I tell you about the expulsion of my grandmother’s aunt from the Altvatergebirge / Sudetenland.

Christine M., born in 1926, was born in Dittersdorf (today: Detrichovice), which belongs to the district of Freudenthal (now Bruntál).

She grew up with two brothers on a farm. It had a total of 48 acres.

On the last day of the Second World War, on May 8, 1945, the Russians came into the village.

They were looking for the German Feldmarschall Schörner, who was thought to be hiding in the Altvatergebirge.

The Russians marched through the village and raped women, especially younger ones. Weeks went like this. Everybody had to wear armbands, on which the uppercase letter "N" stood for "Nemec", meaning "German".

Christine’s father was also asked if he knew anything about the field marshal.

Christine and her mother were fortunately spared by the Russians and not raped. But they had only to thank the Russian prisoner of war, who was on their farm. He told his Russian countrymen that he was treated well here.

However, Christine and her parents were expelled from their farm after one week, just like most in their village. People from Slovakia came to their farm.

Christine's brothers had not yet returned home from the war service or from their captivity.

The family was allowed to stay in a neighboring house for another year and a half in their home town because her father had to pull wood with his horse for the Russians

But then the day came when they also had to leave their home.

At nine o'clock they left the house. They were transported by trucks to Freudenthal. You were only allowed to carry 30 kilos of luggage. They sat on the ground on their packed backpacks.

The family stayed in the camp in Freudenthal for a week.

Then, as always out of the blue, the Czechs came at night and told the people that they should pack their things and then they were transported further.

The transport took place with freight cars, which were partly open, to Olomouc in the Czech Republic. About 30 people were on the car. They had stayed in Olomouc the for one night before they had to go on.

After several transports and nights in various camps they arrived at the border and finally to Germany. The last transport took place on 26.10.1945, the 20th birthday of Christine.

The Czech state has taken them evderything. The Germans had to leave the country by 28.10.1946. The 28.10. Was or has been the Czech national holiday till today.

Christine and her parents came to a camp in Freilassing, Bavaria. From there they wrote letters to relatives who had been in Bavaria for some time. The relatives lived in a village in Nordschwaben, in Mündling. They had been working there.

The elder one of her brothers also found work in Mündling on a farm, which also included a restaurant. This is why Christine also came to Mündling. She could also work and live on the farm.

The owner lived with his wife and his two sons in the main building with the restaurant and a neighbour building. Another four-member expellee family and also Christine and her brother lived there. Her younger brother came to the same farm later.

Christine’s parents stayed in Freilassing. They were also buried there after their death.

Christine got to know her future husband in Mündling.

She is now 90 years old and still lives in Mündling, Nordschwaben.

 

She is telling me her memories of the terrible expulsion from her beautiful home in the Altvatergebirge as if it had been yesterday, all the data and facts exactly.

I hope this will never happen to me.