European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

My Mother was clever. There was an illegal co-worker of the partisans in Bleiburg.

After 2 to 3 weeks, my mother gave one of them a parcel to take it to this woman.

Later this woman took the parcel to the post with my military address on it,

the one I should have reported to after my holiday.

The parcel came back again…

The parcels kept going backwards and forwards.

Conscription to the Wehrmacht, injury

In March 43 I had to go to the army physician because I had to enlist.

I already had connection to the partisans.

In August I received the call-up to the army.

I said: “What shall we do?”

They wanted me to enlist but my mother was against it. Mother was frightened:

“They will destroy everything and burn our house down” and cried.

But I thought that the families would not have to pay so much.

So I enlisted in Klagenfurt. From above we might get a contact.

When I was in Klagenfurt, you know how it is with the military – today like this, tomorrow like that.

From Klagenfurt to Salzburg; from Salzburg to Lienz, East Tyrol.

Then to Italy via Venice, Rome up to … near Monte Cassino.

Then we were sent to the front.

There I was wounded, had a first and second-degree frostbite