"A lot of dust whirled up and obscured the sunlight but more planes were still coming on and suddenly long shining sticks (about one man in length) were thickly falling now and dropping among us - impaling quite a few unfortunate prisoners on the forest floor and then instantly exploding all over the place.
Some of us started running wildly only to be splattered by the immense fire bits from exploding incendiary bombs, that's the objects we were being hit by now! Those infernal things being so light got blown or rather sucked backwards towards us in a vacuum created by the former explosions and by a counter wind that blew them off target.
Besides dust there was also smoke and fire and more cries from victims all intermingled like Hell Fire. Also, a rush was on - the guardian S.S. had retreated down the slope and a bit more and they were in the bushes ready for the next onslaught of men that would go in that direction - which I could say was going to happen at any moment now! Better to stay put, this was no time for a mass outbreak - unless we had already prepared for it and had known it would happen like this - even the pilots did not envisage this turn of events!
As I was pondering the events before me I suddenly heard short bursts of machine gun fire, rifles and pistol salvo's resounding from the direction of the massive rush and then more screams. The rest of the crowd came running back towards us now, they got no further than that! The S.S. following on their heels, luckily with the shooting stopping now and the S.S. saying to us, "that's what your friends did to you all - "!Now pointing to the victims and deaths before us. All of us looking in disbelief at our friends, some of whom had their intestines hanging out of their bellies as they had been ripped open.
This was the fruits of war and the accidents with it - nobody knew which was the worst, but one provoked the other. There was no safe course in between the battling opposites. The poor chaps who had run had gone from the frying pan into the fire - from being torn to pieces one minute to the piercing bullets in the other minute. I don't know of any battle that is worse or better, it is, all "To Each His Own" over and over again.
The theme would return till it was over and done with. The ultimate price we all had to pay, friend and foe alike with the relentless march of the conquerors and their war horses!
I noticed now that the S.S. were not brandishing their pistols as much and one of them said he was in just as much a state of shock as we were, which was good to observe on them. He let us walk back unmolested to pick up our wounded, who cared about the dead at that moment, nobody!
One of my unfortunate friends was totally disemboweled and we felt like putting his entrails back for him but he was far beyond the point of pain and just smiled peacefully at us - still having presence of mind. He expired quickly after that with us both holding his hands. He was the one who told us about keeping a stick or twig in our mouths during the impact of the explosions!
We were now holding and helping to support a couple of prisoners who had been shot in their legs. We came to an open clearing, near the entrance of the forest and while avoiding the big, gaping, open craters in the ground we looked back, on our left side, at what had been Guzloff Werke.
As far as we could see, at that moment, there was nothing remaining apart from a few walls and ruins with pits. Total destruction had been achieved and beyond that nothing much, a few more walls here and there were now breaking into view, a grandiose view of almost complete devastation.
That was only a quick glance because we now hurried to get back into the camp, struggling with the wounded hopping in between us.....".
To be continued ...
Some of us started running wildly only to be splattered by the immense fire bits from exploding incendiary bombs, that's the objects we were being hit by now! Those infernal things being so light got blown or rather sucked backwards towards us in a vacuum created by the former explosions and by a counter wind that blew them off target.
Besides dust there was also smoke and fire and more cries from victims all intermingled like Hell Fire. Also, a rush was on - the guardian S.S. had retreated down the slope and a bit more and they were in the bushes ready for the next onslaught of men that would go in that direction - which I could say was going to happen at any moment now! Better to stay put, this was no time for a mass outbreak - unless we had already prepared for it and had known it would happen like this - even the pilots did not envisage this turn of events!
As I was pondering the events before me I suddenly heard short bursts of machine gun fire, rifles and pistol salvo's resounding from the direction of the massive rush and then more screams. The rest of the crowd came running back towards us now, they got no further than that! The S.S. following on their heels, luckily with the shooting stopping now and the S.S. saying to us, "that's what your friends did to you all - "!Now pointing to the victims and deaths before us. All of us looking in disbelief at our friends, some of whom had their intestines hanging out of their bellies as they had been ripped open.
This was the fruits of war and the accidents with it - nobody knew which was the worst, but one provoked the other. There was no safe course in between the battling opposites. The poor chaps who had run had gone from the frying pan into the fire - from being torn to pieces one minute to the piercing bullets in the other minute. I don't know of any battle that is worse or better, it is, all "To Each His Own" over and over again.
The theme would return till it was over and done with. The ultimate price we all had to pay, friend and foe alike with the relentless march of the conquerors and their war horses!
I noticed now that the S.S. were not brandishing their pistols as much and one of them said he was in just as much a state of shock as we were, which was good to observe on them. He let us walk back unmolested to pick up our wounded, who cared about the dead at that moment, nobody!
One of my unfortunate friends was totally disemboweled and we felt like putting his entrails back for him but he was far beyond the point of pain and just smiled peacefully at us - still having presence of mind. He expired quickly after that with us both holding his hands. He was the one who told us about keeping a stick or twig in our mouths during the impact of the explosions!
We were now holding and helping to support a couple of prisoners who had been shot in their legs. We came to an open clearing, near the entrance of the forest and while avoiding the big, gaping, open craters in the ground we looked back, on our left side, at what had been Guzloff Werke.
As far as we could see, at that moment, there was nothing remaining apart from a few walls and ruins with pits. Total destruction had been achieved and beyond that nothing much, a few more walls here and there were now breaking into view, a grandiose view of almost complete devastation.
That was only a quick glance because we now hurried to get back into the camp, struggling with the wounded hopping in between us.....".
To be continued ...
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