Contents:
Induction into the Army Air Corps
Grounded and wounded, but alive
The
German, the White Russian and me
The Frankfurt
interrogation center
Eat, drink, smoke, and be
creative
THE FRANKFURT INTERROGATION CENTER
Finally we were delivered to a Frankfurt interrogation center where I was placed in a room that was about five feet by nine feet, with a light but no windows. Food was slipped through a slot at the foot of the door. It was black bread and cabbage soup. I was in the room for three days before I was interrogated.
At the interrogation, I was seated in a chair in front of a German officer at his desk. He asked what kind of plane I was in when I was shot down. I replied that it was a B-17. He asked how many men were on the plane and I replied there were 10 men. He asked me the name of the bomb group, and I told him I couldn't tell him that. He asked where I was stationed, and I said I couldn't tell him.
He proceeded to tell me that I was a navigator in the 91st bomb group, 324th squadron. Perhaps all this information came from the German that was in my hospital room right after the surgery. He went on to describe my squadron commander, Major Weitzenfeld, in more detail than I ever knew.
It was obvious he knew all about me. Nothing I could tell him would be vital after that length of time. It had been approximately four months since I was shot down.
From Frankfurt we were placed back on the 40/8 boxcar. I can't remember what they fed us, or if we were fed at all then.
When we got to Whittenberg, Germany, they opened the doors and told us to get out. I had to have help to walk. They walked us across the freight yards into a cave in the earthen bank. Shortly thereafter the American bombers came over and bombed that railway yard. I don't know how they knew that the raid was coming, or even why they bothered to move us to shelter. If Americans had killed Americans, it would have been less bother for the Germans. But they did.
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