Mom was in the Luftwaffe

Great stories, Walt. But I'm a little confused about the attitudes towards your mom. Does she have a spotty memory about these incidents or have tendencies towards hyperbole?

 

I'm a little confused by your question but it's still a great question. Whose attitudes toward my Mom. Me or the readers of the thread. No matter.

First of all let me say that I always thought Mom was nuts. That is until I lived in Germany and saw large groups of Germans acting together. In America she was a fish out of water.

Secondly, she was a Loyal Party Member. She went to her grave thinking Hitler was a great man. As she put it, "He was like Nixon, he had bad advisers."

Mom had complete faith in the Final Victory even in the 70's. Germany had not lost because their cause was wrong. It had to be Russian/American/English treachery and deceit. Mostly the Russians. Except when she was drunk and then she'd go on about how the Americans were cowards and weak. Attacking only when Russia had got a couple of lucky shots in.

To confuse the issue still further. She also harbored the German Collective Guilt. For most Germans, it's the guilt of the holocaust. For True Believers is the Guilt of the Loss. I think I've said it here before. As I met German men of my age they seemed effeminate. Not due to sexual orientation but from the fact their Dad's couldn't brag about winning the war.

I am Mom's biggest skeptic. I became a student of history to prove her stories wrong. I've been surprised by their accuracy for the most part but reject her core beliefs out of hand. When friends get to know me they always seem to ask if I'm a Nazi. I say "No, I'm not a Nazi but my Mother was".

 

Good lord, that is amazing. Yes, I was wondering why you kept on voicing your doubts about your mom's stories. Thanks for clarifying.

I am curious though. Why did a lot of German men become effeminate, when their fathers were from one of the most militaristic generations in human history? A lot of Germans I've met are like that as well.

 

Slightly Off Topic

I served in the Air Force in Germany. We did a trip up to Jever for training. We stayed in a Gausthaus and even had a Stamm Tisch. The gang was playing RISK and I took a seat at the bar to wait for my turn to join the game.

An elderly German walked in. He was dressed to the nines in a grey three piece suit. He had a Red Haired Sports Model on his arm. As he walked up to the bar, he asked the bartender who the loud people were. She said, "They're American Air Force". He laughed and said he'd shot plenty of them down. At this point I noticed his tie. A striped one. Red, black and grey. "Old School", I thought. Party colors. The white traded for grey.

I bought him a beer and told him stories of Mom. He bought me a beer and told stories of blasting B-17's and B-24's out of the air in his trusty Fokker Wulf 190. After a few beers between us, the guys called to me and said it was my turn. You should have seen the look on his face when I told them in English that I'd be right over.

As I put my empty on the bar I said to him:

"Aber die Amerikanner hat Ihren Arshe Geschlagen."

and walked away.

 

Wow! I answered your question while doing that post. Why? Because Germany and Japan were the first nations who were utterly crushed in defeat. Japan to a lesser degree because they had no Holocaust Guilt. Yeah, we kicked their ass. There was no noble defeat of standing armies in the field. We killed their children, destroyed their homes, took their food. We invented this during the American Civil War but it was perfected in Germany and Japan in 1944 and 45. The Old School, like that fighter pilot remember the glory of battle and like my Mom tend to remember the good times. Post war German kids had only memories if how bad the Germans are/were. No pride, no masculine aggression.

 

That's what I don't understand. If I was German son, I wouldn't be ashamed if my father served in the heer or luftwaffe like millions of others.

 

Hmmm? I think I know where your confusion is coming from. Yes, I think you would not be ashamed. From 1946 until the reunification, Germany had no history between 1933 until 1946. It was not taught in schools. It was not spoke of in the home. Many kids of my age didn't even KNOW that their Dad fought in the war. You're 23 if I read the bio right. You grew knowing where the RMS Titanic is. You grew up after reunification, there has always been One Germany. Children of the Reunification are very proud of their Germany. They are very proud of what Granddad did in the war.

Way Off Topic (sort of)

Why did Germany and Japan go to war? For Germany a pan European Germany, from France to the Ukraine. Japan for the Asian Co-prosperity Sphere. Now in 2009, is there not a United States of Europe? Is not Japan the center of a powerful Asian economy?

Who won the war?

 

Walt,

Thank you for your stories sir. Ironic that trade did armies of million men could not accomplish without any resistance.

Wolfy,

I remember this really nice German kid from when I was in an American boarding school. Never said or did anything mean to anybody--very well-off with a familiy fortune, too. I did find that he was sensitive about his last name, von Falkenhausen. When I asked him if his family is old aristocracy, he always corrected me and said that his family "was" aristocracy but they are honest lawyers now. Later, we found out that he might have been a descendent or relative of Alexander von Falkenhausen, the German governor-general of Belgium.

It's hard to be proud of your heritage when the history is so ambiguous. Very hard to come into terms with, I think.

 

Does any of this ring a bell? My best research so far has come up with:

Luftgau-Kommandos I Königsberg prior to 1945
Luftwaffenkommando Ostpreußen (Airforce Command East Prussia)1945
Sturzkampfgeschwader 1
Grieslienen, East Prussia
Elbing, East Prussia, summer 1939

Is there records that put STKG1 in Insterburg?

I've got a couple of choices for the squadron. I'm still trying to locate unit insignia and paint schemes.

 

look what I posted on page 1 if you will, only the I. gruppe was based in Inste and that being in the fall of 1939. Sturz. 1 was terminated in 1943 the crews and personell being absorbed by other ground attack units..........

her time in the Luftkommando Ostpreußia was in Königsberg or at least what was left of the Luftwaffe in that area which was not much except for ground crew serving as ground pounders with Panzerfaust and Panzerschrecks.

 

Your posts are very amazing, and bring to memory an experience I had in Europe.
While I was in France learning French, there was a German girl in my class. I asked her one time out of curiosity how WWII was taught to them in school. She said it was taught that the Hitler government was bad, the NAZI ideology was bad, Hitlers evolution based classification of the races was bad, but that those who served there country were honorable. She harbored no open resentment toward me as an American, or toward the British or French, but felt we needed to put these things behind us and move on. She said her mom told her stories that her grandparents were initially devout "Party" members, but became disillusioned as the war progressed.
Please continue with your posting as it is very interesting.