Chemnitz contemporary witnesses: Gisela Lange
On the evening of 5 March 1945, the air raid siren sounded again. I packed the most necessary things. For me, as I was in ice skating school at the age of 10, it was of course my ice skates and then off to the cellar. You could already hear the planes smoking over the houses.
After the all-clear, everyone got out. My mother, sister and I lived in Zschopauer Str., near Lutherkirche, and walked out of town with handcarts. We were able to spend the night in a brewery. The next day we continued in the direction of Zschopau. My sister had a serious heart condition, so she was able to sit in the handcart.
We stopped in Gornau and a car at the front rammed into the handcart. Another car took us as far as Zschopau. We were accommodated in a gymnasium for three days. Then we came to Flöha and slept in an inn for two nights.
We were then taken in by a family and were able to live in an attic room. My confirmation was on 18 March 1945. It was all very sad. But we had survived.
My father came back from captivity in 1948 and the family was together.
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