Chemnitz contemporary witnesses: Brigitte Seifert
I spent my sheltered childhood and later my youth with my sister and our parents in Chemnitz at Planitzstraße 122 (now Heinrich-Schütz-Straße), in my grandfather's house.
I remember the destruction of our city of Chemnitz on 5 March 1945 very well. The wailing of the sirens signalling the air raid warning, getting dressed quickly and reaching for a small children's suitcase containing my birth certificate and various things that my parents thought were important for me, then going down to the cellar. All of this is still present for me.
My friend Helga Kunze lived at Planitzstraße 106, her grandparents in our house. We girls hung out together every day and spent a lot of time together. After the air raid siren sounded, Helga came to us, horrified and distraught, and asked for help. Helga's house was on fire and her father needed help to carry furniture and household goods out into the street. My father rushed out to help. Those of us left behind waited and waited. In the meantime, the sirens sounded again for the next air raid alarm. What had happened to our fathers?
At last! They both came and reported: Incendiary bombs had hit the houses on Münchner Straße and burnt the roofs down to the corner house on Planitzstraße and further towards Yorckstraße. At the time, my friend's house was the last one to burn. My father was of the opinion that the houses would continue to catch fire and that this enormous fire would only come to a standstill at Yorckstraße. The roofs would have to be separated, a wide track would have to be chopped to prevent the fire from spreading over the roofs. Our two fathers and a few soldiers from the barracks opposite had the courage to do this difficult work under my father's leadership and despite the renewed air raid alarm. The fire came to a standstill and many houses were saved.
For me, both of our fathers were heroes, great silent heroes who had to do what had to be done urgently, without an order. Helping neighbours, friends or even people in need that you didn't even know was a matter of course in those difficult times. In my memory, I can still see how Planitzstraße was filled with furniture and household goods for several days, despite the bad weather. It took a long time to find a place to store it all.
This is where the contemporary witness lived her story:
Contemporary witness brochures
The eternal March
Memories of a childhood during the war
The last witnesses
When the old Chemnitz died in a hail of bombs