wants to change the government.

"I'm surprised that German politicians misjudged Putin completely." Even if the new traffic light government is doing a "good job" from Grässel's point of view.

"At least for now," he adds.

That's why he's more worried about the refugees at the moment.

"We got going then.

But I know what it means to lose everything from one day to the next.” The Germans now have to tighten their belts.

"My wish would be that Ukraine remains free," says Grässel.

Nevertheless, membership in NATO could not happen so quickly.

“Politicians must do everything possible not to drag NATO into this.” Grässel fears that there will then be a Third World War.

"That would be sheer madness."

To this series

In four episodes we report on seniors who experienced the Second World War.

The residents of the Rupertihof Abbey in Rottach-Egern, shaken awake by the pictures from the Ukraine, want to remember the dark chapter of German history.

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