Chemnitz contemporary witnesses: Evelin Weinhold
First and at the same time at night, many sirens were wailing. We lived in the Pfarrhübel near Chemnitz. Then we fled to the cellar with a few belongings. Dad was at war, my mum was alone with three children. In the night sky, searchlights were looking for the first aeroplanes to be shot at by the stationed anti-aircraft guns. Then the first reconnaissance planes arrived and placed "Christmas trees" in the totally darkened city to find the targets.
And then came the aeroplane squadrons. There were a lot of them and they flew low, I could clearly hear the roar of the aeroplane engines.
And then came the fear! The falling bombs sang in the air, the impact of the bombs meant that we also felt a strong pressure in the cellar, the air was scarce. The bombs were intended to blow up the dam in Einsiedel. Most of the bombs fell in the forest, in the fields, and we counted three bomb craters in our garden alone. The earth in the garden was gone, the bomb craters were deep. The aeroplanes also dropped incendiary bombs filled with phosphorus, which is still dangerous today! The Pfarrhübel neighbourhood suffered extensive damage to residential buildings, as did Altchemnitz and Oberaltchemnitz.
After the cruel night, life went on in the morning of 6 March. People tidied up, improvised and helped each other.
At last the war was over, at last we no longer needed to darken our windows, but the need was great, the garden was our breadwinner.
Dad came back from the war unscathed, the family was united and helped to overcome the turmoil of the war. One day, Dad asked the conscripted family: what do you think, I'm back from the war unscathed, I'm healthy, I have all my limbs, luckily we still have a roof over our heads, don't we want to bring a child into our family who isn't doing so well? Everyone agreed and so the Erich Leichsenring family from Pfarrhübel 23 had not just 3, but 4 children, who still live together happily and well today. Anyone can do good at any time!
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