Hello to all
; another story............................
Blitzmädel (1944-1945).
Report of a contemporary witness - Annemarie Zarnikow.
Meaning.
"Blitzmädel" or "Blitzmädchen" was a term derived from the language of soldiers. The designation was derived from the Blitz (lightning bolt) emblem, the insignia on the uniform sleeve or tie. The lightning bolt was an emblem of the communications / signal corps (Nachrichtentruppe) of the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS.
Training in Hildesheim.
The district leader, Heilig, had been assigned the desired number of students from the Abitur classes at the Kleine Burg Girls' High School. When selecting high school graduates for the district command post, BannMädelführerin Jo Brandes determined which high school graduates were members of the Bann-Spielschar (orchestra), so that this group would remain in Braunschweig and be able to present their program in the military hospitals. The presentations were also repeated, because new soldiers always arrived at the hospitals. I belonged to this group. So, in addition to the service at the district command post, we also had the artistic service, so to speak.
If I remember correctly, we were 16 students, 16-18 years old. We were "recruited for emergency service" and transferred to a wooden barracks that had been built for us on the Thingplatz stand (*) and remained our "residence" until the end of the war.
But first they trained us. This was done by members of the Wehrmacht in the Hildesheim youth hostel. Training began in early October 1944. We learned how to use the radio (Morse code), the telephone (to set up calls), and how to process air situation reports.
During the big air raid on Braunschweig on October 14/15 we were in Hildesheim, and since our accommodation was slightly elevated on a hill, we had a wide view and could see Braunschweig in flames in the distance and hear the aircraft engines . Of course we were very worried. It was a time when you never knew if you would still have a family an hour later or not. "Good Bye!" it had a much deeper meaning in those days than it does today. On Sunday we were allowed to take the train to Braunschweig and see how our families and apartments were doing. The next day we went back to Hildesheim and the training continued.
Thingplatz Camp.
When it was over, we moved into the Thingplatz barracks. This consisted of a large dormitory with two-story bomb shelter beds, a shower area, two bathrooms, a small kitchen, two parlors, and a small anteroom. There were two ovens that were difficult to light. Our direct "supervisors" were two Hanover High School graduates, who had been doing this service for a long time at the district command post in Hanover, so they knew the way. They also did homework assignments with us.
In the showers, each of us had a narrow locker for personal belongings. We take care of our own food. You could prepare food in the small kitchen. However, lunch arrived in a large aluminum can from a dining room kitchen. It didn't taste particularly good and often wasn't clean either.
Our headquarters was on the right hand side of the Thingplatz grandstand; to the left was another barracks where French prisoners of war lived. We always gave them leftovers from lunch. They were very hungry and happily accepted the food. As a thank you, they fired up our stoves and pulled firewood from the benches at Thingplatz! There was a radio in the barracks. So much for our "life".
(*) A Thingplatz or Thingstätte was an outdoor amphitheater specially built for such performances.
Sources:
http://www.vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de/pd ... eitet2.pdf
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wehrmacht ... m%C3%A4del
Cheers. Raúl M
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