Chapter 11:
The Dark Side of History
This chapter is not really a part of the family history. I’ve written it because I’ve met family members that think they can relocate the exact place where the family came from. Sorry, that’s not possible. Since 1935 the area has been an active restricted military area that has had large quantities of munitions expended on it.
Map of Follingbostel and Dorfmark
Inset of Map of Follingbostel and Dorfmark
Map of Germany showing the boundaries of the former parishes cleared out to form the military training area in 1936-1938
The area outlined in black is the training area – Bergen and Fallingbostel are the boundaries. Fallingbostel and Dorfmark and Fischendorf are not part of the training area, so you can still visit them. Bergen is the site of the main military base. Belsen is where the Concentration Camp is. Obereinzingen is where the Drewes family is from.
I’ve also met family members who think they can go back and meet lost relatives. If the relationship exists by birth or marriage the ties would have to go back before 1750 AD. In my opinion, that relationship would really be one closer to mankind than to family.
Erichsen farmland next to Boren Church in Germany
It also seems to me that a generation that has never had a war fought in their back yard has a desire to idolize war and the war mongers. They want to rewrite history to prove that ideology. That is not a new phenomenon. In 1758 Samuel Johnson wrote in “The Idler” “among the calamities of war may be jointly numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates and credulity encourages”. I’ll leave the last word to U.S. Senator Hiram Warren Johnson, speaking in the U.S. Senate in 1918 during World War I: “When war is declared, truth is the first casualty.”
To those of you who read this, it is your privilege to disagree. In the preparation of writing this history I’ve spent time in German church yards and their cemeteries looking at the cenotaphs listing the thousands of people who died in World War I and World War II, most of whom are buried where they died. The experience has had a negative effect on my perception of war.
The Luneburger Heide became a stronghold of Nazism following the election of Adolph Hitler. In the years that have passed since World War II, much has been forgotten and forgiven to the point that some wish to romanticize the era. This chapter explores the military history of the area from 1800 to post war WW II.
Memorial Stone in Obereinzingen Military Zone listing WWI losses
If we use the year 1800 as the start of the story of the Drewes exodus, Germany was at that time a feudal state. The Kaiser (king or konig) sat at the top of the feudal empire transferring possession of his property to princes, then to barons, to vassals and finally to peasants. The obligation of the vassal implied unlimited military assistance to his feudal lord. Even with the breakdown of feudalism, the peasants were still obligated to military service, but over time came to be paid as mercenaries.
As agriculture was not able to support the population of the Heide, the military service became an income supplement.
Through the nineteenth century the feudal laws would be eased as to property ownership, but the duties of military continued.
In the German Civil War of 1866 the Heide which had been part of the Kingdom of Hanover would become a Prussian province. The next war was then the French-German War of 1870. From this evolved the legend created by Prussian Nationalists of a “Hereditary Enmity” against France.
The picture of Jacob Wischoff, taken during his later years, shows him still proudly displaying his military awards. Jacob, a participant in the War of 1871, was a part of the same clan as Drewes. His second wife Dorothea, along with his son Friedrich (Fred) and his daughters Sophie and Dorothea would join the Drewes exodus to Alberta in 1894.
Following the war of 1870-71 the surrender of Louis Napoleon III ended the last vestiges of the Holy Roman Empire or the First Reich. The Second Reich would start when the King of Prussia was proclaimed Kaiser Wilhelm I, and Otto Van Bismarck became Chancellor of the German Empire (Second Reich). Prussia had thus achieved the unification of Germany and the establishment of the German Empire. Wilhelm I would marry “Victoria Princess Royal”, the oldest daughter of England’s Queen Victoria, on January 25, 1858. They had eight children.
Following the death of Wilhelm I in June 1888, he was succeeded by his son Wilhelm II, the eldest grandchild of Britain’s Queen Victoria. He married Augusta Victoria, of Schleswig- Holstein. Wilhelm II grew up in the military society of the Prussian aristocracy. The hyper-masculine military culture of Prussia, along with a cantankerous temper would define his rule.
He greatly envied the Imperial Power of his cousin Tsar Nicholas of Russia. He would engineer the dismissal of Bismarck and established a new course where the Chancellor (elected) head of the Reichstag (parliament) would have less power and he as King would have more.
Throughout his life, William disliked Jews. His quote “Let no German ever forget this, nor rest until these parasites have been destroyed . . . I believe the best thing would be gas”.
Throughout his rule he held a strong dislike for his royal relatives in the British and Russian royalties.
One of his first acts as Kaiser was to establish a military training base on the Heide. In 1891 the Prussian Ministry of War bought up areas of heath between Munster, Rhieningen and Wietzendorf. The first camp was established in June 1893.
In 1916 a chemical weapons production site was built in North Munster, primarily to produce mustard gas. In 1935 the Wehrmacht reopened the chemical site, testing 15% chemical and 85% explosive munitions.
In August of 1934 plans were laid by the Nazis to establish an enlarged military training area as part of the military re-armament of the Third German Reich (Drittes Reich). On September 15, 1934 news of the new training area reached the farmers. On October 1, 1934 the farmers met at the Sieben Steinhauser for council and sent a delegation to the Reichsbauern Fuhrer (Reich farmers’ leader) to present their concerns. On March 18, 1935 more than 80 farmers drove to Berlin to confirm their future and planned relocation of their homes.
The Westerman brothers, nephews of Anna Drewes. Born post-1890
A Nazi band that the Westerman brothers were a part of
From 1936 to 1938 the Nazis would, in spite of the local opposition, purge the area, creating Landkreis Fallingbostel, Landkreis Soltau and Landkreis Celle. In the clearance, 3635 inhabitants in 25 villages had to leave their homes. Included in this eviction would be Friedrich Eggersglus, owner of Mackenthun Hof, Friedrich Wedemeyer and the Westerman owners of Westerman Hof.
The Luneburger Heide is remarkable for numerous megaliths (huge stones), locally called Hunengraber (Graves of Giants). Included is a picture of one of these stones with the names on it of the communities destroyed during 1935 – 37. The stone sleeps, I hope peacefully, somewhere in the training area.
In 1936 a tank firing range, an infantry and an artillery firing range were established. There were 22 firing ranges for main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.
I’ve heard people in Canada and the United States question how the German population could go along with Hitler, the Nazis and their ideology. Let me give you an early example.
The Nazis established a military controlled camp adjacent to the military training area south of the small towns of Bergen and Belsen. The camp was used to house dissidents who disagreed with the Nazi policies and to rehabilitate them. Unfortunately rehabilitation usually resulted in the person entering the Pearly Gates. In the early years the camp was used to cleanse German society of Jews, Roma (Gypsies), political dissidents, Jehovah Witnesses and homosexuals.
The workers who constructed the barracks for the training area were housed in camp huts known as Stalag X1-B. The Belsen Bergen camp was converted by the Wehrmacht into one of its largest POW camps, holding up to 95,000 POW’s from various countries. The installation was significantly expanded in June 1941 to handle Russian POW’s. It was originally intended to house 20,000 POW’s. Expansion added two more camps at Oerbke (Stalag X1-D (341)) and Wietzendorf (Stalag XD (310)). By the end of March 1942 some 41,000 Soviet POW’s had died in these three camps of starvation, exhaustion and disease. By the end of the war the total Soviet dead exceeded 50,000.
Belsen had been planned originally to be used as a civilian internment camp. Between summer 1943 and December 1944 14,600 Jews, including 2750 children were imprisoned. Of these 2560 Jewish prisoners were exchanged with other countries for German civilians interned in other countries. The others would die of disease, starvation, forced labor, exhaustion and lack of medical attention. Their numbers were increased by prisoners who were transferred from other concentration camps. By November 1944 the camp would receive around 9000 women and young girls. Those able to work were sent to slave labor camps.
In 1945 the Nazi SS increased the camp and at least 85,000 people were transported there in cattle cars as other camps were evacuated before the advance of the Russian Red Army.
Current estimates place the number who passed through Belsen at around 120,000. Due to destruction of camp files, only about 55,000 have been identified by name.
When Canadian and British troops liberated the camp April 15, 1945 they found 13,000 unburied bodies, and around 60,000 inmates, mostly acutely sick (tuberculosis) and starving. The British forced the former SS camp personnel to help bury the thousands of dead bodies in mass graves. Some civil servants from Celle and Landkreis Celle were brought to Belsen and confronted with crimes committed on their doorstep. For the unfortunate Anne Frank, the troops arrived a month too late.
After WWII the Canadian Forces and units of the British occupied the German training area and its barracks. With the integration of West Germany and joining NATO in 1956, the Canadian Forces left this area. In 1959 Germany and the U.K. signed an agreement for joint exercises on the Soltau-Luneburger military reserve.
Some of the important Nazis related to Luneburger heath are listed below.
Heinrich Himmler
Joined the Nazi Party in 1923 and was involved with Adolph Hitler in attempting to overthrow the government in Munich. He joined the SS in 1923 which had been formed for Hitler’s personal protection. He was promoted to Propaganda Chief in January 1927, and in September 1927 put in charge of the SS. In 1934 Himmler and his SS took over control of the concentration camps. Himmler, who had strong anti-Jewish feelings, took over the extermination of Jews and other undesirables.
In April 1945 Berlin and the 3rd Reich would fall in defeat to the Red Army. Himmler went into hiding using forged documents. On May 21 Himmler and two aides were captured at a check point by the Soviets. He was turned over to the British 31st Civilian Interrogation Camp near Luneburger Celle on 23 May 1945. While undergoing a medical exam he was able to bite a hidden cyanide pill and collapsed on the floor. He was buried in an unmarked grave.
Martin Drewes
Not traceable as a relative after 1850 to the offspring of Casten (Karsten) Heinrich Drewes. He was born 20 October 1918, the son of a pharmacist at a small village Lobmachtersen-Bei-Braunschweig. He entered an officers training school late 1930’s and transferred to the Luftwaffe during 1939.
His first assignment was to the 76th Destroyewing flying a Messerschmitt RF 110 patrolling the North Sea. He had a 10 day stint in Iraq helping rebels during the Anglo-Iraqi War. He could claim 52 victories, including seven 4-engined bombers, and 43 British bombers. He was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class in 1943, and the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak leaves 1944-1945. In 1944 he would be GruppenKommandur III. His adjutant Oberleutnant Walter Scheel would later become president of West Germany (1 July 1974 – 30 June 1979).
Martin Drewes was captured by British Forces at the end of the War. In 1949 he would join other Nazis in Brazil. He married a Brazilian woman. He died at Blumenau, Brazil of natural causes October 13, 2013.
Wilhelm Drewes
Not a traceable relative after 1850 to the offspring of Casten (Karsten) Heinrich Drewes.
Born May 26, 1907 at Ilster near Hanover, Germany. He joined the Wehrmacht and trained at Munster Post 1935 as a tank commander. He served in the invasion of Poland in 1939 and was one of 800 recipients of the Iron Cross. In 1940 he would be a part of the armored column in the defeat of France. In 1941 he was sent back to the Eastern Front for “Operation Barbosa”, the invasion of Russia. In 1943 Stalin started the last German offensive in Russia at the Battle of Kursk. Wilhelm was wounded and given the “Wounded Badge” in 1943 and brought back to Germany. He had risen to the rank of Panzer Grenadier and Major. The Russians, in the battle of Kursk, cut off the German Army with the loss of over 750 tanks and weapons, 50,000 men killed or missing and 134,000 wounded.
In the post-war he served as Polizeihaupt Commissar in Bremen. He passed away at Bremen July 14, 1982.
Ilse Hess - nee Prohl (Proehl) and Rudolf Hess
My non-Drewes German relatives have suggested that Ilse was a relative of the Drewes family. The Drewes family did have a Proehl connection by marriage to the Westerman family.
Possibly related by marriage to the relatives of Casten Heinrich Drewes. Born 22 June 1906 at Hanover to Dr. Friedrich Prohl and Elsa Meinecke. The family was Prussian, patriotic and nationalistic orientated. Ilse’s father died when she was 10 in World War I in Belgium 17 April 1916. He was buried in Menen German Military cemetery in West Flanders. Ilse’s mother was remarried to Carl Horn, Director of the Bremen Art Museum.
Rudolf Hess, 26 April 1894 was born in Alexandra, Egypt to a Bavarian merchant and trader. At the start of WWI Hess joined the Bavarian regiment. He was at the first battle of Ypres. He received the Iron Cross in 1915 and was promoted Senior NCO and sent to Munster for more training. He would be wounded in 1916 and in 1917. After recovery he enrolled to train as a pilot, but saw no further action. In 1919 he enrolled in the University of Munich and studied history and economics. His geopolitical professor Karl Haushofer was a proponent of the concept of Lebensraum (living space).
In 1920 he met Ilse Prohl when by chance they rented rooms in the same boarding house.
In 1920 Hess had met Hitler and introduced Ilse to him. Both Hitler and Hess would lead the “Beer Hall Putsch”, an attempt to overthrow the Wiemar Republic. The overthrow failed, and both Hitler and Hess were imprisoned. Hitler was released on parole 20 December 1924 and Hess ten days later. While in prison Hitler wrote “Mein Kampf” (“My Struggle”) with the help of Hess and Emil Maurice. Ilse would type the document and it was published in two parts in 1925 and 1926.
Hitler named Hess his private secretary in April 1925 and as personal adjutant on 20 July 1929. Hess was a personal friend and confidante and one of the few people who could meet Hitler at any time without an appointment.
Ilse joined the Nazi Party in 1925. Throughout her life Ilse would speak against the Treaty of Versailles. The harsh terms would drive most Germans to support the Nazi start.
The romance between Ilse and Hess drug on, and finally Hitler took Ilse’s hand and “Dear Ilse, don’t you have any plans to marry my Rudolf?” For the docile Rudolf this was almost an order, and on December 20, 1927 the couple was married, with Hitler as best man. They had only one child Wolf Rudiger Hess on November 18, 1937. Hitler was his godfather.
Ilse, like her husband, was a part of Hitler’s inner circle.
On 30 January 1933 Hitler was appointed Reich Chancellor and Hess was named Deputy Fuhrer.
With the Hess and Proehl background knowledge of the Luneburger Heide, they decided the fate of a large part of it with the construction of the military base and the concentration camp at Belsen.
Hess made an ill-fated flight to Scotland to meet the Duke of Hamilton, with intentions to negotiate a peace treaty in Europe. Churchill did not want peace. He wanted to defeat the Nazis. Hess was taken prisoner and would remain one for the rest of his life. For Ilse, it was clear that his trip was from free will, and an attempt to help Hitler. The flight on 10 May 1941, by Hess who was a proven pilot, was in a Messerschmitt BF 110E, modified with a radio compass, an oxygen system and large long range fuel tanks.
Hess’s successor Martin Borman arrested Ilse and her 5 year old son, and confiscated her personal items, along with a car that had been a present from Hitler. Hitler ordered her released, provided her with a car and guard along with an allowance of 1000 Marks each month. Additionally Hitler ordered workers for her garden from a concentration camp.
Hess was convicted of war crimes at Nuremburg and sentenced to life at Spandau Prison in Berlin June 3rd, 1947. Ilse was arrested after the war and imprisoned in an internment camp Goggingen for prominent Nazi Party members. After a trial she was characterized as a follower, and released from prison March 24, 1948.
Rudolf refused to visit his wife after his capture. He became severely ill and in 1969 Ilse was allowed to see him at the hospital. She saw him for the first time since his flight to Scotland in 1941. This was the first time Rudolf saw his son since 1941, who was now 32 years old. Rudolf would recover, and Ilse would visit him 232 times at Spandau. The last prisoner at Spandau other than Hess, was released in 1966. From that time the 600 cell prison at Spandau held only one prisoner at an annual cost of DM800, 000. Requests for his release were denied mainly because the Soviets repeatedly vetoed the proposal. Spandau was in West Berlin and its existence allowed the Soviets entry into the city.
Hess died of suicide August 17, 1987, and Ilse passed away September 7, 1995. They were buried in a cemetery family plot at Wunsiedel. As a result of Neo-Nazi demonstrations every August on the anniversary of Hess’s death, the grave stones were removed, and destroyed. With the eventual consent of the family, the graves were re-opened 20 July 2011, the remains cremated, and the ashes scattered at sea by family members.
If you had been with me as I walked the cemeteries in Germany in the search of family history, you would share my sorrow. To stand in dejection as you look at the standard German gravestones that list the hundreds of fallen German soldiers from each Parish, usually buried in Eastern Europe where they died. You begin to wonder if there was anyone left.
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WWII Gravestones in a Lutheran Church cemetery in Boren, Germany
It has been difficult to write this chapter as truthfully as possible, having the hatred that I have for Drittes Reich (Third Empire). As well as I’ve studied the history of the Deutsches Reich, I am amazed at the myths that have developed. Who really won? Who was defeated? We can have an idea of where the War was at by how many soldiers died. The civilian losses will also show the brutality of war.
Human losses by country in World War II: (Source Wikipedia)
Country Total Population Military Civilian Total
01/01/1939 Deaths Deaths Deaths
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬German 69,000,000 4,440,000 to 1,500,000 to
5,318,000 3,000,000
Italy 44.394,000 319,200 to 153,200
341,000
Japan 71,380,000 2,100,000 to 550,000 to
2,300,000 800,000
United States 131,028,000 407,300 12,100 419,400
Poland 34,849,000 240,000 to 5,620,000 to
383,700 5,820,000
United Kingdom 47,760,000 67,200
Canada 11,267,000 42,000 1,600 43,600
Soviet Union 188,793,000 8,668,000 to 16,000,000 to 20,000,000
11,400,000 17,000,000 to 27,000,000
The hard reality was that Hitler in “Mein Kampf” wanted Lebensraum and he proposed to get it by cleansing Western Russia. In the end the Russians would win World War II, but at a terrible price. When the Allies landed in France June 6, 1944 the 156,000 Allied Army would be met by 6 Infantry Divisions and one Tank Division, a small portion of the German Army, about 100,000 troops, albeit the SS Divisions.
At the same time (1944) on the Eastern Front 2,500,000 German troops were still engaged in fighting the Russians. At that time the German Army Centre had 800,000 men expecting an attack by 2.3 million Soviet troops. By August 1944 the German Army in Russia had 400,000 deaths and 160,000 soldiers captured, along with the loss of 2000 tanks and 57,000 other vehicles. The January 1945 German offensive in Poland would claim 77,000 killed, 334,000 wounded, and 292,000 missing. During January and February 1945 a total of 703,000 men would be lost on the Eastern Front. The war in the Eastern Front was the largest and bloodiest in human history. With over 30 million casualties, the German armed Forces suffered 80% of its military deaths in the Eastern Front. To give war comparisons, in the Battle of Sicily the Forces of Great Britain and USA were opposed by only 2 German Divisions, while 200 German Divisions were engaged on the Eastern Front.
The Politics of World War II
The Tehran Conference of November 1943 was a meeting of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin.
The realities of the meeting that the leaders agreed to were:
That the USA had stalemated Japan in the Pacific. It would incur large unacceptable casualties to go on a major offensive invasion of Japan.
That Great Britain was stalemated in Europe. It had naval superiority over the German Surface Navy, but was curtailed by the U-Boats.
That Russia had stopped the Germans at Moscow, but was fighting a desperate battle.
The decision was for the USA to supply military equipment to Russia. Great Britain and Canada would defend the shipment against the U-Boats to allow the convoy to deliver arms to Northern Russia. In return Stalin agreed that on the defeat of Germany, Russia would break the 1939 Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact, and fight Japan.
The Yalta Conference February 4-11, 1945, discussed the fate of post-war Europe, including occupation of European states and government organization. Stalin was again pressed to join the USA in a defeat of Japan. Stalin agreed on condition that the Kuril Islands and Hokkaido would become part of Russia.
Germany Surrendered May 8th to British and Americans at Reims. General Eisenhower had insisted that a German Surrender had to be simultaneously and unconditionally made to the Allied Forces. Because of communication difficulties the Allied signing of Surrender at Reims would result in the day of Victory in Europe on May 8 and the Soviet signing date was May 9 in Berlin. This would result in V-Day being observed in Russia and the West on different dates.
The Potsdam Conference held July 17 – August 2, 1945 would have a more strained dynamic. Elections in Great Britain would have Clement Atlee replacing Churchill, and in the USA Harry Truman would replace Roosevelt, who had died. Truman’s anti-communist attitude was to meet Stalin’s rebuff. In the end the Allies could only agree on the destruction of Japan. Stalin finally agreed on a date to invade Manchuria between August 6 and 8, 1945. The Americans agreed on that date to increase the bombing of Japan. They had kept their nuclear program a secret and so the bomb on Hiroshima on August 6th and the bomb on Nagasaki on Aug 9th would come as a complete surprise to the world. For Truman the main purpose of the nukes was to send a message to Russia, of where the future power would lie.
Due to flawed intelligence the declaration of war by the Soviets and the invasion of Manchuria on August 8th, 1945 came as a partial surprise to the Japanese. The Japanese had 900,000 troops available in Manchuria, and 200,000 more in Eastern Mongolia. The Russian Army of 1,550,000 had a manpower advantage. The design of the attack and the route of the attack was so successful that in 6 days the Japanese Army was destroyed, and Manchuria conquered by August 14, 1945.
The American War in Okinawa is touted in US history as the last major battle in World War II, April 1 – June 21, 1945. The war in Manchuria, which ended August 14th, 1945 and resulted in the Japanese surrender August 15, 1945 I guess just doesn’t count. Anyway, to give a comparison, the USA faced an army 1/10th the size of Manchuria, and took 82 days instead of 6.
In defiance of the Samurai Code of never surrendering, Emperor Hirohito who wanted to surrender as a result of the Manchurian defeat, faced a Samurai Resurrection. With the help of the military he was able to put down the uprising. Hirohito did not want to surrender to the Russians because of previous war histories. To surrender to the US would allow him to retain Japanese control of Hokkaido.
Hirohito would surrender to the USA August 15, 1945. Failure to surrender would have resulted in the Soviets moving deeper into Korea and not only taking the Kuril Islands but also Hokkaido. But today (2022) Russia and Japan still have not officially signed an end to the War.
The Americans, in order to stop the war, could only get the Soviets to agree to a cease fire but not a Peace Treaty. Prior to Japan’s formal surrender on September 2nd aboard USS Missouri, the Russians had taken control of the Kuril Islands and Northern Korea.
At this time there was nothing stopping the Soviets from taking control of all of Korea. Concerned about the spread of Communism, Truman proposed that the 38th parallel be used as a dividing line, with the USA being the occupying army south of the 38th and the Soviets occupying the north. To the American surprise, the Soviets agreed, and the decision would continue to plague the Korean people to this day (2022).
Let me end this dark chapter with a quote from former US military commander and President Dwight D. Eisenhower: -- “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children”.