War Costs More than Money - Part II
Katharina and Christian Erfle -
The Tears Are Mine
by Alfred Opp
Christian Erfle (1883-1916) was a close relative to us, through my
Oma Opp. I was too young to have met him in Teplitz, but
I met his wife in Germany after WWII. Christian Erfle married
Katharina Harter (1883-1975) in Teplitz in 1910. Their two sons were
born in 1913 and 1915. Katharina survived two world wars, which in
itself is not an isolated case. How she stood up to it is,
however, note-worthy.
Christian and Katharine had been married for about four years when
Russia got involved in WWI. "Kathre," as folks called her, was the
same age as her husband. When the Russian Government recruited
soldiers for the army, they made no exceptions for the men in the
German villages. To sort out the prospects, every man was tagged
with a red, blue or white ticket. Decisions were made according to
how able-bodied a man was. The initial decisions were made quickly,
based simply on visual inspection. As one could guess, many of these
men were not too excited about joining the military and used various
excuses to get off. The Russians were aware of such tactics, and
didn't listen too well. The only exception that was made was on the
basis of poor eyesight. We had our share of vision problems, but
there was no Optometrist in the area to produce professional
glasses. The only option we had was to purchase a pair of magnifying
glasses at the
Apothek (drugstore). That was too expensive for most
folks, and so they simply went without. My
Opa Zacher had a pair of these magnifying glasses that I
still have in my possession. He used them later in life for reading,
and they don't work too bad at all.
Opa's glasses are the type that clip onto one's nose.
This gives a feel for the state of eyewear in our village.
From the start, Russia did not fare well during WWI. They blamed
their failures on their German subjects. For that reason, many
Germans were sent to the Turkish front at Erserum. It turned out
this was not all that bad of an assignment -- most of the men ended
up building roads and bridges instead of fighting. What killed many
men in that area of the war was not a bullet but a deadly disease,
mostly typhoid fever. Another disadvantage to this assignment was
the difficulty getting mail to and from the front lines. This was
compounded by the fact that many of the soldiers were not skilled at
writing.
By the end of the war, Katharina had lost contact with her husband.
Time went by, without another word about him. She heard stories that
many of the men became sick and were left to die. Eventually
Katharina was declared a war widow. Now she was on her own to care
for the two boys and try and start over. Katharina never married
again. She was able to draw a small war-widow's pension from the
government. She and Christian also owned a bit of land from which
she could derive a small living.
In 1940 Katharina went with the rest of the Bessarabian Germans on
the Trek back to Germany, then on to Poland. As fate would have it,
both of her boys were conscripted into the German army. She felt God
would be lenient with her and not take away her boys - it was not to
be. Her oldest son Rudolf lost his life in 1943 in Russia. Then she
got a letter from the military that her son Gotthold was missing in
action. This meant that he was either dead or in a war camp.
She held out hope that he was alive someplace. In 1945, her hope of
reunion with her son hit bottom when she had to escape to the west
to avoid getting caught by the Soviets. She had lost her family, her
home and all of her possessions. Her heart was heavy with her losses
and unanswered questions. She was then 72 years old. What should she
do now? When she was at her lowest, God reached out to give her a
life and a hope.
I heard about "Kathrebas" when I looked up my relatives in the town
where she lived. My uncle and I talked about her, and we felt that
visiting with her would bring her some happiness. How true that was!
She was all smiles, and gave us a heart-felt welcome. She had so
much to tell my about my family and our life in Teplitz. She
expressed how proud of me she was, that I had the courage to go to
America, and that I was taking care of my mom. She literally swept
me off my feet. The time went so fast. I felt so taken by her that I
asked her if I could see her again, although I was short on time to
get back to Canada. She was delighted with the idea, and so I
visited her again. This time when I went, she had a coffee table
ready with baked goodies to make this a special occasion. I cannot
describe the warmth that woman gave me that afternoon. She told me
how good God is and how He made her life worth living. When after
the war she found refuge in West Germany, a family took her in who
saw in her an
Oma for their children. She took on that role, and truly
it became so. That day, she treated me as if I was her long-lost
son. We talked long into the day. The hardest part of her life had
been dealing with the unknown fate of her husband and son. Still
they were missing. I shared my life story with her, and we both felt
good after that. She was so thankful for the time she had with her
beloved husband Christian, and her boys. She couldn't talk enough
about them. She shared her memories of her life with them - to
the end. When I left, she gave me a big hug, wishing me well. She
told me to be proud of my family and to always trust in God. She
gave me more than I expected. Even if we fail in life, there is
always hope for us - that is a lesson I have found to be true in my
own life.
Alfred Opp
Edited by Connie Dahlke