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Josef
Nowak: Rhine meadow camp of Rheinberg
Chapter 20: Course in
national economy
British filter -- shifting of prisoners from the
"Ami" zone to the British zone and vice versa --
introduction of pledge plays and stock exchange and
barter trade -- dismissal from the camp of
agricultural workers, miners and administrative
officials
from:
Josef Nowak: Seeded on the field. War prisoner
in the home land.
(German: Mensch auf den Acker gesät.
Kriegsgefangen in der Heimat, 1956)
translated by Michael Palomino (2013)
[Criminal
"Americans": farewell without greeting - English
registration filtering NSDAP party members]
In the first half of June [1945] the "Americans" were
leaving. Neither the commander nor his officers or
soldiers were making a farewell visit. They simply
disappeared from the scenery. We had not plead them to
stay longer with us for sure. After the "Americans" came
the English. We were conceiving soon that there had to be
something like an "American" and a British zone outside.
Now we were registered the first time. What a good
feeling! We were incorporated into the cultural world and
could fill out the first time a question form. Our dubious
existence was taken earnest. They thought it was worth
while to split the gray mass into persons. Which sense
should have the questions forms? Only much later we
conceived that there was a trap with the maneuver of
question forms only shifting former national nationalists
and local leaders and more ranks into penal camps.
[Exchange of prisoners between Remagen and Rheinberg -
forced labor for Germans from the "Russian zone" in
Benelux countries and in France]
It seemed soon to be as if the prisoners with domicile in
the British zone should be linked more with the British
occupation administration. Because shortly afterwards the
prisoners with domicile in the "American" zone were
leaving our camp to Remagen, and at the same time [p.184]
German "British" were shifted from there to Rheinberg. But
where were the "Russians" [Germans with domicile in the
Russian zone]? It seemed that it existed also a Russian
zone. The Germans with domicile there seemed to be
homeless. But a rumor said that they would be delivered to
the Russians soon. Another rumor said that this would just
not happen. But the Germans from the Russian zone would be
brought to Belgium, Holland and France for forced labor.
And later as it should come out there was much truth with
this second rumor.
[Prisoners of Remagen introducing pledge plays and
stock exchange - handicrafts in Rheinberg]
When the men from Remagen were marching in Rheinberg a
commercial course began. We were taught basic knowledge
about economic system and life also when we could not
conceive the sense of currency, circulation of money and
turnover of consumer goods. People from Remagen were not
only introducing a lots of money plays, but also just a
real stock exchange where the Mark currency was rated
daily.
Until this moment Rheinberg had been almost an idyll. Not
important how scarce had been wood or pasteboard, often
little artifacts had been created, master words of
woodcut. There were carpenters, turners and artisans
making chess games, boxes, cutlery and other nice objects
of wood and sheet, hammered, driven, engraved, carved,
turned objects which could have been object for an
exhibition too [p.185]. But Remagen people had another
mentality and was flooding Rheinberg with gambling games
of all kind, decent and not so decent ones. Now there was
noise with shouting also during the evening until night
was coming when betrayed and naked people had lost
gambling games. Then British commanders were intervening
reinstalling moral in the camp. I had liked to give him
best advice but he did not ask me. Better food and some
work - and the whole spook had been over withing only some
hours.
[Remagen prisoners introducing currency - barter trade
with food - 1 cigarette and 1 peace of bread for 100
marks - bread on credit]
Prisoners from Remagen were also introducing a new
currency. Every piece of bread, a cigarette, a little bar
of chocolate, all this cost 50 Marks each. But now our
sergeants, accountant and suppliers their rucksacks. They
had been mostly robbed of their food during their
detention, but the cash boxes had mostly not been
confiscated, company cash box, battery cash box,
regiment's cash box, brigade cash box and son on. The
occupation army had printed German money themselves
without any objection thinking that such a project would
be punished in a state of law with penal workhouse not
under two years. Often the administrators of the army
goods had also lost their cigarettes, but many of them had
succeeded to smuggle thousands of cigarettes into the camp
because which "American" had smoked this weed by which we
had poisoned during the last years of the war?
Until this moment the cigarette owners had [p.186] hoarded
their possessions like tightwads and had consumed only
little of it. how one should exchange food for cigarettes
as long as daily hunger was provoking dizziness? England
was nourishing their prisoners in a little bit more decent
way, and the bad behavior was coming up already. Above all
the British parcels contained so beautiful exchange
objects like chocolate and sweets. Almost this splendor
had been ended much too early. Nationally certified idiots
and idiots with diploma had offered chocolate to the
British soldiers for an exchange with cigarettes. When the
commander heard about that then he was thinking first that
we were living too well yet and that the food would be too
much for us. Perhaps this man knew the humans also a
little bit and had a little bit a world experience about
strange birds in the trees of this world. God bless him
and his family because he did not take any measure for
reducing our living standard.
Within some days the market of Rheinberg had been ordered
by the stock exchange staff. It replaced the command
economy system with it's fixed prices by the free market
economy. Glut of money was brought into a healthy relation
of the existing offer of goods. As there was enough money
in the rucksacks, a cigarette cost now 100 Marks. And as
for a person the piece of bread was worth one cigarette
[p.187] then the bread was also 100 Marks. And also a
credit system was created soon. In Rheinberg there were
some capitalists who had been a poor guy during normal
life. I knew some of these Wehrmacht's capitalist. We knew
who we were, where we were living and what we could expect
of each other. Thus I was lending money from a banker and
was purchasing bread for it. I was giving him a real
certificate of debt also indicating that my wife should
pay back the lent sum in the
case of my death. This system worked like any other
banking business. Later the certificates of debt were
presented and the sums were payed back. Thanks of this
system I could recover myself getting back my health.
[Inactivity - agriculture workers are leaving - miners
are leaving - administration officials are leaving]
Despite of the better food, no, because of the better food
we felt that the captivity under the British was harder
than under the "Americans". We were not so hungry any
more. Doing nothing the whole day long was hard to
support. How was the world outside? Was there nothing to
do for a quarter of a million of men? Should not
been taken the rubble away, should not be reconstructed
the smashed houses and production plants? What sense
should have all this after the capitulation of hundreds of
thousands of men being damned to do absolutely nothing?
But then came a day with a call for some people suddenly,
agricultural workers should answer. Where should they go?
Really to Hanover, to [p.188] Magdeburg, for helping the
farmers? The agricultural workers were leaving in flocks.
When we had not been so absolutely stupid we had answered
to be agricultural workers and had been at home some weeks
earlier. If we only had known hos simple it was. We did
just not know about it. A little bit later miners were
wanted again and again. This was conceived better. Who was
administrating the mines of the Ruhr area wanted to see
coal too. I had been a miner already 23 years ago. This
was not attractive for me any more. Yes, when I had had an
"American" hunger yet - - -
But in 1922 I had also had the experience of being buried
under stones during 16 hours, with broken ribs and with
heavy contusions. Also in those times we had delivered
coal for reparations - - -
But we were mad as hell when it was announced that
administration staff should answer fast for being brought
home. Administration staff should be privileged people
coming home? When Franz Kafka had known about this! Some
days long we were walking around as if we had rabies. Were
bureaucrats so necessary? Of course they were necessary.
We did just not conceive it yet. The allies had urged the
unconditional surrender and had received a caos. They had
stopped the complete machine and they were watching with
horror that all was in a standstill [p.190] and nothing
could be re-initiated any more. When the winner did not
want to replace the administration with local deputies,
town inspectors, mayors, government deputies, local
judges, prosecutors, ministry deputies, then they needed
Germans, above all those who were under suspicion to
understand more of the administration than of carousals
with gin and whiskey. Then Rudi, an urban supreme
inspector was leaving his earth hole. We were giving him a
sad farewell. But he was also a mailman for our families.
Now they knew where we were and that we were alive yet.
It was a hard but a contemporary lesson of modern economy
that the bureaucrat was ranked on one level with the
agricultural worker and with the miner. Good God, then
also the writers, the actors, the musicians and all the
other professions would be wanted which were so
unproductive and unusable and inconvincible in this world
of technical prudence? [p.190]
^