Marion you are a riot! And I love your smiley faces.

Thank you so much for providing this web site!!! How strange that you got that Siegburg posting. The fact that Mary's Dad actually wrote something up is amazing!

Jean J

Jean, ya, we like to have fun here too! Yes, I did catch on you were talking to Christoph, but it took me a bit, I have to admit.

I am so excited for you. I can't tell you (well you already know) how I felt each time something like this happened to me. I remember the first time I got to spend the weekend with a member of the 540th and his wife. What a thrill for me. I still cherish that moment.

I got an answer from our county's archive director Dr Claudia Arndt today.

She writes that there is one copy of the find book "Archive of the Benedictines, Siegburg" in the archive of the Rhine-Sieg county, wherein also some files concerning the "reserve hospital Siegburg (1940-1945)" are listed. You can look at the find book in the archive's reading room from monday to thursday 0830 to 1230 and 1330 to 1600. The files themselves are in the archbishopric historical archive of Cologne and would have to be looked in there.

Christoph

Hello Guys!

I literally just got in. I called Mom first and then signed on to you all. It will take me several days to sort out logically what I now know. It truly is a crazy stroke of luck! Mr. Norton and his wife could not have been kinder! What lovely people!

Do I have more questions? Yes! But I hope to return and learn more - if I am ever that fortunate again.

Marion, I can only imagine how thrilled you were to meet a 540th Vet and his wife. What a proud day for you! And your Dad! He had to have been a Great Guy to have you as his daughter!

Christoph, This is BIG news! Am I allowed to ask you if I could pay you to examine what they have?

I doubt they will have lots of detail but II wonder if they even have lists of the Allied prisoners that came through there. Maybe even Mary's Dad is listed. I am especially interested in finding out the name of the Commandant and his family.

I am pretty confident that the Nun I mentioned several entries before this one, will remember my Dad, if only there was some way to get in touch with her. I can send a War time photo of him. As soon as Norton saw the photo, all doubt went away.

I also wonder if there are records on SS officers. The one I am currently interested in is Duchow. His brother was a Dentist in Corona, LI, New York. Duchow was not at Siegburg. Infact, Norton does not think there was any SS person there.

I actually think Mary's Dad's comment about the guy mentioning the Nun's knowledge of many languages was my Dad. But he was not in for an exam, he was just there. And that is something he would say. And why would these prisoners know such a detail, but more to follow on that line of thinking.

So for now, I will unpack, go see Mom and do all of those kinds of things.

More to follow. And I am anxious to read the new entries on the general site.

Jean J

I have asked my father to search everything about the hospital in the find book, he lives 150 meters beeline from the rose garden, 250 m from Siegburg's archive and 550 m from the county's archive - the idea to ask him came a bit late. He's a retiree colonel interested in (also local) history with a bit more time within the opening hours of the archives, but I cannot promise when he'll actually be having the time .

By then some pictures of our hill:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-4_Fksskqs

Christoph

Christoph,

That is an Incredibly Kind and Generous thing for your Dad to consider doing! Also, if he never has the time to get to do it, I understand.

The photos you took are splendid! I would assume from them that you are a professional photographer.

I have several things that are in my queue to send to you and hope in a few days to get to do so - one is that postmark on the letters home from Dad from the Michaelsburg Abbey and another is the photo of the door where the Morgue was.

Do you know where the wine cellar (assuming that was its original purpose) was or the place they used to hide in when the bombs came? Maybe that and the location of where the Commandant lived in the basement will be revealed in the Siegburg documents.

According to Mr. Norton they used an Outhouse for a bathroom. That had to be close by to the barracks.

It would be interesting to hear what life was like for the people of Siegburg during that time. Food had to be scarce everywhere.

Oh so much more to chat about but better go now.

Thank you again for trying to help us and so kindly sharing your knowledge!

Jean J

Jean,

the last photos in the youtube video are not mine but the others

There is a liqueur cellar, you will find it on GE (or a map) at 50°47'43.81"N, 7°12'42.21"E. At the end of 1944 the inhabitants of Siegburg dug three protective tunnels into the hill at about (50°47'47.74"N, 7°12'34.96"E),(50°47'45.32"N, 7°12'32.74"E) and (50°47'41.31"N, 7°12'33.693"E), more than 60 meters deep. Others say one tunnel was at the east side of the hill. There were no sanitary installations at the tunnels, only a privy near the entrance. The hygienic conditions, typhus and other diseases in the tunnels were very poor and made some families look for shelter in their own cellars in 1945. A contemporary witness told our newspaper that his mother had decided to die at home, if necessary.

In 1947 the tunnels were filled up.

The cemetary of the friars is at (50°47'43.07"N, 7°12'34.91"E), and the rose garden at (50°47'47.45"N, 7°12'39.65"E).

@Marion: Is there a way to load kmz files into the forum? Is there an easy way for photos without loading them up elsewhere before?

Christoph

Hi All, This is incredible work you have been doing! I have to read and reread to make sure I'm getting all the information! Thank you!

To answer a couple questions I see posed of me -

Regarding what camp - Hoffnungsthal or Siegburg - I believe where my father was held – I believe it was hoffnungsthal. I do have to say my memory of my father talking about where he was held only is Seigburg, However, are much searching and many efforts of trying to get the military to tell me where he was held, I was told by the NARA ([Archives2reference@nara.gov] ) was camp 6G. They indicated Stalag 6G was near Bonn, which Rosrath is near Bonn, So, I would have to go by the description my father provided in the interview/transcript of the camp and as Christoph indicated, it does fit the description. Now, with all that said and going to the first camp he talks about being “a filthy place, your bed and your bathroom”… I believe it was Gerolstein. Christoph, any thoughts on that? I’ve attached what I believe is his path as a POW/Slave labor. Christoph, I would love to visit them with you and will some time in the not so distant future. Your help has been so wonderful, I can't thank you enough.

Jean, I do have the timeline for my father and where he entered Europe – He arrived via Normandy on August 26^th, 1944.

I have company this week but will be back on this forum next week to find out more! I have spend years searching and talking to veterans and their surviving families, visiting Germany and Normandy to find out more information. I have gathered so many documents and I feel I need to share what I have found so others searching can be helped like you and this website has helped me! Thank you!

This topic just keeps developing. I love what I am reading. The exchange of info is just phenomenal!

Hello Guys!

I had difficulty getting on system and therefore I did not have a chance to say THANK YOU to Christopher for all of that info. It is fascinating to hear how the locals survived that very difficult period!

One day I will plot on a map the coordinates that you gave me. I feel confident that it is not where the POW's were buried.

The shelter that the POW's used could not have been far away. Norton had one crutch to use to get to the place they used as a shelter.

I am curious about what the locals ate. Where did the cabbage come from and the potatoes. The locals had to be starving too.

I asked whether the POW's had to use a slit trench or ? and was surprised to hear that there was an outhouse.

Regarding typhus, apparently the Americans had shots to prevent it. It was the others at the Camp who were dying from typhus.

Christopher, what a riot with those photos. I was sooo impressed that my first reaction was that I would never want you to see what we took. And I could not imagine the perspective you were taking the shots from, the lighting, etc. Again, Thank You so much for sharing them.

My Dad, during his captivity, did write home from there that it must be a beautiful place in peace time.

Mary, I know what you mean, I need to go back and study all of these entries. Thank you for the date he entered Normandy. How lucky you were that he was willing to talk about his war time experiences with you and others. And how lucky for me!! Amazing.

I am so curious why your Dad got moved out of Siegburg. Was he so ambulatory or so strong? Was he a big guy? Even if the beds and all of the space was full and it meant diluting the limited and weak cabbage soup, I would think it would be real hard to let someone more on to another Camp.

Or when we narrow down the dates of his captivity in each place, maybe because the War was coming to an end, and food was soooo scarce and he could walk, they felt it was the best decision.

They had news of what was going on and that the Allies were going to eventually win.

Oh so much more to write, and especially to say "Thank You Marion" for your dedication to helping preserve the memories of all of those that served in WW2.

And Christopher, I am going to get out those Stalag 6 G postmarks real soon.

JJ

Try not to post today, for they are doing an upgrade and you may lose the above. Please see my post in Announcements.

Okay, we are back in business. Just didn't want anyone to lose anything, in case of difficulties. The upgrade went smoothly!

Oops, I have found the button to attach files . But kmz-files are not allowed

My father has already tried to take look on the find book, but at the archive they are on vacation this week. He will try again as he is quiet interested himself.

Christoph

Marion, Congratulations on the smooth upgrade!

Christoph, that is really so kind of you and your Dad to try to see what the Archive has. Please Thank Your Dad for his efforts from me! And I am so sorry it was closed and I am so lucky that he will consider going again.

Well I went back to my notes to see about the Nun who was to have lived at Michaelsburg during the War. The lady (Nina) who was trying to help me (and I just wrote her too) found Edeltrud Koch at Benediktinnerinnen Steinfeld. I just googled "Edeltrud Koch Benediktinnerinnen Steinfeld" and while I can not read (or speak) German I believe I found that she died April 24 of 2012. She was born in 1929. I am sooo sad. She died too young! I could not read any info about Benediktinnerinnen Steinfeld and wonder where it is located. I also wonder if anyone there knows anything about her or heard any stories of her life. Maybe she kept a diary of how she passed her life. What a loss to know nothing of her.

I will ask Nina to see if when she has time, if she can find anything out about Edeltrud Koch.

For Mary I wanted to tell her that Mr. Norton was taken from Siegburg to Waldbrol, Germany when the Allies got close to Siegburg.

Jean J

Christoph and Mary,

I am looking through more notes I had regarding Nina's research and discovery of Sister Edeltrud. Sister Edeltrud was there with her parents and younger brother. She spent the last period of WW2 on the Michaelsberg in Siegburg. She told Nina that the wounded soldiers were brought to Arnsberg.

What a mistake that I did not go to Germany to meet Sister Edeltrud. This research was going on in Jan. 2011. And she even told Nina that she will include me in her prayers.

Boy am I sad. I am going to prioritize and see if any of the crew on the downed Maruder plane are alive.

Jean J