Battle for Aachen
The time period from Sept. 9 to Oct. 10 1944
Diarist G. Muehlenmeister
[comments by the translator are in [...] brackets]
[dates in UK order, i.e., day.month.year. USA spelling.]
10.09.44
Even before 10.09.44 rumors were circulating in Aachen about an
impending evacuation of the city, which caused a giant uproar
among its residents.
They were temporarily revoked only to pop up again, causing
an extreme level of fear and uncertainy among the population.
Many were plagued by doubt: what to do? Evacuate? Or stay in
the city?
In either case danger was in the offing, an uncertain future
which had us shaking in our boots.
Fantastical rumors about what could come to pass in either
case flitted like poisonous insects through the city.
Carpet bombing of the Siegfried Line, the city, the bunkers,
exactly as happened at the Atlantic Wall, then firing by our
soldiers at the enemy troops moving through the city - a city
wihout lights, gas and water, with no food deliveries, were
prophesied for those who remained. For the evacuees attacks
on trains, the misery as refugees, loss of all goods, of their
livelihoods. Many thought that the Siegfried Line could hold
out for months, but Aachen would then be under attack from
both sides.
At the behest of the Fuehrer Himmler inspected the defenses
today.
Late in the evening I enter our bunker area and find persons
there who have fallen prey to helplessness and inner conflict
as a result of their fear and uncertainty.
Suddenly we sit up and take notice. A leading personality,
who is in contact with the Mayor, makes a consoling speech.
The Mayor informs the citizens of Aachen that for the time
being an evacuation is not being considered. Himmler was
here and asserted that the rescue of the german troops from
the pocket near Antwerp was grounds for new hope.
The graveyard humor disappeared as if blown away by a wind
storm and was replaced by good humor [Fidelitas]. The mood
was improved by a cup of [real] coffee and the bread and
butter was once again eaten with good appetite.
11.09.44
Nevertheless, on 11.9. the city was again in a state of panic.
Panic buying, particularly of food stuffs, increased. In the
course of the day it was announced that mothers with their
children and old people would be able to leave until 7 [number
hard to read and not clear whether AM or PM] o'clock.
In recent days many had already left Aachen to visit distant
relatives. But a special police pass had been required.
Nonetheless, 98,000 food ration cards had been distributed
to residents in Aachen on 9.9.
12.09.44
In the late afternoon of 12.9. the evacuation order was brought
to our house (Peterstr.). Appointed time 8:30 AM on 13.9.,
destination Beeckstr. The explanation: it is forbidden to stay
in this part of Aachen. Previously it was discretionary. The
Grevensteins, who planned to bed down in the underground shelter,
come back. All underground shelters and bunkers are being closed.
Martin picks me up in the evening so we can move to Conrad's
house in the Helfferichstrasse, where the family Corsten is
also living. The getaway luggage is tied onto a bicycle which
Martin bought on the way over for 50 Reichsmark and some
cigarettes.
We move through practically abandoned streets. Now and then
a group of refugees on their way to the train station appears.
Small handcarts, prams of various provenance, suit cases, amazing
back packs quickly fashioned from all kinds of curious material,
characterize the emigrants.
In the Helfferichstrasse I had expected to find a group of
people determined to remain in Aachen, as imagined by Martin
C. Instead: the highest level of fear induced panic, flowing
tears, mindless packing resulting from a need to be ready at
shortest notice to flee. Some of the pickled eggs are given
away, some are choked down as quickly as possible so that no
stranger can eat them.
Not just food, clothes and underware, but a spinning wheel packed
in a sack, are to be taken along on the flight.
Martin had to pull all the stops of his leadership talents to
get the excited minds onto a path of reasonable action.
Brainless neighbors who rushed over in a state of the highest
hopelessness also had to be made to see reason and finally
went, determined and thankful, back home. People acquiesced
to Martin's strict orders to stay while maintaining their
composure and confidence.
But they kept packing anyway, just in case they might still have
to take off.
In the evening we ate at the round table in the dining room. A
good, warm meal!
Afterwards: a new uproar about where to spend the night. Bunker,
underground shelter or cellar?
Against the desires of the fearful minds a decision is reached:
either in the house itself or in its cellar.
I sleep on the couch in the living room. Sustained flak fire
near and far.
13.09.44
The flak position behind our house is disbanded. We hear the
demolitions, see the fires. Withdrawal of the flak unit.
Many residents in the Beverau were determined not to leave.
They remained at home, some in two underground shelters,
about 200 people.
Supposedly there are still thousands of people in the
Frankenberger bunker, determined not to leave Aachen.
A representative of Graf Schwerin, whose tank division is
tasked with defending the city, addressed the people in the
bunker during the night: never before has such a disgraceful
abandonment of a city taken place as in Aachen. The Party
[NSDAP] functionaries and the police ran away before the
civilians were evacuated. It is impossible to evacuate those
who remain. The citizens should stay put and support the army
[Wehrmacht].
And indeed, those who went to the train station yesterday
returned today. Among them the Pfannschmidts; having eaten
all their provisions and broken their butter crock along the
way, they now had to stay here.
Many evacuees are near Dueren. Many were dropped off a mere
15 kilometers from Aachen. Hardly anyone answers the phone.
Apparently already all gone. Only the Franciscan nuns
(Kleinmarschierstr.) answered, determined to remain here.
I heard from them that the people from the block of houses
in the Peterstr. hadn't gone along to the train station and
had remained in Aachen.
We don't hear any more flak, but rather the thunder of the
artillery in the Siegfried Line, which becomes louder and
louder.
I stand at the window with Martin and observe the shell hits
in the german positions in the woods, all along the ridge,
which was jam-packed with german troops, as fleeing soldiers
reported. In the evening a car full of Waffen SS drives past.
The officer says that they're looking for lodgings for the
staff.
He thinks it will be impossible for civilians to get out
of the city if they wait until morning.
Now that the flak soldiers have abandoned their command post
Franz Conrads and Edgar Pfannschmidt start to get things
organised. The following items are quickly brought into the
house: 1 sack of C(ombat)-rations, 1 box of hard tack, 5
rabbits, 1 radio, 90 liters of petrol/gasoline, milk from
the cows which are wandering around.
All meals are eaten above ground.
Because the enemy is getting closer the fearful souls demand
that we go to the bunker or the underground shelter. We stay
in the house, as Martin orders.
Good spirits prevail in the expectation that all difficulties
will soon end.
We move our sleeping quarters into the cellar in the evening.
The couch, reclining chairs and a matress on the floor serve
as beds for the eight members of the household: Conrads,
Corsten, Franzen, Muellenmeister.
14.09.44
Thursday. This morning things are getting serious. The
artillery bombardment becomes an artillery duell early on.
The enemy fires from the woods and our forces reply from
the east and the north (Soers) of the city (Lohsberg).
We hear that the enemy is in Wahnbruch.
The roads leading out of the woods are under continuous fire.
Towards Ponttor, Ludwigsallee one sees lots of shell hits,
also in the inner city. The artillery duell goes on for
hours.
Long distance calls to Franz in Gelsenkirchen and Hanne
in Dortmund this morning. We're on pins and needles and
hope that the worst will be over in two hours.
We talk to some soldiers who, coming from Eupen, are glad
that they could get out of the Aachen woods. They are
flabbergasted to hear that they're in front of Aachen.
They're weary and listless and can only thing about
being taken prisoner. They tell us that the enemy has
more troops and is better equipped than we are. Their
answer to our question, whether it's dangerous out there,
is that it's dangerous everywhere here.
We'd written a lot of letters and wanted to give them to
them to forward. They refused because they didn't expect
that they'd be able to get out of Aachen.
A short time later another two soldiers came running by,
breathless and shaking. They were running fast, hoping
that they could get away to the east. They readily took
our letters along.
The firing from the artillery/tanks gets heavier and heavier.
The shell hits get closer to our street.
We sit close together in the cellar. The shell hits on the
side where the garden lies shake the house. Greetings from
the Americans in the nearby Aachen woods.
Hardly a pause! Hardly a dwindling. A hard impact - the
lights go out and the entire house remains dark!
We dare to go upstairs once the rain of iron ends and see
the destruction at the rear of the house.
The window panes in the dining room and the kitchen are
shattered as if from a bomabrdment. Shrapnel went through
the cabinet and bored holes in the wall. Floors, furniture,
all covered with dust, dirt, chips and shrapnel!
In the evening we stand on the side of the road and talk to
two soldiers who are passing by.
One soldier cries "Watch out! Shrapnel!" We race to the side
of the house and lie flat on the ground. Sharpnel rains down
around us for several seconds. Fearful seconds!
Another night, another round of discussions and doubts about
where to spend the night. Martin's order "we remain in the
cellar" wins out.
The consecrated candle burns in the cellar while we say the
rosary together in our great peril.
From today onward no more lights or drinking water. No radio,
no newspapers; cut off from the outside world.
15.09.44
Friday. The night in the cellar was pretty quiet. The fire
[in the oven] is brought back to life this morning. Milking
the cows - cooking. Impossible!
Yesterday we ate a posh rabbit stew with pudding - today a
simple milksop [from Old English milk soppe, which is pretty
much the same as the word Milchsuppe used in the text]. We
spend most of our time in the cellar, see the Waffen SS go
past, hear their tanks.
At around 10 o'clock intense roar of artillery around us.
The house shakes and trembles to its foundations.
We huddle close together in the most distant corner of the
cellar, near the consecrated candle. We don't have enough
breath to pray aloud. Anni cries bitterly.
In the afternoon low-flying enemy planes appear. They fire
their machine guns! The artillery duel resumes as soon as the
planes leave. This happens by turns the whole day. Without
end!
We stay in the cellar because it pings and whizzes around us
incessantly.
During the day soldiers cross the street. They throw open
the garden gates, ours too, as possible cover.
Nikolins tell use that the Waffen SS is supposed to relieve
the Gallwitz-barracks, which are in the hands of the Americans.
All this reduces our courage. How much longer must we remain
captives in our cellar?
We begin to reckon how long our available proviant will last
for eight people.
The bombardment lasts until 9 PM.
Late in the evening Martin returns in a good mood from Dr. Schul.
The people living in the underground shelter always wear a white
armband when they go outside because the Americans can be seen
in the little Brimborner woods.
The little woods opposite our position! Two wounded soldiers
are brought into the underground shelter. They asked right
away "Are any of those louts from the SA or SS here?" "No!"
"Otherwise we would have done for them too!"
Communal evening prayers in the cellar. The enemy's heavy
artillery in the woods fires over, and sometimes into, the
city for a little more than half of the night. The brave
want to sleep upstairs, but soon return. Only Martin and
Franz stay upstairs.
16.09.44
Saturday. Heavy morning fog. The fighting resumes as it
gets brighter, mostly mortar fire. Shell hits nearby. In
the distance one hears the rythms of a moving tank.
Rushed coffee brewing! Breakfast together underground.
Chaplain Bahrmann comes to pick up Franz to go milking. We
wait in the house until the shell hits move away from us.
Chaplain Bahrmann tells us that there is still a way out of
the city. The Luelicherstr. is still open.
The Party turned up yesterday at Bluecher Square with 24
vehicles for evacuating the city dwellers, 23 went away
empty. The Party tears down the white flag which the
populace had raised. The flag appeared again after the
Party had disappeared into the distance. Plain clothes
SS were disarmed by civilians.
The Waffen SS pushes the enemies back to the edge of the
woods. America is again a little further away from us.
But the Americans still control the Gallwitz-barracks and
Nellessen park.
Businesses in the city were plundered, lots of alchoholic
beverages found a new home.
After midday extreme artillery fire on both sides of us.
Shell hits nearby, heavy smoke rises from the gable end of
the neighboring house. We again huddle close together in the
cellar, near the consecrated candle.
This drama is replaced by climbing planes: 4 german and 8
enemy. An air battle ensues and an american plane is hit.
The pilot can parchute out. Near Forster Kirche. The
Pfannschmidts leave the city at the last minute, after having
slaughtered a pig beforehand. Around Wuerseln fires can be
seen.
The Juelicherstr. is supposedly still open.
Franz goes to the bunker in the evening to get Uliana, who
was earlier the Conrads' housemaid, and is hiding there. He
comes back heartstricken, without Uliana. Along the way he
heard from a soldier that Aachen would be defended and all
civilians forcibly evacuated.
All nerves in the house are totally frayed. Martin has to use
force to make reason prevail. Around 5:30 PM the onset of a
total smoke screen in the woods and city. American planes drop
smoke bombs/grenades.
More and more plane formations are coming from the enemy side.
Philipp dictates "Between 7 and 8 PM a total eclipse of the
souls."
On the heels of the smoke screen comes the twilight. The
Americans probably plan to use this protection to get closer
to the city.
We'd planned to slaughter a calf in the afternoon, but were
unable to do it. Our enemies always have a say when we plan
something.
We no longer hope from hour to hour, but rather from day to
day that we will be liberated from our underground prison.
Franz and Martin go to the underground shelter and also hear
there that Aachen is supposed to be forcibly evacuated.
Schmeer (district administrator) was in the city. Vehicles
are standing by. What would become of us if the underground
shelters and the bunkers were forcibly evacuated? Or should
we evacuate too? - This thought leads to an unhappy and doubt
filled mood. - Renewed packing with great anxiety and the
unanswered question: what will become of us?
We eat our evening meal in the cellar in silence. Around 10:30
PM Martin and Dr. Schleicher head out to the bunker and Chaplain
Bahrmann respectively, but are stopped along the way by a patrol
(Dr. Dreising).
Communal evening prayers. Around 12 AM Martin appears with the
same news about a forcible evacuation.
Tomorrow, Sunday, is Martin's last day of leave. He plans to
dutifully leave then, no matter what. What would happen to us
without him? Wouldn't it be better for us to leave at the same
time?
Martin and I stand for quite some time at the open mansard
window, look out into the night and confer with one another.
We hear the enemy artillery from the direction of the Trierer-
street which targets [not sure about this] the last two open
streets out of the city. The shine of fires in Wuerseln. I
go to bed at about 2 AM and fall asleep around 5 AM.