For the Fatherland
by
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At this time of winter it was pitch-dark by 6 PM and at this point we were on full alert; all of the crew had to be present at the station. However, several times we had the unpleasant experience of an enemy fighter plane strafing the area around us in broad daylight. “Alert, Alert!” the sentry shouted. “Grab your helmets, hit the trenches. Enemy airplane overhead.” All of us dropped what we were doing, popped on our helmets and jumped into the trenches. The anti-aircraft guns of our nearest FLAK Battery were already in action and their rapid firing sounded like hundreds of thunderbolts during a wild summer rainstorm. I saw the plane and heard the roaring of the motor as it soared in a fast, steep dive, guns blasting. Shrapnel hurtled downward with an eerie whistling sound, which made my skin crawl. Crouched in the lowest point of the trench, I desperately wished for a hole to crawl into, while holding my helmet with both hands. Suddenly, a bare four inches away from my head, a large shrapnel buried itself into the dirt. An order issued by the regimental commander, a Major, to leave the post under any circumstance was tantamount to desertion and cowardice before the enemy. Any ‘soldier’ found guilty could and would be shot on the spot. “Lord help us all!”
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About the Book
In October of 1944, the fifth year of World War II, the war escalated in Germany and all hands—including women—were needed to keep the offensive alive. In For the Fatherland, author Ilsa Fanchin records the last eight months of the war as seen through her eyes.
She tells about receiving her draft notice, along with other young, unmarried twenty-two-year-old women who were physically able and employed in nonsensitive positions not vital for the war effort. Along with approximately three hundred young, female draftees, she boarded a train from her home in Frankfurt am Maim to the large industrial town of Leipzig in Eastern Germany. The women were inducted, underwent physicals, received uniforms, and took a mandatory oath in a solemn ritual to “serve the Fatherland.” This memoir narrates the story of how these women served under primitive conditions during a bitterly cold winter, working on searchlights and replacing young male soldiers needed in combat on several fronts of fighting.
For the Fatherland provides an insightful look into the role women played during World War II in Germany and the sacrifices that were made for the cause.
About the Author
Ilsa Fanchin was born and educated in Germany. Five months after the war ended in 1945, she worked for the American Military Government as a secretary, interpreter, and translator. She married American Sergeant Major Fanchin, now deceased, and immigrated to America at the end of his tour. Ilsa Fanchin lives in Laguna Woods, California.