Chemnitz contemporary witnesses: Renate Bergelt
Late in the evening, my mother and I went towards the air raid shelter as the pre-alarm sounded! My father was still in front of the door on the 3rd floor and we shouted to him that we were going to the air raid shelter under the André Church. Shortly after the air raid alarm went off, we heard the first bombs and were told to lie down on the floor, which was a very bad situation for us.
As we were all lying on top of each other, anxiety set in, which I still suffer from today. The church was hit by several bombs and we were told to leave the bunker because of the heavy smoke. This caused panic as everyone rushed for the exit. Afraid of the big fire, I ran back into the bunker. My mother's protection got me back outside. We were advised to go to the nearby splinter trench. On the way there, we saw a terrible sight. Screaming people, fire. I have never forgotten the sight to this day.
There were already a lot of people there, all looking for shelter.
When the water pipes burst, there was ice-cold water in the trench and we had to stand in it. The result was frostbitten feet and a bladder infection.
There was a military hospital in the nearby André School at the time, and there were wounded soldiers from it in the trench. I was terrified and didn't want to leave the trench as there was fire everywhere. A slightly injured 9-year-old girl carried me home. Bombs hit our house so that only one half of the house was still standing. When we stood in front of the house and my father came out of the neighbouring house, we were very relieved. The next morning we found my sledge by the cellar window and put our two suitcases on it. Then we walked towards the railway station. Unfortunately, there were no more trains from there. So we had to walk to Niederwiesa, where we were shot at by low-flying aircraft. Some people didn't survive the attack.
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