European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

War costs so many deaths - don’t you have to consider

that even innocent people loose their life in the fight against fascism?

That is already a difficult question in civil life, it was the same under war conditions.

We said the fight against the fascist regime had to come before anything else;

a very difficult ethic decision.

Well, the question of desertion was obviously discussed between all the people who were active as anti-fascists.

Only in Africa there was no front which’s lines could have been passed.

In Africa warfare was mobile.

You could only change fronts if a unit was enclosed by the English.

Then it was possible to say: “I would like to run over”. Or to say: “I’ll run away”, then you avoided captivity.

When I came to Poland and Russia, that did not work because,

as a radio operator, you were too far away from the front.

As a radio operator you are relatively far behind where the general staff sits.

And they sit 50 to 60 km behind the front.

Most of the time I was with the army, at the higher posts.

We were away from the front, so it did not work there, but the opportunity had to be taken.

I would have done so like many others if the option had occurred.