A Kokoda Campaign Chronology

*Information for this blog post was found on http://www.anzacportal.dva.gov.au*

Overview of the Kokoda Campaign: The Japanese landed on the Northern Coast of Papua New Guinea, near Gona, on the 21st of July 1942. In the two months that followed, they managed to push the Australians and their local Papuan allies towards Port Moresby (which was the Japanese objective). The Japanese were able to come within 40 kilometres of Port Moresby but in September, the tides turned and the Australians began to push the Japanese back the way they came. Even though costly, the Australians were able to force the Japanese into abandoning their plan to capture Port Moresby.

Even though both sides were not used to jungle warfare, the Japanese were the first to find their feet. Groups of 4-6 men would crawl towards their target to try and stun them with grenades. To kill a few enemies could take a couple of hours and it was not uncommon not to see any live enemies during an engagement.

Patrolling the jungle was a vital job because the jungle could easily conceal large numbers of men and therefore, it was important to know where the enemy was and what they were doing. At one point in the campaign, both armies were patrolling an area of up to 100 kilometres and could often be deep behind enemy lines.

The Australians suffered more from illness from the Japanese. A study of 1943 stated that the Japanese were the ‘most inoculated army in the world.’ However in November, the Japanese casualties started to rise and this can be traced back to problems with Japanese supply. Both armies had to battle through dysentry and malaria.

Timeline of Events:

Sunday 7th December 1941 – The War in the Pacific Begins: The United States base in Manila and the British army in Malaya were attacked.

Tuesday 9th December 1941 – Japan invaded Malaya and Thailand: This occurs just after midnight on the 8th of December.

Wednesday 10th December 1941 – Australia Declares War on Japan: Australia declares war on Japan.

Saturday 3rd January 1942 – Allies Arrive in Port Moresby: As a part of a plan to protect Australia, a battalion is sent to Timor, Ambon and Rabaul and a brigade arrived at Port Moresby.

Friday 23rd January 1942 – The Japanese Invade Rabaul: The Japanese invade Australian-held Rabaul and the division that was holding it, including six army nurses, were captured.

Tuesday 3rd February 1942 – Port Moresby is bombed: Port Moresby has its first bombing raid as Ambon falls to the Japanese.

Saturday 14th February 1942 – Military Rule is Declared in Papua: Military rule is formaly declared and Civil Government is suspended.

Sunday 15th February 1942 – Singapore Surrenders: On this day, General Percival calls for a ceasefire and makes the desicion to surrender. More than 100,000 troops (14,972 Australians) became Prisoners of War.

Thursday 19th February 1942 – Japanese First Bomb Darwin: Darwin suffers it first adn most devistating air raid and the Australian mainland was attacked for the first time.

Monday 23rd February 1942 – Fall of Timor: The Australian positions are overrun in the west of East Timor and Duch West Timor is surrendered to the invading Japanese force.

Sunday 8th March 1942 – Japanese land on New Guinea: The Imperial Japanese Armyland at Lae and Salamaua in New Guinea. Their aim is to establish airbases to attack Port Moresby.

Thursday 12th March 1942 – Fall of Java: Java falls to the Japanese with Dutch, British, Australian and American troops taken Prisoner.

Thursday 18th April 1942 – MacArthur is Appointed Commander in Chief: General Douglas MacArthur is appointed Commander in Chief of the South west Pacific Area.

Monday 4th May 1942 – The Battle of the Coral Sea: Japanese transportships were on their way to invade Port Moresby from Rabaul. An American adn Australian fleet attacked them and forced them to abandon. The Japanese and Americans lost 1 carrier each.

Friday 8th May 1942 – Philippine Falls: Philippine falls to the Japanese forces. This now means that the three Japanese infantry regiment that captured the Philippines are now available to assist in operations against New Guinea and the Soloman Islands.

Sunday 31st May 1942 – Japanese Submarines Enter Sydney Harbour: In the late afternoon, three Japanese submarines, sitting 13 kilometres off Sydney Harbour, lauhcned midget submarines. One of these midget submarines fired a torpedo that sunk the HMAS Kuttabul.

Wednesday 3rd June 1942 – The Battle of Midway: The Battel of Midway occurs in the Central Pacific. The Japanese Navy is defeated with the loss of four aircraft carriers.

Tuesday 14th June 1942 – Japanese Decide to Attack Port Moresby Overland: Japanese command decides to attack Port Moresby overland, from north to south. They would follow the Kokoda Trail to Port Moresby.

Tuesday 7th July 1942 – Australian Kokoda Operations Begin: Warned that the Japanese may land on the north coast of PNG, Papuan and Australian troops begin operations along the Kokoda track.

Tuesday 21st July 1942 – Japanese Forces Land at Gona: The Japanese land at Gona and begin the advance across the Owen Stanley Range and over the Kokoda Track.

Wednesday 29th July 1942 – Japanese Attack Kokoda: The Japanese attack on Kokoda is successful. The Australian commander is killed and the Australians retreat to Deniki.

Tuesday 4th August 1942 – Cameron Takes Command: Lieutenant-Colonel Allan Cameron arrived to take command of the “Marouba Force”.

Friday 7th August 1942 – US Marines Land at Guadalcanal: US Marines land in the Solomon Islands to divert the japanese focus from Papua New Guinea.

Saturday 8th August 1942 – Second Kokoda: Under Cameron, The Australians counter attack Kokoda from Deniki. They are unable to hold it and retreat to Deniki again.

Thursday 13th August 1942 – Major General Allen Arrives in Port Moresby: The 7th Australian Division is to reinforce th Australians along the Kokoda trail. Its commander flies into Port Moresby.

Sunday 16th August 1942 – Lrt Col Honner arrives: Lt Col Honner arrives at Isurava and takes command of the Marouba force from Cameron.

Friday 29th August 1942 – The Only VC of the Kokoda Campaign is won: When the outnumbered Australians wee defending Isurava, Private Bruse Kingsbury was firing his Bren gun and was able to break a path through the enemy and recapture the position. He is killed by a sniper, and awarded the Victoria Cross posthumosly.

Sunday 31st August 1942 – Australian Forces Withdraw from Isurava: The Australians who were followed by the Japanese, pass though Templeton’s Crossing and fall into the mountains.

Thursday 4th September 1942 – Japanese Defeated at Milne Bay: The Japanese suffer their first land defeat by Australian troops at Milne Bay.

Sunday 7th September 1942 – Japanese Attack at Efogi: The Australians stationed at Mission Ridge and Brigade Hill are defeated and driven back by the Japanese.

Wednesday 10th September 1942 – Potts is Recalled: Because of the defeats at Isurava and Brigade Hill, Brigadier Arnold Potts is recalled by Thomas Blamey.

Tuesday 16th September 1942 – Japanese Gain Control of Ioribaiwa Ridge: After a couple of days of heavy fighting, the Australian defences are shattered and the Japanese occupy Ioribaiwa Ridge. The Australians retreat to Imita Ridge.

Tuesday 23rd September 1942 – Blamey arrives at Port Moresby: Gemeral Blamey arrives at Port Moresby to take personal command of the New Guinea Force.

Sunday 28th September 1942 – Japanese Withdrawal Begins:  Fearing that the Australians may land to their rear, the Japanese reteat. When Eather attacks Ioribaiwa Ridge, he finds the Japanese have gone.

Monday 29th September 1942 – Australians Push Back Japanese: The Australians begin to push the Japanese along the Kokoda track.

Tuesday 30th September 1942 – Australians Re-enter Nauro: The Australian 2/25th battalion enters Nauro and find it unoccupied.

Monday 12th October 1942 – Japanese Defeated at Eora-Templeton’s: The Japanese attempt to hold the Owen Stanley Range’s postition but they are driven out of the mountains by the Australians

Wednesday 28th October 1942 – Australian Divisional Commander Replaced: Major General Arthur Allen is removed and George Vasey is appointed to replace him.

Monday 2nd November 1942- Kokoda is Recaptured: The Australians re-enter Kokoda on 2nd November, 1942

Tuesday 3rd November 1942 – The Australian Flag is Hoisted over Kokoda: Eather’s 25th Brigade enters the abandoned Kokoda. The Japanese rearguard had left two days earlier. Just after 11am, General Vasey hoists an Australian flag over Kokoda.

Wednesday 4th November 1942 – Japanese are defeated at Oivi-Gonari: The Japanese are defeated and are driven back to their base on the coast between Gona and Buna.

Monday 9th November 1942 – Blamey delivers ‘Rabbits’ Speech: In an address to the troops, General Blamey is accused of implying that the men ran like rabbits during the Japanese advance on Kokoda.

Thursday 12th November 1942 – Battle of Guadalcanal: The Japanese withdraw from Guadalcanal after their largest attempt to reinforce the island fails.

Monday 16th November 1942 – Battle of Buna-Gone Begins: Teh Japanese who have been pushed back to their main base in Papua, dig in around Gona, Sanananda and Buna. The Americans and Australians atatck them their

Wednesday 9th December 1942 – Gona Falls to the Australians: Gona falls to the Australians on the 9th December 1942.

Saturday 2nd January 1943 – Buna Falls: Buna falls to the Americans and Australians.

Friday 22nd January 1943 – Final Foothold is Annihilated: The final Japanese beach foothold is destroyed. The reminants of the Japanese force escape north towards Lae.

Saturday 23rd January 1943 – Papuan Campaign ends: Ofiicial end to the Papuan Campaign

Tuesday 2nd March 1943 – Battle of the Bismark Sea: The Japanese sent a convoy of ships to reinforce the reminants of their troops in New Guinea. In three days of air attacks, the RAAF and USAAF sank all of the transporters and four of the destoryers. At least 2890 Japanese were killed.

 

 

 

 

Poem – A Soldier’s Suffering

I wish I was home

With my wife and son

I will return to Australia

When this war is won.

 

The things I have seen

No-one should ever see

There are so many times

I have wanted to flee.

 

I am struck with fear

My mind is stuck on repeat

Memories going around and around

I feel so incomplete.

 

Guns shooting in my head

Bombs going boom!

They never go away so

I automatically assume,

 

I’m mad, i’m worthless

Who could love me like this?

It’s like I am hovering

Over a dark abyss.

 

I am now home

But the pain is still here

I wish it would just vanish,

Just disappear.

 

I am constantly transported

Away to another time.

It is almost like going

To another lifetime.

 

However, the memories are so real,

So vividly real.

Time after time,

Like on a filmreel.

 

I cannot live like this

I cannot control my voice

And now it looks like

I only have one choice…

 

Ella Bibby 2/7/2017

Poem – The War is Coming

The war is coming closer

We are all going to be hit

They will come and bomb us

And destroy every last bit

 

I really don’t like this

I really don’t feel safe

I wish mum and I

Would move to some other place

 

And then they came

With their bombs and their planes

And I must admit,

They had a crack aim

 

I ran to the post office

To try and find mum

But when I saw the wreckage,

How fast did I run

 

I tried to find shelter,

Somewhere to stay

Then my brain went on a tangent,

I tried to keep the thoughts at bey

 

At least dad is alive,

Fragments in his hip,

He is on his way to Perth

On a hospital ship.

 

I need to see him

I need to get out.

I need to get away

From all of these shouts.

 

That was 50 years ago

When I had to flee

The home that I loved,

But now I am free.

 

Free from war, from bomb,

From destruction and loss

Even from pain

And feeling cross

 

No one should go through that,

Not by choice,

But now that it is through,

I have found my voice.

 

A voice to share,

A voice to educate,

Who knows,

Maybe this was my fate?

 

Ella Bibby 1/7/2017

World War 1 Quotes

“Two armies that fight each other is like one army committing suicide” – Henri Barbusse, French Soldier

“This is a war to end all wars” – Woodrow Wilson

“Only the dead have seen the end of all wars” – George Santayana, in response to Woodrow Wilson

“If the women in the factories stopped for just 20 minutes, the Allies would lose the war” – French Field Marshal Joffre

“Being shelled is the main work of an infantry soldier, which no one talks about. Everyone has his on way of going about it. In general, it means lying face down and contracting your body into as small a place as possible.” – Louis Simpson

“In no circumstances whatever will the expression ‘shell-shock’ be used verbally or be recorded in any regimental or other casualty report, or in any hospital or other medical document” – British Army General Routine Order No. 2384

“This is the end and the beginning of an age. This is something far greater than the French Revolution or the Reformation and we live in it” – H.G Wells

“We had been brought up to believe that Britain was the best country in the world and we wanted to defend her.The history taught us that we were better than other people and now all the news was that Germany was the aggressor and we wanted to show the Germans what we could do.” – Private George Morgan

“Walking abroad, one is the admiration of all little boys, and meets an approving glance from every eye of elderly” – Wilfred Owen

“When our new armies are ready it seems folly to send them to Flanders, where they will chew barbed wire, or be waster in futile frontal attacks” – Henry Asquith

“Don’t forget me, Cobber” – Fromelles soldier to Simon Frasier

“We had strict orders not to take prisoners, no matter if wounded. My first job was when I finished cutting some of their wire away, to empty my magazine on three Germans that came out of their deep dugouts, bleeding badly, and put them out of their misery. They cried for mercy, but I had my orders” – A.H Hubbard

“We had a tremendous number of frostbite cases at the beginning of 1917. Their feet were absolutely white, swollen up, dead. Some of their toes dropped off with it.” – Kathleen Yardwood

“All that winter we took in bronchitis and rheumatism cases. Some of the bronchitis patients were as bad ad men who were gassed, but the rheumatism cases were really the worst. It was pathetic to see these young men absolutely crippled with rheumatism, sometimes doubled up as if they were men of eighty instead of boys in their twenties. They suffered terrible pain with it.” – Sister Mary Stollard

“The home front is always underrated by Generals in the field. And yet that is where the Great War was won and lost. The Russian, Bulgarian, Austrian and German home fronts fell to pieces before their army collapsed.” – Lloyd George

“Patriots always talk of dying for their country, and never of killing for their country” – Bertrand Russell

“Don’t believe stories which you see in the papers about troops asking as a special privilege not to be relieved. We stick it, at all costs if necessary, as long as ordered, but everyone is glad to hand over to someone else. And anyone who says he enjoys this kind of thing is either a liar or a madman.” – Captain Harry Yoxall

“We’re telling lies; we know we’re telling lies; we don’t tell the public the truth, that we’re losing more officers than the Germans, and that it’s impossible to get through on the Western Front.” – Rothermere to J.L Garvin

“The cries of the wounded had much diminished now, and as we staggered down the road, the reason was only too apparent, for the water was right over the tops of the shell-holes.” – Captain Edwin Vaughan

“One of the enemy soldiers remover his water bottle and passed it around. I will never forget this gesture as long as I live. Those troops o=now occupying our position turned out to be Canadians. After being searched for weapons and documents were led away.” – Gefreiter Fritz Heinemann

“They were pathetic, these shell-shocked boys, and a lot of them were very sensitive about the fact that they were incontinent. The’d say ‘Im terribly sorry about it, Sister, its shaken me all over and I can’t control it. Just imagine, to wet the bed at my age!” – Sister Mary Stollard

“The storm lashes us, out of the confusion of grey and yellow the hail of splinters whips forth the childlike cries of the wounded, and in the night shattered life groans painfully into silence. Our hands are earth, out bodies clay and out eyes pools of rain. We do not know whether we are still alive.” – Erich Remarque

“The brutality and inhumanity of war stood in great contrast to what I had heard and read about as a youth” – Reinhold Spengler

“The newspapers informed us that German soldiers crucified babies. Stories of that kind were taken for granted; to have disbelieved them would have been unpatriotic.” – S Sassoon

The New Zealand Part of the ANZAC Forces

This year, I was chosen to be a Shrine of Remembrance Youth Ambassador. As a youth ambassador, I am expected to inform both my community and my school of the happenings of World War One and Two as well as continuing on the legacy of the ANZAC Forces.

This school holidays, I was asked to help run a program called ‘Dogs, Dolphins and Donkeys’ for children aged 4-10. This program is about learning what animals did in the theatres of war.

When I ran the first workshop, I got into conversation with a mum (who was from New Zealand) who had brought her two sons to the program. We got talking and she shared with me two amazing stories of her great-grandfather and her grandfather who fought in WW1 and WW2.

The first story she told me was about her great-grandfather who fought at Gallipoli. He was apart of the ANZACs and he had a donkey. He was a stretcher bearer who also used a donkey to transport wounded ANZAC’s to hospital ships. He worked alongside John Simpson Kirkpatrick and the most amazing thing is the famous painting of Simpson and his Donkey that she recalls being told that it is actually of her great-grandfather.

The other story was of her Grandad. He was deployed to Crete and after fighting there, was taken Prisoner of War by the Germans. This is where the story takes a surprising turn. For some reason, the German officials in charge of his group liked him and allowed him to set up a laundry business for the Germans. He was even paid! By the time he was liberated, he had earned quite a bit of money and went back home to New Zealand with cash in hand.

Information about the Battle of Crete: The battles were fought from the second week of May, where German airbourne troops attacked the allied divisions. By the end of May, hte resistance had broken down and the Germans took small groups of allied soldiers prisoner. (Info found at https://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/crete.asp )

These stories that were told to me were very facinating and being able to share stories of family members (especially her grandfather) must have being very hard and I thank her for sharing those stories with me.

For info about the Shrine of Remembrance: http://www.shrine.org.au/home

Important: I have recieved verbal permission for this to be posted.

 

Nuremburg Trials

What were the Nuremburg Trials?

The Nuremburg Trials were a series of 13 trials that were set up to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. The defendants included high ranking German officials as well as German doctors, lawyers and industrialists. The Nuremburg Trials are considered in today society a milestone towards the making of a permanent international court and an example of how to deal with later genocides and crimes against humanity.

The Major War Criminals’ Trial – 1945-1946:

The most well know of the Nuremburg Trials was the Major War Criminals’ Trial that started on November 20th 1945 and finished on October 2nd, 1946. The decisions and sentences were decided by a tribunal (panel of judges) rather than a single judge or jury. Each of the 4 allied countries were asked to supply 2 judges (a main and an alternate).

24 individuals, along with 6 Nazi organisations that were determined to be criminal (such as the SS or the Gestapo). One man was deemed medically unfit to stand trial and a second man committed suicide before the trial began. Adolf Hitler and his two top leaders, Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Gobbels and their families, had each committed suicide in the spring of 1945, before they could be brought to trial.

The result of the hearing was all but 3 men were found guilty of their crimes. 12 were sentenced to execution, one in absence, while the rest were given prison sentences that ranges from 10 year to life imprisonment. Hermann Gorring, who was the head of the Luftwaffe and sentenced to death, commited suicide the night before his execution by swallowing a cyanide tablet that he smuggled in a jar of skin medication.

Subsequent Trials:

After the Major War Criminals trial, there were 12 subsequent trials lasting from December 1946 to April 1949. All of these trials have been grouped together and classified as the Nuremburg Subsequent Trials. Once difference was that the Nazi criminals stood before U.S military people rather than an international tribunal. This was because of the differences in the ideologies of the 4 allied countries.

The first of these hearings was the the Doctors Trial, in which 23 defendants were charged with crimes against humanity, including doing medical experiments on prisoners of war. The result of this trial was that 16 of the doctors were found guilty, with 7 of them being sentenced to death.

Another of the trials was the Judges trial, in which 16 lawyers and judges were charged with continuing the plan to improve the racial purity of the ‘eugenics’ program that was developed by the Nazis.

Aftermath of the Trials:

The aftermath of the Nuremburg was quite controversial. Some people that wanted the war criminals punished thought of the trials as a ‘fraud’. Nonetheless, most people saw the Nuremburg Trials as a step towards the formation of international law.

Task: Fictional Letter from Relatives to Soldier

Dear Walter,

How are you? We all here at home are missing you lots.

Brisbane has changed a lot since you left. Mum and her friends have been knitting socks, sewing pajamas and rolling bandages to send over to you and the other soldiers. Even I am helping! (Did I tell you that I won the award for the most things knitted by someone under 13 years?)

I miss the cricket. As you know, the cricket has stopped along with lots of other sports because the government thinks it takes away the ‘seriousness’ of the war.

Lots of people have been very mean to the Mullers across the street. Even though their son, Alrik, is fighting for Australia. It makes me very sad to see people calling them bad names.

As you know, father volunteered to go to war. He left the other day. I am very sad because both my brother and father are at war.

I miss you lots and may god look over you and protect you.

Love you lots, Your sister Nora

Battle of the Somme

Introduction:

The Battle of the Somme was one of the main allied attacks on the Western Front in 1916. 19,333 British soldiers were killed with 38,666 more wounded on the first day of battle.

Planning of the Attack:

The attack was planned in 1915 and was intended to be a joint British-French attack. It was planned to be a battle of attrition (where neither side would get a quick victory) and the aim was to drain all of the German soldiers and weapons, though gaining territory was also an aim. The plan was agreed upon by Douglas Haig, though he would have preferred the offensive to be launches at Flanders.

The Battle:

The battle started at 7:30 on July 1st, 1916 when 17 mines were detonated. The attack was not a surprise to the Germans because soldiers talked freely about the plan in French coffee shops and in letters sent home to families. Because of this, The British sector made little progress on the first day. For the most part, British troops were forced back into the trenches by German machine gun fire. Whereas the French sector had much more success. By advancing in small groups (like they had done in Verdun), they achieved most of their objectives.

Many men were killed/wounded the moment they stepped onto No Mans Land. Despite severe losses (58,000 men on the first day), Haig persisted with the attack. Advances were made but were limited.

Did you know that the Somme was the first time tanks were used in the war!

In October, Joffre tried to persuade Haig to continue with the offensive because the French at Verdun were gaining ground and he wanted the British to continue so not as many German soldiers would fight the French at Verdun.

Statistics:

• 420,000 British casualties
• 200,000 French casualties
• 500,000 German casualties

World War 2 Quotes:

“In a life and death struggle, we cannot afford to leave our destinies in the hands of failure” Clement Atlee

“In War: Resolution. In Defeat: Defiance. In Victory: Magnanimity. In Peace: Good Will.” Winston Churchill

“Before Alamein, we had no victories. After Alamein, we had no defeats.” Winston Churchill

“Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.” Winston Churchill

“Germany must either be a world power or there will be no Germany at all.” Adolf Hitler

“To every man of us, Tobruk was a symbol of British resistance and we were not going to finish it for good.” General Erwin Rommel

“The enemy is at the gate. It is a question of life and death.” Andrei Zhdanov

“Australia and New Zealand are now threatened by the might of the Japanese Imperial forces, and both of them should know that any resistance is futile.” Hideki Tojo

Gazing at the Stars Quotes

Here are some quotes from the book ‘Gazing at the Stars’ by Eva Slonim.

• ‘denn heute gehort uns Deuschland und Morgen die ganze Welt’ – Today Germany is ours and tomorrow the whole world
• Our neighbours and even our friends not only turned their backs to us, they actually expressed a deep hatred for us, as if we were not human.
• But they had suddenly learned how to hate us.
• We were among the lucky ones. Many of those arrested in the early days were sent to Dachau, and their ashes later returned to their families.
• During that first week, I saw Pres Opapa beaten, Papa arrested and Mutti a changed women. It was during this week that I ceased to be a child; I lost my innocence forever
• Edict after edict striped of our most basic rights. Our bank account was frozen, our jewellery, paintings, and silver – Including our treasured candlesticks – were confiscated. We were forced to wear the humiliating yellow star, and all debts owing to us were annulled.
• As he turned down a small alley, I saw a group of Hitler Youth waiting for him. He turned around and tried to run away. The boys caught up to him. They circled him, threw him to the floor, kicked him in the face and ribs. Then they took his schoolbag and strewed its contents all over the street.
• When Tuka had come within 3 steps of me we both stopped. We looked at each other for a moment. I was transfixed by something hateful in his eyes.
• He wrenched me towards him and then kicked me in the stomach with his boot. I was winded and fell to the ground. He stood over me and shouted, “There, little Jewish girl, you can get up now. Let everybody see your star.” Passers-by smiled and nodded their approval.
• These ‘protected Jews’ were issued with special exemption certificates that were valid until such time that he or she was no longer needed.
• From Zilina, they were deported to Sered’, from Sered’ they were sent to Lubin and from Lubin they went to Auschwitz. We never heard from them again.
• ‘Under this concrete I have buried certificates that prove that we once owned all of the things that the Germans have taken away from us. One day, when this ends, we will be able to have them back.’
• At Budkova, it often happened that my siblings were woken up by Mutti and Papa and told to run to their hiding spots when they thought they were going to be arrested.
• He was evil; I was told stories about him. If his wife gave birth to a daughter, he would kill her and hide her body in the attic.
• “The Hlinka guard has come to arrest us!” she said. She looked at us a moment longer and then lay down on the bed.
• The Hlinka Guard beat down the door. Everyone froze. Suddenly Mutti went into spasms, chocking fits, breathlessness and hysteria, throwing herself onto the floor and wailing.
• We received a letter saying “Your request to move to Klariska has been accepted.” We had made no such request.
• “I will perform this operation if, and only if, Eva follows my instructions” he said. “She must walk straight into the operating theatre, not through the hospital admittance desk. I will perform the operation and then she must leave immediately. There will be no time for recovery and absolutely no visits.”
• Suddenly, Mutti yelled out, “Our dinner!” and ran out of the bomb shelter. She had left it cooking on the stove. The food was the only food we had to eat. It was too valuable to let it go to waste.
• “We are doing the right thing,” Mutti said. “But for the grace of God, it could have been us on the run.”
• Trude was a Jewish collaborator, promised freedom by the Nazi’s if she denounced other Jews. But she met the same fate as the Jews she gave up when she was sent to Auschwitz. On arrival, she was taken off the train and murdered by the Jewish kapos.
• The Unnetaneh Tokef sounded different this year. Who will live and who will die? Who by fire and who by sword?
• In the winter of 1944, Pres Opapa sat up in his bed and said ‘Meine Kinder haben mich umgebrauhgt’ – My children have killed me.
• ‘Rubbish! You wrote those letters. I never believed that they were genuine.’ Papa looked at his feet. It was true. He had written them.
• Decades after, I went to visit his grave in Bratislava. I did not have to ask for directions to find his tombstone. The night of his burial was a vivid image traced in pain on the map of my childhood.
• While we were living at Klariska Ulica, there were illegal raids by day and night. There were some among the Slovak population who decided who hide Jewish children. Like us, they were frightened for their lives. Yet most of the population silently collaborated with the Nazis.
• I remember watching thousands of young Slovak men marching down the street, heading for the front line. Their faces were grim, ready for suffering, perhaps death. Is it strange that I felt sorry for them?
• With great pain, my parents chose to send their children away, except for me. ‘Eva’ they explained, ‘you are the oldest daughter and you do not look Jewish. You must help us here in Bratislava. You are going to stay here as our only child.’
• I did not know this as the train departed, but that was the last time I ever saw her, my sweet little sister.
• ‘Everything,’ Papa told me, ‘is now a matter of life and death.’
• After some time, one of the men spoke. ‘My name is Henek Rotstein,’ he said, ‘and this is my brother Victor. We have escaped Auschwitz and are in disguise, on the run. I have a girlfriend, Judith. She is 16. Victor has a cousin. She is 19. They need a place to hide.’
• She took Renata to a doctor, who said the child was dying. Mrs Tafon called my father. ‘If the child dies, it is not my fault. Will I still be paid?’ ‘Dead of alive, just bring her home,’ Papa said. ‘You will be paid.”
• At what cost do you turn a young child away from her parents, away from her family traditions? What was happening inside their minds, inside their hearts? To this day, my little sister Renata will not identify publicly as being Jewish. She was taught at a young age not to do so.
• I think of how Judith’s eyes must have looked when Mrs Tafon found her in a transit camp in Hungary, surrounded by wire fences and armed soldiers.
• Like the rest of them, though, and like my little sister Judith, were forced at gunpoint onto a train bound for Auschwitz, where his war medals were discarded along with spectacles, rings and children’s shoes.
• Papa broke the silence. ‘Your mother and I will do anything for the survival of this family. We have a plan. This plan will once again force us to be separated, perhaps for a long time. You will not be able to see each other or us. But you must trust us. We are doing this in order to survive.’
• ‘If you are caught, you are caught as a pair, and the rest of us are spared. Kurt is to hide with Noemi; Ruth and Renata will be together; Eva will be with Marta; and Mutti and I will live with Maria Wohlschlager. I will arrange everything else.’
• My name was to become Anca Wohlschlager, and my age 16; in fact, I was only 12 years old. Marta’s papers aged her 10, though neither she nor I can remember her Aryan name.
• ‘Meine Kinder,’ he said, ‘this might be our last goodbye. It is going to be difficult for you, two little girls on their own. I pray that, with God’s help, you will survive.’
• ‘If there is a time when we can no longer communicate with you and you don’t hear from us, do not come looking. Stay where you are.’
• ‘Remember: the same stars will shine over you as over Mutti and me, and those same stars also shine over Palestine, One day we will live as free people in our own country. But until then, just look at the stars, speak to them, tell them your fears, your worries. I will also look at the stars, and I’ll try my best to answer.’
• ‘Most importantly, if you are ever caught, even if you are beaten or tortured, never admit to being Jewish. You are never to tell anyone that you are Jewish.’
• Maria Wohlschlager told our neighbours that we were her sisters and that our parents had been killed in a bombing raid.
• Marta had only just recently returned from her long period of hiding in Hungary. She had forgotten how to speak German and Slovakian, and I didn’t have a word of Hungarian. We learnt how to communicate through gestures, but it was difficult and frustrating.
• While Marta and I were in Nitra, I often worried that Maria Wohlschlager might one day denounce us. I lived in constant fear.
• I should have guessed that Maria was betraying us. She did not give Mutti and Papa my letters. Worst still, Mutti and Papa were sending us money and supplies; Maria was taking it all for herself. She stole everything, even the spare underpants they sent us. I did not learn about this until after the war.
• ‘Im here on work. We’re liquidating Bratislava tomorrow. As of tomorrow, Bratislava will be Judenfrei.’
• As soon as the SS officer left I ran to the closest public phone. I dialed 6236, and for the first time in months I heard Papa’s voice. I spoke quickly: ‘As of tomorrow, Bratislava will be Judenfrei,’ and then hung up.
• That night, all the Jews at Klariska Ulica – All the Jews in Bratislava who had not found a place to hide – Were pulled from their beds in the middle of the night and assembled in the Patronka area. They were sent to Auschwitz the following day.
• The soldiers stood in a circle, and I was thrown into the middle. There stood the short man with the Alsatian. He was bald, plump and had small, cruel eyes. He stared at me for a long time. His name was Gombarik, and he was the head to the Hlinka Guard.
• ‘What is your name?’ he asked. ‘My name is Anca Wohlschlager.’ He reached out a hand, took hold of my neck and squeezed. Without saying a word, he brought his other fist down into my right temple with the silver tip of his knuckle-duster. My vision went white and I felt like I was going to throw up.
• ‘I know you are Jewish,’ he continued. ‘Tell me your name or there will be more of this, a lot more.’
• Suddenly I had a vision of Papa. He was insisting on something, insisting over and over: ‘Never admit to being Jewish. It’s your own death sentence.’
• ‘Stand up!’ he shouted. ‘Now take off your skirt.’ I did. ‘And take off your underpants.’ The soldiers began to chuckle. I felt very humiliated. ‘Now, bend over this chair.’ I bent over the wooden chair and stared at the floor, unsure of what was going to happen. I felt a sharp pain on the back of my legs and buttocks. Gombarik was beating me with a leather baton.
• Gombarik pushed me up against a wall and leaned his full weight on my torso. He slid his hand underneath my shirt and onto my stomach. I felt him grab my flesh and twist. I writhed in pain. Then his hand went higher up to my breasts. He pinched and twisted them. The pain was indescribable.
• I leaned forward and whispered into Grete’s ear: ‘You must call the number 4393 from a public phone. Tell whoever answers that the goods have all been taken.’
• For the rest of the war, Kurti and Noemi believed that Mutti and Papa had been caught. Lives were saved and lives were lost in mere minutes.
• Torture became a part of my daily routine, my morning ritual, like breakfast or coffee for most people.
• Every morning at 4am, I was taken from my wooden shelf and led by soldiers to Gombarik’s chambers for interrogation.
• ‘This morning you will witness the execution by gunshot of two Jews.’
• ‘This Jew tried to escape last night. She jumped from a window with her child. She broke her leg. Let this be a warning to you all.’
• Shortly after the war ended, I was summoned to Nitra to testify as a witness in Gombarik’s trial. I told of how he tortured me, of how he shot Simon and the mother and the child.’
• Gombarik was found guilty and condemned to death. I was later told that Simon was the judge’s son.
• ‘Liar!’ he screamed. ‘You are Eva Weiss. Thirteen years old. And she is your little sister Marta. She just turned ten. You are two Jewish girls, and you are going to be sent far away.’
• ‘Goodbye, my Christian friend, Anca Wohlschlager, sixteen years old,’ he said. ‘And goodbye, my Jewish friend, Eva Weiss, thirteen years old. We will never see each other again.’
• I hoped that god would offer me protection, and I prayed silently for a miracle.
• One of the men standing near us picked Marta up and held her to the barred window. ‘What can you see, little girl? Tell us what you see.’ ‘I can see big chimneys,’ Marta replied, ‘and I can see a lot of smoke.’
• ‘Go with them,’ she said. ‘Go with the living. I am not scared to die alone. Just remember this date, and tell Papa to sat kaddish for me.’
• ‘Eva, I’m too scared to die on my own.’
• ‘Those who are tattooed have been chosen to live,’ he said softly.
• I was no longer Eva Weiss, thirteen years of age. I was not even Anca Wohlschlager, sixteen years of age. I was A27201.
• On arriving at Auschwitz, she was put in a tipping truck with hundreds of other children, and thrown alive into this concrete pit, at the bottom of which was a fire.
• But beyond the concrete pit the birch trees swayed, as if performing an eternal kaddish for Judith and the rest of those children.
• Apparently, Dr Mengele had been watching Marta and me.He mistakenly took us for twins. To be a twin at Auschwitz meant to stay alive, but at a cost.
• ‘A prisoner has gone missing,’ the Blockalteste told us, ‘and until she is found you will wait outside in the snow.’ So we stood, for three days and three nights.
• A few days later Dr Mengele took Marta away. I screamed and cried as she was led away from the barracks. I was powerless, alone. But she came back not long after. ‘What happened?’ I asked, taking hold of her hands. ‘They gave me injections.’ She said. ‘I don’t know what they were. But I can’t sleep. I have stomach cramps. I’m in pain.’
• We never found out what these injections contained. But since then both of us have suffered constantly with stomach cramps, and we have had several miscarriages between us. I was never allowed to breastfeed my own children.
• ‘You stay,’ he ordered. I had a sudden realization that to stay meant to die. I joined the selection line again. This time, under the gaze of the SS man, I straightened my back and opened my eyes wide. ‘You march,’ he ordered.
• This time there was no selection: march or be shot.
• The moment the Russian doctor layed eyes on me he sent me off to receive an immediate blood transfusion.
• ‘We are survivors of Auschwitz,’ I replied. ‘We are trying to find our way back to Bratislava, but we are lost.’
• ‘You both have Tuberculosis,’ the doctor said. ‘We are sending you to the Tatra Mountains to recuperate.’
• ‘Bratislava has been liberated and your parents are alive.’
• Marta and I started to run towards Papa and Kurti. The four of us embraced, and I started to cry.
• They each had a story of survival that was filled with courage, despair, darkeness, hope, perseverance and luck.
• They hid and Kurti was left to drown. I wasn’t there when Papa went looking for Kurti’s body. Papa found his only son floating lifeless in the waters of the Danube.