The story of my great grandfather

1912 - 1939

My great-grandfather „Rudolf Heckel“ was born on April 10th, 1912 in Wernesgrün. At the age of 17 he began an apprenticeship as a baker and finished it before the Second World War began.

Wernesgrün

The person on the left is my great-grandfather when he was 56 years old. He has my mother's cousin "Holger" on his lap. His wife "Lotte" sat next to him with my mother "Anett" when she was 1 year old.

1940

In 1940 my great-grandfather had to join the „Wehrmacht“. Since he came with his hands into a threshing machine as a child and couldn‘t move his hand properly, he didn‘t have to fight at the front and was therefore responsible for caring for the soldiers.

He came into the 9th Army of the „Wehrmacht“ and took part in the fight against France on the Western Front. After the victory against France he stayed there until 1941 for occupation purposes.

1941

In April 1941 he was transferred to Poland to take part in the fight against the Soviet Union. In June 1941 he was at the battle of Białystok and Minsk. After the German victory, the „Wehrmacht“ was able to continue its offensive on Moscow and concentrate on Smolensk.

In July 1941 my great-grandfather reached the city of Smolensk and there he took care the soldiers who fought in the Battle of Smolensk.

1942

After the victory of the Wehrmacht in the city of Smolensk, the 9th Army moved on towards Moscow. After the Germans were repulsed in front of Moscow, the Red Army tried to break through the German defenses in front of Rzhev. The battle of Rzhev was one of the bloodiest battles in the German-Soviet war during World War II. In this battle my great-grandfather was seriously injured and he had to go back to Germany for medical treatment.

After 15 months and three major offensives, the Red Army was unable to defeat the German troops.

1943

In March 1943, the Germans finally withdrew from the city of Rzhev and were relocated to Orel. After my great-grandfather got better, he was used in the last major summer offensive of the Wehrmacht against the Soviet Union in July 1943. In the Battle of Kursk, the German attack was successfully defended by the Red Army and the Soviet Union launched the counter-offensive. On July 12, Adolf Hitler ordered the offensive to be stopped and the 9th Army withdrew.

1944 - 1945

In the years from 1944 to 1945, the Soviet Union fought back in a major offensive and retook many cities that the Wehrmacht had previously captured. The Red Army wiped out 28 divisions of the Wehrmacht and the Wehrmacht then withdrew. The German army was pushed back further and further and the Red Army liberated more and more cities that were previously under German occupation. By the end of the war in 1945 the Wehrmacht was pushed back to Berlin and on May 2, 1945 Berlin was conquered by the Red Army. On May 8, 1945 the Wehrmacht surrendered and the Second World War was officially over.

Video about a flight over the destroyed Berlin

click on the picture to see the video

After May 8, 1945

After World War II, Germany was divided into 4 zones of occupation under the victorious powers of the Soviet Union, USA, Great Britain and France.

The German soldiers were taken prisoner of war. My great-grandfather was sent to a prison camp run by Americans. It wasn’t that difficult for him in the prison camp because the Americans treated him well due to he cooked and baked for them. The Americans asked him if he would like to come to America because they needed bakers there and the German bread was so good but he said that he couldn't do that because he had a wife and children here to look after.

1947 - 1991

After 3 years of imprisonment, my great-grandfather was released from the prison camp in 1947. He came back to his family in Wernesgrün, which was in the „DDR“ (the eastern half of germany) and started a new and normal life. He stopped doing his job as a baker because he wanted to try new things and so he started to work in a weaving workshop. He then worked for a long time in uranium mining in Schlema and then for a few years in a brewery in Wernesgrün. My great-grandfather died in 1991 at the age of 79 in Wernesgrün.