April 25, 1945
The last battle was ragging on in the capital and I was with my school friend in the house where we lived together 7 years ago and held the position. As a returnee from Japan, our parents decided that we should go home to the Reich and live a glorious and joyful life among the city where the great Fuhrer lived.
And now we are in a defensive position defending our lives and country. I look at my good friend who was sitting at a machine gun and watching the field in front of her.
Erika Sturzmann a half Japanese, mother sided, volunteered for the defense of Berlin and I let myself be carried away by her. My name is Marianne Holdt but she gave me the nickname "Miho" since we were at school. We are both 17 years old and yet we both are inseparable since school.
"Miho, please get some ammo I have a feeling that it will be starting soon," she said to me, tearing me out of my thoughts.
I stared at her for a moment, but she kept staring at her section with narrowed eyes, concentrating on every movement.
"I'll do Eri" I said before I jumped up and ran into the stairwell to get to the ammunition depot.
On the way I met some soldiers of the Volkssturm who had gone into position and threw me angry looks. I cared very little what people thought about me because I am from voluntary pieces here to defend Erika together with the great fatherland.
"Ammo for the MG42, please," I said, breathing in and out fast after running so fast.
The soldier looked at me disdainfully and shook his head
"Kid, do not make war, go home before the Russians come here and kill you!" He said casually, putting 2 boxes of ammo at my feet for the MG42
"It's about our fatherland and it's worth to fighting for it!" I shouted at him and jerked the ammo boxes up and turned around. As I was about to disappear into the stairwell, I heard the old soldier laugh with disdain. I turned my head and stared at him contemptuously and went back to Erika.
As I entered the room, Erika was still sitting in front of the MG, not moving much. I put down the ammo boxes next to her and sat down again.
"Thank you, Miho," she said, smiling at me. A bonfire raged in me as she praised me that has always been so. I look into her blue eyes and smile at her and nod to her in response.
She briefly removed the steel helmet and wiped the sweat from her forehead, moaning with exhaustion. I sat down closer to her and offered her a piece of chocolate that I got from my mother many weeks ago.
Thankfully, she accepted the piece and pushed it into her mouth. An indefinable feeling spread through me as I looked at her and saw her chewing chocolate with a smile. I could not help but giggle. Erika looked at me startled.
"What is?" she said irritably but gently.
"I just have to think about what these messed up times are, there's death lurking outside and yet I feel comfortable here with you ..." I told her and smiled at her it seemed childish to me that I said something to her now. She chuckled a little and put her hand on mine and squeezed it a bit
"Little Miho always as sentimental as ever" she teased me but I realized that it was not vicious. I blushed a bit and an indefinable feeling returned. I did not have such a feeling until today. Was it the much-said camaraderie? Or something else.
I look embarrassed to my boots and play embarrassed with the rum. Erika took me in the arm and squeezed me gently.
"Oh, my little Miho," she said softly to me and put her head against mine. I never felt so safe and secure.
Loud steps echoed through the stairwell and a sergeant appeared in the doorway
"Enemy contact!" He screamed and ran up a floor to alert more soldiers.
Erika let go of me and put on her steel helmet and manned the MG again she loaded and again aimed at her section. I grabbed my carbine K98 and hid behind the window at her side.
"Take care you will not be hit Miho," she told me, keeping an eye on the road.
"I wanted to tell you the same thing Eri," I said with a smile on my face then a deafening silence spread.
On the street in front of us, Volkssturm soldiers positioned themselves with their antitank weapons and lurked on the enemy forces.
It did not take long and the unmistakable sound of curbs on the cobblestones made their way unhindered through the street.
"Damn tank ..." I cursed softly to Erika and rested my hand on my rifle.
"Only courage Miho we can do it", she whispered back and saw how a T34 / 85 came closer and closer.
Now the first soldiers came to the fore, they walked cautiously from the entrance to the entrance and entered the houses. From time to time an MP fire could be heard and wild Russian commands echoed across the street.
A boy of the Hitlerjugend jumped out of his hiding spot and fired his panzerfaust. The warhead whipped past the tank and hit the wall of the house, tearing a huge hole in it. Immediately, the Russian soldiers shot at the boy, who dropped to the ground with a scream and lay there covered in blood.
I saw Erika immediately start firing on the soldiers and also anyone else from the other floors and houses began to fire on the Russian soldiers.
The air filled with fighting noise and the screaming of the wounded. I aimed at a soldier who ran to a position on the Volkssturm and armed a grenade. He came right in my sights and I pulled the trigger and he fell down. A few seconds later, the grenade he was unable to throw exploded, ripping the body apart turning it into a tattered torso.
Now the Russian soldiers were targeting our house and volleys of bullets whipped up the wall of our house and the ceiling on our floor.
"Miho, I need reloading!" Erika shouted to me and I put down my gun and crawled over to Erika I took the ammo box and pulled out the new belt. She closed the top cover of the mg and charged the bolt in seconds and loaded. I patted her shoulder and crawled back to my rifle.
The square in front of us was filled with many bodies lying on the street. I saw how the tank drove over the body of the boy of the Hitlerjugend and made him to a bloody mud. Disgusted, I looked away for a moment and closed my eyes. I became aware again when I heard a big bang. I looked down and the tank smoked as it drove over a magnetic mine.
Erika started firing at the soldiers who wanted to escape from the tank but they had no chance to escape. I saw the rest of the Russian soldiers retreating and out of our reach.
"Well done Eri" I exclaimed euphorically and jumped up to her to hug her.
She said nothing but grinned at me and patted my shoulder. I knew that the Russian soldiers would come back sooner or later, but until now the defense was holding up.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
April 26, 1945
Hours have passed since the last attack and we were both still in the same position defending it. I shared the watch with Erika so she could sleep a little bit.
"Can I hold your hand?" She asked me as I just made myself comfortable at the MG and stared at the street.
"Eh?" I exclaimed and I looked at her in shock. Never before has she asked me to do so, until now it has always been me who made this sentimental style.
"You-you do not have to ... if you do not like," she said uncertainly to me, slowly pulling her hand back.
A feeling of guilt passed through me and I tilted my body a little in her direction and grabbed her hand and held her tight. I watched the street and saw Erika looking up at me. I gave her a sideways glance and smiled at her.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw how she gratefully smiled. She put her head against her steel helmet, which she used as a cushion. I could not watch this. I pulled her to me and put her head on my lap and started patting her over the head with my hand while holding the mg with the other.
I looked down to her from time to time and saw that her blue eyes pierced me with gratitude. When I saw my eyes and what they radiated, my heart began to race and this strange feeling came back. I ignored this strange feeling and focused on the front section I was guarding now.
It was not long before a gentle snore came from my lap amused I look down to Erika and saw that she had fallen asleep. From the staircase I heard steps that penetrated into our room. I did not look back because I knew that it was the sergeant who brought our food. Unusual times when a sergeant brought food to the soldiers, which was easy to eat.
"Is she finally sleeping?" Asks the sergeant looking at us both in turn.
I nodded but stayed in my position with the view of my front section.
"You two old friends?" He asked, handing me my dishes with a soup-like food in it
"Yes, since school," I said softly to him and took a spoonful of the soup. It tasted like she smelled. Evil. But those who want to fight must eat that they told us at school and at two-day weapons training.
"You are so inseparable that you could assume you are a few," he joked and looked at me. A few? Well ... I noticed how my cheeks got hotter and also the temperature in the room became warmer. Anyway, it felt like that to me.
Laughing, the sergeant knocked on my shoulder so that Erika woke up and stared up at him.
"There I did something the enemy can see you now at night. Private Holdt" he rose a little. I stared at the street as if obsessed.
"Do not get caught as something like this is punishable" he admonished us laughing and got up completely.
Erika looked questioningly at me and I shrugged.
"Can anyone tell me what's going on here?" Erika asked, which of course was addressed to me and took her head off my lap
When I wanted to say something, I noticed a flash of light in the corner of my eye and immediately a shot boomed.
I felt like a red mass moisturizing my pants I stared at it and it looked a bit off the brain. My gaze wandered to Erika and I saw that she was staring at the sergeant. In her face she had stuck red threads that would not belong to her.
I looked at the sergeant but he was standing there and his head was missing the blood dripping to the ground like a small waterfall.
I realized how I was knocked over and Erika just yelled "CONTACT!" and she shot with the MG on the windows and elevations where a sniper could lurk.
The whole house was awake and shot wild at everything that moved or where one assumed that the opponent could lie.
It took me a few seconds to recover, so I ran to my rifle and scanned the area.
"What the hell is going on here?" A corporal came in and saw the dead sergeant.
"Stop the fire!" He shouted at us and went to the body and broke off the dog tag.
He looked at us by turns and shook his head as he disappeared. I heard him rant in the hallway "Old's, kids and now women's ... unbelievable"
Early in the afternoon there were a few firefights between us and the Russians who have now occupied some buildings in the street.
I ran back down the stairwell to get more ammunition because of the firefight many were injured lying in the stairwell and groaning or crying. I tried to ignore this and concentrate on the procurement
"Two boxes of ammunition for the MG 42 and some strips for the K98," I said, looking around. There was almost nothing left.
"I only have one box left and no ammunition for the k98," said the soldier, watching me.
"And what shall we shoot?" I asked in disbelief and shrugs.
He grabbed two MP40s and 5 magazines for it
I looked at him questioningly "These are officers'' weapons"
"Congratulations as there is no officer here anymore my kid does what you want with it" he said disinterestedly and turned away from me.
I did not know why but I took the guns and went to the wall where the war flag of the empire hung and took it off and put it over my shoulder and left the ammunition depot.
"What do you want with it?" Erika asked me and pointed to the flag.
"I do not know," I said, looking down at the floor, embarrassed.
"I do not know?" She quoted me and blinked a few times as she started to laugh heartily
When she calmed down, she just said "typical Miho, if you're angry or overwhelmed you're always doing funny things"
"Ey" I said and wanted to sound serious but I had to smile. I hang the flag over the doorpost and walked over to Erika to hand over her one of the mp 40s and the ammunition.
A whistle swept across the street and a loud crack sounded a heavy shock brought the house to quake.
"What the hell?" Erika cursed, staring up the street. Oh yes hell there was an assault gun ISU-122 that went into position and shot at the buildings. It was followed by a huge number of Russian soldiers and tanks.
Before the Volkssturm could go into position, they were struck down with MG fire or forced to flee.
I looked at Erika and saw that she had panicked.
"Eri what ..." I wanted to ask her what we should do but there was another shot and it brought the house next to us to burn. I heard the soldiers in the neighboring building start screaming because they burned alive.
Shocked, I continued to stare at Erika and she stared at me I started shaking my thoughts were just saying goodbye to my mother when Erik grabbed my arm and whispered to me "We're breaking out of here!" I just nodded.
She took the MP and pulled me into the stairwell the fire blazed over to the other house one floor below. I was overwhelmed with the situation and grabbed the flag and ran with the down the stairs and stormed through the fire wall.
When I looked back, the flag had caught fire and burned unstoppably, releasing it and watching for a few seconds as the flag continued to burn. Somehow Mourning Spread Through Me For 7 Years She Was Tied and Burned.
Erika grabbed my forearm and dragged me into the backyard
"Let's get out of here," she screamed in my direction and ran through the streets.
I heard another shot and saw the top floor collapse and buried the wounded soldiers. Tears accumulated in my eyes, which is missing the view.
Erika pressed us to a corner and she looked around the corner in both directions but there was no enemy in sight yet. She knocked on my helmet to signal that the way was clear. I stormed out of the alley to the other side and gave Erika fire protection.
Nearby, I heard some Russian soldiers talking. Was that the end? Erika came over to me and covered me under her body she peered around the corner and recognized some Red Army soldiers coming towards us. She pushed me further up the lane and followed me with the rifle in order to squeeze in case of emergency.
But the soldiers stopped in front of the alley and talked.
Slowly we moved away from our old battleground, we wanted to join the next unit to continue to fight for the fatherland.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
April 27, 1945
We were running all night, hiding and of course racing. We did not have food, but that did not bother us, we pushed ourselves and forgot hunger and thirst. We could not and did not want to plunder.
"Phew, what do you mean, how long do we have to wander around Berlin?" I asked Erika, leaning against her back.
"I cannot promise but maybe only an hour or two," she told me but her insecurity could not hide her fear. I did that so I did not hear that.
"Oh my, it can take weeks, as long as we are together ..." I said to her to cheer her up
"Right Miho", she said to me and chuckled a little. Her way was weird she could be very upset and really beastly but, in her heart, she was a good person, in school she had often protected me from the boys but also kicked in the back that I should finally defend myself. How I miss those times...
"Do we want to go on?" I asked her but she shook her head.
"Just a few more minutes, please," she said and only now did I realize how exhausted she was. Her uniform stuck to her body a little so she tied her hair into a braid so her air could cool her neck.
"If you cannot anymore we could hide and ..." I suggested, but I got a despicable look from her.
"Never!" She said sharply, looking at her boots.
"I'd rather die than hide like a coward" she murmured to herself.
It was difficult for me to speak because I was ashamed of this suggestion I wanted to make her.
"I'm sorry I did not want to ..." I apologized and was scared when she grabbed my hand and she squeezed it tenderly.
"Alright, Miho," she said softly to me, and again had a smile on her face.
"I've thought of that, too, but if we do not fight for our fatherland then who will?" I saw a fire in her eyes murmur and it turned to me so that I could only nod in agreement.
"Let's find our comrades and fight on," she said cheerfully to me and got up and looked at her magazine. I followed her example and checked my equipment.
Dull grunts could be heard from a distance "Full coverage!" Yelled Erika and turned around, looking for a way to take cover. She saw a basement staircase and dragged me along with it. Shortly after we reached the entrance, the grenades struck and dug the ground around a few houses crashing down from the heavy artillery strike.
I put my head between my legs and covered my ears. Erika put herself protectively over me, which I was very sorry I could not protect her like that. I noticed how pieces of earth crashed down on my helmet I got to do it with the fear but somehow noticed that Erika had started to stroke my back which calmed me down. The strange feeling came back but was abated by a nearby grenade.
It took an hour since the dull rumble had plowed the earth. We came slowly out of our cover and shook the earth from us. Carefully we went from the backyard to the main street and saw that there was no stone left standing on the other.
My eyes fell on a rainbow that appeared around the next street. There was a loud hiss as well. I patted Erika on the shoulder and pointed to the rainbow.
"I think we're lucky," I said to Erika and pulled her along with me and I was right a grenade had landed so deep that they destroyed the water pipe and splashed a large Fontaine water in the air.
I ran to the water and took off my steel helmet to catch water I saw that Erika did the same. We laughed. Then we drank the water in almost trance.
I put my helmet aside and washed myself with the water while the uniform was sticking to my body but it was worth it for days since I had no real laundry and Erika just as little.
I ran to Erika and hugged her, she beamed at me and I beamed at her as well. I did not know if it was the situation or something else but I pressed her without a kiss a kiss on the mouth and squeezed her tight. When I realized what I was doing, I looked at her and she stared at me in shock with a bright red head.
"Oh-I'm-I'm sorry ... I was ..." I stammered in front of me and avoided her look but she took my hand and I looked at her face in shock. She was not angry she smiled at me.
"Alright Miho," she said softly, patting my head.
But she flinched and her eyes darkened. I looked in her direction and saw that a garrison of Russian soldiers had spied us and started to move towards us.
"Get started Miho" she grabbed my hand and ran with me up the street we heard how the Russians ran after us and called after us in Russian.
I got scared I did not want to go captive According to the rumors you do not survive them.
We ran through front yards pursued by the enemy soldiers. I turned around and shot my MP unfortunately met nothing but I got us a small lead.
Erika pointed to the other bank side of the Spree there were some German troops Erika screamed and waved with her arms to attract attention. My lungs burned slowly and my legs hurt. I heard the Russians getting closer and closer.
The troops saw us and waved at us and gave us barrage fire from the other side of the river.
Finally, we made it, I thought to myself and a euphoria spread in me as Erika shot her MP empty on the approaching enemies and made a hit.
"There the bridge gets over quickly!" Yelled Erika and pointed to the bridge.
A tank broke through a wall of houses and took the position of the German soldiers under fire another tank followed him and also a few storming soldiers ran across the bridge.
"Miho quickly in there!" Erika screamed at me and pointed in an alley. I ran into the alley with her and we walked the alley through it was very long. We turned a few corners when we came to a dead end.
Ashen I looked at the great wall. I looked around for a opportunity to escape but there was none.
"We should go back maybe ..." I said to Erika but heard how slow steps came towards us and Russian language scraps reached us.
I looked at Erika in panic and she looked at me in panic. Can someone still save us?
Erika backed away as the first soldier looked around the corner and spotted us calling something in Russian and crowding around the corner. He was followed by four other soldiers.
We moved further back to the wall. We looked at each other and knew it was over. I stared at Erika and she stared at me, she started to smile and grabbed my hand.
"Miho, thank you for always being there for me", she said to me and tears ran down her face.
"I have to thank Eri, you were a loyal companion and I really liked you," I told her and she squeezed my hand
"For the Fatherland!" She said to me and I nodded.
She squeezed my hand softly and turned her gaze to the Russian soldiers, I did the same and saw that the Russian soldiers were within a few feet of us. We both took a deep breath and yelled both together
"For the FATHERLAND!"
Then I heard the shot...