THE STORY OF MY LIFE Volume 1 (1928 – 1956) An Autobiography by Wulf T. Doerry Copyright © 2003 by Wulf T. Doerry All rights reserved. No part of this autobiography may be excerpted, reproduced, copied, or duplicated by any method whatsoever unless specifically approved by the author. This prohibition includes, but is not limited to, recording, taping, and entering into electronic storage and retrieval systems. ii I dedicate this autobiography to My wife Edith (Penner) Doerry And to our children Armin Doerry Karen (Doerry) Demel Hilda (Doerry) Biselx Norbert Doerry And to our 9 grandchildren iii iv CONTENTS CONTENTS................................................................................................................................................................. v PREFACE..................................................................................................................................................................vii CHAPTER 1: MARIENBURG (1928-1935)............................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 2: LAUENBURG, POMMERN (1935-1939) ...................................................................................... 17 CHAPTER 3: GOLLNOW (1939-1945) ................................................................................................................. 27 CHAPTER 4: IN TRANSITION: FROM WAR TO PEACE (1945) ................................................................... 51 CHAPTER 5: A NEW BEGINNING: WESTERWEYHE (1945-1948)............................................................... 77 CHAPTER 6: SEARCHING FOR A FUTURE (1948-1951) .............................................................................. 103 CHAPTER 7: STARTING A NEW LIFE IN THE NEW WORLD: AVOCA, IOWA (1951-1952)................ 125 CHAPTER 8: STARTING A NEW CAREER: OMAHA, NEBRASKA (1952-1953)...................................... 153 CHAPTER 9: U.S. Army: In Training (1953-1954)............................................................................................. 173 CHAPTER 10: U.S. Army: Fort Lewis (1954-1955) ............................................................................................ 203 CHAPTER 11: RETURN TO CIVILIAN LIFE: OMAHA & AIB (1955-1956) ............................................... 251 POSTSCRIPT.......................................................................................................................................................... 273 v vi PREFACE I wrote The Story of my Life as a response to suggestions from my two sons who wanted to know more about my early life and the conditions that motivated me to come to the United States of America. The biography is partially based on what I still remember, but primarily on diaries and letters I wrote during this time. I actually started to write down experiences and impressions during the summer of 1949, while many events, dates, and names were still fresh in my mind. Unfortunately, the diaries and the letters were written in German and are not very useful to anybody not knowing this language. I also had saved a good number of important documents, which support my memories and served as a framework for this autobiography. In order for the reader to gain a better understanding of the difficult times the German people lived through during the first half of the 20th century, I wrote about these as I experienced and remembered them. Although I tried to avoid being judgmental about these times by applying new knowledge acquired at a later time, my memory of the political events during my early childhood was definitely influenced and shaped by the public opinion prevailing at that time. Readers of this biography will have an opportunity to experience Germany during the 1930s and 1940s as I did it, the good and the bad. Poland annexed the original East Germany in 1945. This formerly German territory had been my home until Russian troops occupied it in early 1945. The majority of the German population escaped from their homes before the Russian army arrived. The new Polish government of this territory first disowned and then expelled the remaining German population after WW II and replaced the German names of towns and rivers with Polish names. To avoid any confusion for readers not familiar with this area and its history, I matched the old German names of communities from pre-WW II times with the present Polish names. In preparation for this biography, my wife Edith and I revisited in 1995 and 1997 locations we had lived at in Poland and Germany before, during, and after the War. Many things had changed, while others just showed 50+ years of additional age and/or neglect. Many places in Poland and in the present East Germany were different from what I remembered them to be. Others were easy to recognize, because little had been done to maintain them. Apparently, communist governments with centralized economic controls, as was common for countries east of the former Iron Curtain, had used value systems different from those expected from western governments. The economic systems of “western countries” are usually based on “free enterprise” and transfer to the individual owners the responsibility for maintaining privately owned property. These formerly communist countries had offered to the public little or no incentive to invest in the maintenance of property owned by everybody. However, with the gradual transfer of property to private ownership since the early 1990s, one already can notice significant improvements. This autobiography covers my life until after my graduation from the American Institute of Baking (AIB) in June 1956. Another biography, written in a different style, covers the next 40 years. This second biography covers my professional life as well as the growing up of our family. Although of much interest to some people, this second part of my biography is primarily vii family history and contains some value judgements not everybody may agree with. The completion of this second part, however, must wait until I have finished the translation into English of the biographies of my parents. This will be a major project! But I hope to get this done during the next 3-5 years. I hope that the readers of my autobiography will gain a better understanding of my life before, during, and after WW II. I am not saying that my life was more difficult or more challenging than what our grandchildren face today. We all have similar opportunities and what we achieve in our lifetime will depend on how we exploit these opportunities. We must recognize them and make the best of what is available to us! My future in this country was secured by the Korean War G.I. Bill, which paid for some of my formal education and made it possible for me to study at the AIB and to earn a college degree in chemistry. Before I close, I want to thank our sons Norbert and Armin not only for urging me to write this autobiography, but also for their assistance whenever I needed help to overcome the mysteries of my computer. They spent many hours explaining to me how to do things, while I tended to forget things almost as quickly as I learned them! I wish all of you readers a good time with The Story of my Life. viii CHAPTER 1: MARIENBURG (1928-1935) Marienburg: Origin of the castle and the town The town of Marienburg is now known as Malbork and belongs to Poland. It is situated on the east bank of the Nogat River, which is the east fork of the Vistula River (German: Weichsel; Polish: Wista). The town took its name from the castle Marienburg built by the Teutonic Order and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ. The Teutonic Order was formed in 1190 to help German crusaders in their attempt to regain and secure the Holy Land for Christianity. Although most members of this religious order were of German origin, the Order gradually attracted enough non-German people to make it an international organization. For the first 119 years, the Teutonic Order (Deutscher Ritterorden) was governed by a Grand Master (Hochmeister) and a General Chapter consisting of members of the main house (equivalent to a cabinet of ministers) and the various masters, who governed the individual provinces of the Order. After the Grand Master moved to Marienburg, he replaced the General Chapter with a Council appointed by him. In 1226, King Konrad I Mazowiecki asked the prestigious order for help to control the pagan Prussians and endowed the Order with the district of Chelmno (Kulm). This is the area east of the Vistula River (Weichsel, Wista) and located between Bydgoszcz (Bromberg) in the southwest and Grudziadz (Graudenz) in the northeast of Chelmno. Emperor Frederick II approved of this and granted the Order title to all lands occupied by the Prussians. The Teutonic Order established its first stronghold in that region in 1234 in Torun (Thorn), east-southeast of Bydgoszcz. From here it soon established a dense network of fortified watchtowers to control and defend the region against the Prussians. Komturia administered the individual districts under the direction of Commanders, who governed their areas from fortified brick structures. Each of the komturia housed a monastery with a minimum of 12 knight-brothers and six clergy members. All knight-brothers had to provide proof that they were of nobility. The komturia Zantyr was located at the fork of the Vistula and Nogat Rivers. During the years of 1274-1276, the commander of that region, Konrad von Thierberg, built a new fortified komturia