European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

and only when in 1939 the war began, the enlistments started.

I was not enlisted until the end of 1940, so that we had two years of time for the illegal work.

Only when we had to enlist, where the alternative would have been going to a concentration camp,

the work in the ‘Wehrmacht’ started and the attempt to form anti-fascist cells.

Like many others of us, I was enlisted to the ‘Wehrmacht’ after doing illegal work for nearly two years.

We discussed what we were going to do; either refuse to accept the enlisting order,

meaning torture and concentration camp or agree that we have more opportunities as soldiers.

That was our collective decision.

Being a recruit, I was in Bayreuth and there was an illegal group.

A commercial traveller, an anti-fascist who commuted between the borders,

associated me with the anti-fascist group there.

For them I was a stranger, they wanted proof:

How reliable is this man and what can he do?

They said: “We need ammunition. Can you provide us with a box of hand grenades?

We have explosives - but not enough - everything else is available!”

It was a tough job,

but during a transport I put aside a box of hand grenades at the risk of loosing my life and let them know.

Three days later the district recruiting office in Bayreuth was blown up with the entire file.

In the ammunition factory the most important machine was blown up and the most difficult:

on the air field we blew up two out of three machines.