WWII true story

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Harley Nolden

Staff In Memoriam
MY WIFE AND I HAVE WRITTEN A BOOK ABOUT HER EXPERIENCE DURING WWII DURING OPERATION HANNIBAL. THE TITLE: ESCAPE FROM HELLFIRE TO FREEDOM DURING THE ATTACK ON KONIGSBERG EAST PRUSSIA.

TO VIEW WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT GO TO

http://www.wix.com/hnolden/freedom

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED YOU MAY PURCHASE THIS BOOK FROM THAT WEB SITE.

HARLEY & HELGA NOLDEN
 
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Loader9

New member
My cousin grew up in Germany and was a kid when the war broke out. They had a farm and the Nazis built a womens prison camp next to their farm. She can tell some horrifying tales. The women were starving and when the family dug potatoes they would throw the bad ones over the fence when the guards weren't looking so the girls would have something to eat. She said an egg after the war was worth a fortune as was any food items. Her father was "volunteered" into the German Army and went to the Russian front. He was captured at Stalingrad and sentenced to life in a Russian camp. He and 3 others escaped. It took him 2 years to walk home and not be recaptured. The storys are long and incredible but what I find most interesting is the shame and guilt she carrys even though she wasn't old enough to know what was happening.

She now lives in Houston and goes back about every 5 years. The last time she forgot her green card and couldn't come home. She's lived here in the US since the late 60's. We had to drive to Houston, get into her house, find her card and mail it to her while she literally lived in the airport in Germany. She is now a citizen of the USA. There are some incredible stories about that time in our history. Human endurance being the top of the list. As in all wars, there are no real winners, just a lot of dead and wounded.
 
H

Harley Nolden

Staff In Memoriam
STALINGRAD

LOADER 9

INTERESTING:

HELGA's FATHER WAS ALSO ON THE EASTERN FRONT AND CAPTURED AT STALINGRAD BY THE RUSSIANS. SPENT 8 YEARS AS A PRISONER IN SIBERIA.

HELGA WOULD BE INTERESTED IN TALKING WITH YOUR COUSIN. COULD YOU HELP MAKE THAT CONTACT

HER STORY IS VERY SIMILAR TO HELGA's (SHE WAS ONLY 8YRS OLD) AND YOUR COUSIN's STORY REALLY NEEDS TO BE TOLD. A LOT IS WRITTEN ABOUT WWII, BUT NOT MUCH ABOUT THE GERMAN CIVILIANS.

AM AMERICAN BORN (RETIRED OLD SOLDIER) AND SPENT 12 YEARS OF MY ARMY CAREER IN GERMANY. THROUGH HELGA I KNOW THEIR STORY AND FEEL FOR THEIR EXPERIENCES. THE GERMANS I KNOW, (A LOT OF THEM) ARE STRONG WILLED (STUBORN) LOL AND HAVE A STRONG WILL TO SURVIVE

NOW THIS IS UNCANNY.


MR HARLEY
 
M

mete

New member
They just replayed the TV program of the people who made that trip but were on a ship which was sunk by a Russian sub .A fascinating story !
 
H

Harley Nolden

Staff In Memoriam
Escape from hellfire to freedom

METE

THAT SHIP WAS THE GUSTLAUF ( WHICH WAS HEADED WEST ON SHIP ROUTE #58 DID NOT USE THE CLOSE TO SHORE TECHNIQUE TO DISCOURAGE SUBMARINE ATTACKS, AND IT WAS SUNK A COUPLE OF DAYS OR WEEKS PRIOR TO MY WIFE's VOYAGE (ON THE SS DEUTSCHLAND) FROM DANZIG TO DENMARK. DURING HER VOYAGE A RUSSIAN SUB HAD ALSO FOLLOWED THEM, HOWEVER, THEY REACHED SAFE HARBOR ON THE ISLAND OF REUGN AND THE PORT OF SASSNITZ.

THE SHIPS, SS DEUTSCHLAND, THE THIELBAK, AND THE CAP CARONa WERE SUNK BY, BRITISH BOMBERS, ON THE VERY NExT TRIP FROM DANZIG IN THE HARBOR OF NEUSTADT WITH SEVERAL THOUSAND REFUGEES AND PRISONERS ON BOARD.

MY WIFE (8yrs old at the time) ALONG WITH HER MOTHER, GRANDMOTHER AND HER SMALLER BROTHER (AGE 5) WERE VERY LUCKY TO MAKE IT AND I FOR ONE AM HAPPY FOR THAT ALSO. WE CELEBRATED OUR 50TH ANNIVERSERY this year

THE WHOLE STORY OF THAT VOYAGE AND TREK IS PRESENTED IN HER BOOK, FROM A PERSONAL POINT OF VIEW ALONG WITH PHOTOS.

PLEASE EXCUSE THE SPELLING. OLD COMPUTER DOESN'T SPELL GOOD LOL

HARLEY
 
H

HisSoldier

New member
I did too. I just watched the story of the Gustloff. Our country is headed for difficulties every bit as bad, most of us just don't see it coming yet. :(
 
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Bigfatts

New member
Just ordered a copy. I have a few older acquaintances who were in Germany in WWII, including my grandfather and his brother and an old family friend who was in the Hitler Youth program. I'm sure they'll appreciate seeing this.

PS- Happy 50th!
 
H

Harley Nolden

Staff In Memoriam
Escape from hellfire to freedom

Bigfatts

just got back from post office. Book mailed you should have it in a couple of days.

Shipped from brunswick ga

harley & helga (werschun) nolden
 
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Gbro

New member
I read the book this weekend and was overwhelmed by the ordeal the family went through, even though this was a wonderful conclusion for the Werschun's.
I do have a few questions and was wondering who is in charge of the web site we ordered the book from. If it is your site maybe you could have a question/answer page or something.
My 1st Q, How long was the family referred to as DP's?
2nd Q, Were there many homes with gun before the war broke out?
3rd Q, How did the refugees fell about Hitler? Was there a common consensus in the feelings toward him?

4th Q, When war broke out did anyone on the level of your family(I would refer to then as General public) know why and what the planned outcome of the war was?

Thank you for sharing this story and May the Lord continue to Bless you and yours always.

Gbro
 
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Harley Nolden

Staff In Memoriam
Escape from hellfire to freedom

Thank you for your resopnse to our book. When i married that "ole" girl in 1960 i had no knowledge that her and her family were refugees during WWIIi. I didn't find out about this until we found a copy of her mother's diary some 60 years later. While writing this story, from translation, really enhanced my respect and feeling for helga.

The web site is ours, my design, as well as the covers of the book are my design. I will work on your suggestion and see what i can come up with.

1. The family was considered a fugative refugee from Jan 1945 until 1950 until reaching the town of Celle germany. They remained as such until they finally reached Heilbronn Germany in 1954.

2. To my knowledge there were no guns in the werschun family. That is until they arrived in heilbronn. When the father was cleaning out a farm house he found a browning hi power, with the Nazi stamp, and an English flare pistol. I still have both

3. The Werschun family had the same feeling about hitler as most did. That is until late in the war just before they evacuated konigsberg. It was then their (the Werschuns) thoughts ran a different way. They felt that "stand till the last man" was hitler's way of saying "to hell with it, it is over"

4. The werschuns did not like the war, as their father was taken from them, and they didn't know what his outcome was or going to be. There wasn't much they could do about it so had to accept what ever was going to happen I will say this, all germany was glad when it was over. As mentioned in the book, Helga has no annimosity toward any one regarding the war. There were arosities on both sides, and that is to be expected. Soldiers and cvivilians alike.

Again thanks for your positive response and purchasing our book

in god we trust others pay cash

Harley & Helga (Werschun) nolden
 
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Gbro

New member
Jaaaaaa,

As mentioned in the book, Helga has no annimosity toward any one regarding the war. There were arosities on both sides, and that is to be expected. Soldiers and cvivilians alike.
Click to expand...
That was a wonderful statement made in the book. And THOSE CANADIANS,
They were terrific, helping the refugees the way they did!

The Browning Hi-Power is a treasure! the markings put a few bucks of value into it.:)
I am going to present the book to my friend, although she may not want to read it. She still has canned wurst ready for any need. Big John had 3 quarts along for the ride to Colorado! They would put up loose hay until John couldn.t do it anymore, but she still has the beef cattle because she never wants her family to be hungery, just in case???
 
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Harley Nolden

Staff In Memoriam
Escape from hellfire to freedom

Gbro

thank you for your comments. And by the way, my wife says guten tag (good day) to your friends wife

harley
 
S

Scout

New member
Mr. Nolden, My father, Glynn Academy class of '49, married a German girl who grew up in Darmstadt. Her brother was wounded on the eastern front and subsequently killed while in a bomb shelter at the hospital.
 
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Harley Nolden

Staff In Memoriam
Escape from hellfire to freedom

Scout

is that glynn acadamy in brunswick ga?

MY CONDOLENSES TO THE FAMILY

I HAVE BEEN IN DARMSTADT TRAING THE 8TH INF DIV PISTOL TEAM MANY YEARS AGO

Hjn
 
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Scout

New member
Yes, sir. My whole family is from Brunswick. (Except for me.) Dad joined the Air Force in 1950 and was stationed in Darmstadt, where he listened to Russian radio transmissions and met my mother.
 
H

Harley Nolden

Staff In Memoriam
Escape from hellfire to freedom

The world is getting smaler and smaller

we have met many german families, over the net, that experienced similar situations as helga, and many were from konigsberg. Most went west during the evacuation, however we did contact one that was in denmark at the same time as helga. They were both about the same age and have had many phone calls to and from her.

Harley
 
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