Eyewitness Testimony Jean Van Gorp

"After my first week in Kahla, when I saw three of my roommates die, I still longed for the comfort of home." Jean Van Gorp I was also warmly welcomed by Jean Van Gorp. Like Valere Braet, Jean Van Gorp did not go directly to Kahla. First, he went to Suhl, then Ilsenburg and Oschersleben. After the war, he wrote down his experiences on a small notebook for his own remembrance. He was happy to give me the part that dealt with Kahla, from which I will now extract a few episodes. Because the lines describe in a very moving way what "life" was like there. "In April 1943, I was ordered to register for forced labor in Germany. I only went once to the recruitment office hoping to get an exemption because I worked in a chemical company. But my plan did not work and from then on I began to hide. I did my work in this chemical company, but I always walked through the fields to work." "Until July 5, 1944. During this time I learned French and accounting through a polytechnic institute. And at home with my parents, I also dealt with it in my room. Then I went downstairs and listened to the radio. Shortly afterwards, I tied up a goat that had escaped. On this occasion, they arrested me: a field gendarme and three Belgian men. I gave them proof that I worked in the chemical company, but that did not help either." "They took me to Turnhout, near Warande. From there we walked towards Vandiepenbeekstraat in Antwerp. Later buses took us to Etterbeek, where we were immediately loaded onto a waiting train." "We arrived in Weimar. After three days we were divided into groups: I had to work for the Gustloff factories in Suhl. First, I had to spend six weeks in a penal camp because I did not want to go to Germany voluntarily. We had to do ground work." "After my time in Suhl, they took me to Oschersleben, where I stayed for over two months. In Oschersleben, aircraft parts were manufactured; I made rods and deburred them." "Then I went to Wegeleben, where I spent Christmas. We worked on the construction of aircraft wings." Jean Van Gorp. "After my first week in Kahla, when I saw three of my roommates die, I still longed for the comfort of home." The production of aircraft parts was spread over a number of different locations. In other areas, these were then assembled; Kahla was one of those areas. "I was also briefly in Ilsenburg and then again in Oschersleben." "In mid-February, they took us to Kahla. Even before departure, we knew about the terrible conditions there; a 'foreman' had warned us." In his notes, Jean describes the "life" in Kahla in moving words, as it really was. About his arrival in Weimar he wrote: "Darkness fell over the place, heavy clouds covered the sky and thick smog hung over the landscape; the streets were buried under a thick layer of mud. We had now arrived in Kahla and would have to work here. We took our suitcases and a group of about 30 men marched off. The streets were muddy and slippery and it was almost impossible to follow them. Here and there someone fell to the ground and helpful comrades pulled him up again." Very soon they had to experience the poor conditions in Kahla. A "foreman" had told them about it in Oschersleben. But it is still a difference to hear about it and to arrive in the middle of hell: "The worst was told first and was known to everyone after two minutes. We knew about the daily deaths from typhus and diarrhea. Better than all the doctors together, she knew about the symptoms and how to deal with them." Meanwhile, the Allies had captured Düsseldorf and Strasbourg; they had also long since crossed the Rhine: "Slowly but surely they approached Kahla. Every day rumors circulated in the camp and various maps were studied and measured so that everyone could say how long it would take until the liberators reached Kahla." In his notes, Jean described the living conditions in the barracks as follows: "The first door led to an anteroom and after opening the second we saw a double row of straw sacks on which rubbish was scattered; in one corner we recognized a pile of suitcases, in the middle of the room a fireplace and on one side a probably sick or even dead comrade." "To determine the illness, you did not have to be a doctor; it was undoubtedly typhus or diphtheria. Five to ten friends died daily; I believed God loved it as they came up to him." Jean Van Gorp "After my first week in Kahla, when I saw three of my roommates die, I still longed for the comfort of home." "We smelled the unpleasant, oppressive air. It was a terrible stench from the vomit of the sick man, the smell of dirty clothes hanging on the wall, or the stench of feces of dying youths who could no longer move and would die on the spot.""The treatment of the sick was miserable, and anyone who fell ill was condemned to death from the start. Someone who was still running around today might not even be able to get up the next day. Severe fever would strike, and on a pile of straw, one would wait with swollen eyes for death to take them. Eating became impossible, and after the second or third day, one would fall into eternal sleep. Some comrades would then bring the dead body to the morgue. A few hours later, the corpses were taken away, and after that, we never heard anything more about them or their fate." "After my first week in Kahla, I longed for the comfort of home like never before when I saw three of my roommates depart into eternity." Deep inside the mountain tunnels, Jean worked on the construction of airplane wings. He described his work as follows: "Dirty and unwashed, we descended into the tunnels and finally reached the workshop deep inside the mountain. The work was not difficult, but unpleasantly tiring and exhausting because in the evenings we only received half of the food we actually needed. We had to stand all day because every half hour the 'factory guards' patrolled the corridors with their clubs, checking to see if everything was under control and if everyone was fulfilling their assigned work. They conducted raids on the toilets every hour, after which several young men staggered out with bloody faces. Yes, even women fought with us in brawls. The largest and strongest woman of the 'factory guards' was a Walloon woman from the SS and a few Russian women. I will certainly remember and fear their faces forever." "We never had any free time; we had to slave from Monday to Sunday." After work, they hurried back to the camp. "In the evening, we returned to the barracks, exhausted and near starvation. We hurried on our way back because some men had to queue at the food distribution. If you were last in line, only a little soup was left. After waiting amid thousands of cursing shouts from the Germans, we finally went to a table where we received a liter of soup made from turnips and frozen potatoes." Jean Van Gorp