Expropriation and Expulsion
Till 1945 Damitz was a village with only German
population. This population has been evicted with the exception of one family
in 3 shipments to West Germany mostly to Bavaria and North Wuerttemberg / Baden
in the first 6 months of 1946. Some Families were deported to “Inner
Czechoslovakia” to do “hard-labor” on farms. This was the right acc. to the Benesh
Decrets. In advance to our eviction we were brought for some days to a so
called collection camp and also those above mentioned families were brought to
that camp. Each person was permitted to take 50kg of luggage with him, but the
goods to be taken along was depending on the permission of the new –Czech
“Owners” of our houses and all our other goods. Acc. to the Benesh Decrets,
everything has to be taken away from Germans therefore the new owners wore
sometimes the clothes of our parents and their children our shoes.
In
that camp our baggage has been searched again and many things have been taken
away or been damaged.
How the new “Owners” came to the ownership of
our properties? In summer 1945 mostly men went through our village, looked at
houses, went in sometimes accompanied by men with guns, checked everything and
when they liked it, they went to the “Kommissar”, who was the new
administrator, and there they got registered and got a certificate -a kind of
title-deed- showing them as the owner of the house Number …. With this
step the property shifted to the new "owner". Which formalities
behind this act took place were not visible to us, it had no meaning
to us. The Czech occupants of our houses were presenting that document showing them as the owner of the property with all
inventary and live-stock. From this very moment, the former german
owners were not permitted to take anything out of the house by their
own. It depended exclusively to the Czech occupants what we could keep as ours.
We were declared as stateless and without
any things of our own (unpropertied) !
 The picture
shows my birth-certificate with the Czech stamp showing exactly that!
In some way fortunately my fathers house has been partially damaged by bombs, so it was
relatively unattractive in the first row, later a 22 years old single man from
Wolhinia moved in so we were in a relatively lucky position.
In some cases the German families had to leave
their houses immediately and had to find a quarter in the houses of relatives,
some were deported (see above).
For a certain time some Czech gangs were terrorising the
village, searching for hidden goods robbing and torturing and even killing one German man, we had the
impression that even the new Czech settlers were afraid of them.
After the first so called “gold diggers” the
village was populated step by step by also not on their own will coming
Czech people from Wolhinia (now Ukraine). They were also forced to leave their
origin home country. Their advantage was only that they could move into
intact and even furnished houses. This was not our case.
The forced migration of the german populaton was executed by train.
As mentioned above in three "shipments" in January, March and June
1946. We were "loaded" in railway waggons which are used mostly for
cattle transportation. In each carriage 30 people with their luggage.
After 3 days we received our destination in Seckach/Baden in the
American Zone of Germany.
Report concerning the period from May 1945 till June 1946
I write this report to my memory on a special
wish of our good czech friend Vera B.. As Vera is a poet, she may
forgive me my sober prosaic writing!
Iwas then just 9 years old and enjoyed the exciting last weeks of the
war much. The front line was only 10 km from our village.. what can
be more interesting for boy of that age? I did not realize what could
happen...
Our large farmhouse in typical moravian rectangular style with the
dimension of 38m by 125m was hit by 17 bombs and shells on May 7th, the
last day of the war.
Even when the dwelling-house itself had only little damages on the roof,
one can imagine that it as a whole gave a nicely damaged impression.
Due to the exposed place of our
house, we spent the first days (or weeks?)
in the small and inconspicuous little house of my grandmother.
After the first 2 weeks of the stay of russian front soldiers, czech
gangs (sorry, even when they called themself partisans, they were just a
gang of marodeurs) came into the village, stealing, robbing, torturing and even
murdering one man after having him tortured without any reason for 3 days.
That man, Viktor Wieder, was definitely no Nazi.
They were searching the
ground for hidden goods. They requested the german inhabitants to deliver
all goods of "higher lifestyle" as there are Radios and bycicles to
their collection place.
Many of our people prefered to destroy
this goods instead to deliver them to this people.
Those bandits
had no interest in the village, they mooved to somewhere else after
some weeks of sheer terror.
Russian soldiers tried to organize with us children some work in the
fields, with little success.
For that reason we children were
ordered to collect in the school house.
As we were told before,
we entered the classroom, lifted our hand and greeted with "Heil Hitler".
That effected a burst out of laughter by the russians.
I do
not dare to think about what would have happened if there would have
been Czech and not Russians!
End of May some people, surveyers
of the so called "Todesmarsch" ("mortal trail"?)of
the german inhabitants of Brno, were brought into our village. Into
our house came a woman with her old mother which could not anymore
effort the continuation to Austria. All what they had with them was
what they had on their body and in a very small suitcase.
After
having killed the ones which could not walk anymore within the first
2 days of this horrible march the weak became obviously too many for
killing them all.
Then came the order that all germans must wear a white armlet with a black N
(for Nemec Czech for German). I think all over 14 had to wear it. I was
just 9 but I insisted to have it too and I wore it on all the time!.
(I must admit, but I think I was then a fanatical
nationalist if not even a "Nazi" but all by myself, my parents had
no political ambition!!)
We children had in 1945
a time like in paradise. We were not permitted to visit a school,
what about we did not regret much!
With the Czech so called commisar a kind of Czech village administration
was established.
My father was requested to help them for a start up. He was
before the so called "Ortsbauernführer" the leader of the local
farmers, and also member of the NSDAP which he became automatically
as the succeeding party of the "Sudetendeutsche Partei". He had the
knowledge which the new administrators needed.
But he had also a good knowledge in Czech language in writing and
speaking.
German and Czech families used to "exchange" -the so
called Wechsel or na Wexl- their children for at least one year for
language learning purpose in the age of about 14 years and therefore
my father was living for one year at Dolny Kounice in a czech family
and visited also the czech school during this time.
Later, when he was not needed anymore by the czech administrators
he was arrested and brought into a Work Camp in Mähr.-Kromau /
Mor. Krumlov.
Our house was then occupied acc. to the above described procedere by a
22 year old Czech from Wholinia.
With his moving in we were already living with 3
parties in our house.
Despite the fact that it is a horrible thing when suddenly somebody
moved in and declared that everything of your own belongs now to him,
it could be worse than it was with "our Czech"( we indeed said so)
Vaclav "Vaschko" Hokesch.
Even when he with his friends destilated Wodka out of nearly
everything they could find, and were drinking all night in our
large farmhouse kitchen until they lost consciousness , we could stay in our
house, because he had no family to move in.
My mother and my (much
beloved and admired) Cousin Maria, who lived during that time with us,
tried to steal them as much as possible of the alcohol. They made a kind
egg likor of it. Maria took some of this bottles along with her
when she finally escaped at night into Austria. I think it helped her
for her start up.
In the house of Marias parents was no place for her after a Czech
family moved in. Her parents with brother and sister were kicked out
later and found a place in the house of relatives.
The
picture which was most probably taken in early spring 1946 in the
yard of our house and shows from left to right: Hokesch sen., unknown,
my Grandmother, Vaclav Hokesch, my Mother, sitting in front Joschka
Heller. (there are not many photographs existing from that time)
During the above mentioned drinkung-bouts, my mother did not permit us
to go to bed. She took us as a kind of protection for her and Maria,
in which she was definitely right.
When she was asked to send us to
bed, she refused and answered, that if they are going to shoot us,
she wanted them to kill us all that why she wants to have her children
with her.
Of course they were threatening to shoot us several times!
Beside that she ruled the young Hokesch soon and he even wanted to
name her mother but she refused.
Today one can hardly image it but
then Germans were not permitted to earn or to have money. All income
came into the hand of V.Hokesch. We could go and buy i.e. bread, but
before my mother had to convince him to give money or to pay after
for a purchase. We had the status of the slaves in antic Rome!
In autumn my father came, I think
on request of Mr. Schabata, for the sugar rootes harvesting to
Tullnitz /Dolenice.
It was I think for me the best and most
intensive time I spent with my father. I would go in the morning to
the near neighbour village and spent the whole day with him.
My parents were hiding a barrel with wine under potatos in the old
cellar. I think, my father emptied it all during this time.
When this ended also the ralative good times came to an end.
The forced migration to germany was going on already in our neighbourvillages.
My Grandmother from Irritz / Jirice was already in Germany.
Damitz / Damnice
was only excluded because of a Typhus epidemic.
My father came into the County Prison to Znaim / Znojmo were he was
after some weeks in a cell under undescribable conditiones, senteced for
6 years hard labor. He came first to the unfamous Prison to Mürau / Myrov
and later for work in a quarrel in Tlumatsov.
It was then obvios that we will have to go the migration without him.
My brave mother visited him in Myrov as well as in Tlumatsov.
It was not so easy, because she had to persuade Vaclav Hokesch to get
a travel permission for her and also the money for the ticket!
Germans were not permitted to use a train without official permission
and in the train, they were not permitted to use a seat, they had to
stand! My mother told us about a Czech woman in the train who urged
her to use a seat and she also promised to pay attention for the case
the conductor would come. It was not all just horror. (My mother could
speak Czech as well but not so perfect that she dared to travel without
her armlet with the "N")
In June 1946 this time came to an end. We had to accept our forced migration to Germany.
I think the final leave-taking was not so hard, it was a long
saying good bye step by step already before this final going.
Some of the new Czech inhabitants were standing at the edge of the
village with a transparent with the inscription:
Wir wollen ins heim ins Reich!
One old Czech, he is now over 90 years old, mentioned some years ago
to me, with tears in his eyes:
With the leave
of your people gods blessings left this country as well!
There will be a continuation "Arival and Reception in Germany"
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