1923
Hans Schwark is born September 30, 1923, in Lensahnerhof, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, the son of Hans Schwark and his wife Auguste Hagen Schwark. Lensahnerhof is located a few miles from the town of Lensahn. He was baptized in the Lutheran [EL1] Church in Lensahn on November 4, 1923. Although the family was Lutheran, they seldom went to services.
Below is a photo of Lensahnerhof.
1925
The Schwark family moves to Güldenstein (below). This Gut is still in the possession of the House of Oldenburg, the hereditary rulers of East Holstein. Hans Schwark, Senior, was the Vogt, the farm administrator.
Gunter born April 2, 1925.
1930
Hans attends the Grundschule in Harmsdorf starting in the fall of the year. The school had three grades. He walks a mile and a half to school.
1933
Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany. Hans, Senior joined the Nazi party because he thought things would get better under Hitler. Hans, Senior had one of the earliest radios in Güldenstein and he listened to Hitler’s speeches. He had a portrait of Hitler painted that he put in his living room. His wife did not want it there. He also attended a Reichsparteitag (German Party Convention) in Nürnberg as part of a group of Nazi adherents in the area. They traveled by train. Hans said his father would have nothing to do with the SA, the Sturm Abteilung, since he thought they were a bunch of thugs.
Auguste’s father was a Social Democrat and an opponent of Hitler. When the Nazis took power, he lost his position in a cooperative in Lübeck.
Hans, Junior joined the Hitler Youth, as did almost every German boy. He went to Lübeck to visit his grandparents wearing his Hitler Youth uniform. When his grandmother answered the door he said, “Heil Hitler.” His grandmother admonished Hans not to say that around his grandfather.
1934
On February 26, 1934, Hans’ teacher, Herr Bruhn, recommends that he be admitted to the Oberschule. At Easter, Hans enrolls in the Freiherr vom Stein-Schule, Oberschule für Jungen in Oldenburg (Holstein). He bikes to school, 20 miles. His Tante Toni had given him a bike he could ride to school. (This replaced a smaller bike his Tante Maxi had given him.) Among the subjects he studies are Latin and French.
1937
The Schwark family moves to Zum Walkerbach 5, Lensahn when Hans Senior gets a job working in the post office in Lensahn.
Hans and a friend take a 3-week bike trip. The circle trip took them from Holstein, through the Ruhrgebiet (Ruhr District) to Friedrichshafen on the Bodensee (Lake Constance) to Berlin and home. At Friedrichshafen they toured the inside of a Zeppelin.
1941
On August 28, 1941, Hans leaves school for a position as a Krieg-Bannführer with the Hitler Youth.
At about this time, Hans helps with the transfer by train of children from Hamburg to rural areas in Austria. This was designed to protect from Allied bombing. On the way back Hans visited Munich.
In the fall of 1941, Hans participates in a sporting competition. He receives a bronze medal.
1942
Hans is drafted into the German army on September 15, 1942 and joins the Hermann Göring Regiment as an infantryman. He is sent for basic training to a former Dutch military base in Amersfoort, Holland that the German Army was using.
He was issued a Soldbuch which was his military identification document that looks like a modern-day passport. It contained personal information, his rank, his blood-type and gasmask size.
In November, the Hermann Göring Division is ordered to go to Africa to join the Afrika Korps. By the time they got to Naples, Hans had developed diphtheria. He is sent to Capri to recover. He is there about a month. While he is in Italy, he has macaroni for the first time. He did not like it.
1943
On January 19, 1943, Hans is assigned to the First Company of the Grenadier-Regiment, Hermann Göring. When Hans regains his health, he boards a Junkers 52 for a low-level flight over the Mediterranean in order to join his unit in Tunisia. He is given a machine gun to use in case fighter planes attacked his plane.
He is stationed on a farm about 30 kilometers from the city of Tunis. There, he is told to dig a hole and to hide. He is in a group of five soldiers. Later he retreats to a peninsula that is across the strait from Sicily. On May 3, 1943, Hans’ unit, the 7th Company of the Hermann Göring Brigade surrenders to the Allies. Hans had never fired his rifle in anger before he surrendered.
In these waning days of the conflict in Africa, some Germans tried unsuccessfully to sail to Sicily. On May 12, the last Germans and Italians surrender. Around 275,000 soldiers became prisoners of the Allies.
The prisoners were marched along the coastal road via Algiers to Oran, a distance of about 700 miles. On the march, they did not have any hats or tents. After processing in Oran they are trucked to a prisoner-of-war camp near Mascara in western Algeria. There were 10,000 prisoners in Mascara. At Mascara they were deloused and given a pup tent. They were given enough to eat. The prisoners had to dig their own latrines. They were in their khaki uniforms. He still had his camera. He was worried the Allies would confiscate his film so he hid the film in a bar of soap which he knew the Allies would not confiscate. They confiscated his “Soldbuch” at some point here and issued him a prisoner-of-war number — #A861031.
ADD PICTURES HE TOOK OF THE CAMP
In October, they were trucked back to Oran where he boarded a triple-decker troop ship. The allies notified the German navy of the POW ships so that the Germans did not attack them. The ship took Hans to Stirling Harbor east of Glasgow in Scotland. There he was subjected to a detailed interrogation that included whether he had been a member of the Hitler Youth and what he had done in the military. They were put in a barracks that had single, not bunk, beds. He was shipped west across Scotland where he embarked on a cruise ship that had been converted to military use. There were double bunks on this boat. The transport to the east coast of the United States lasted a few days. PORT OF NEW YORK??? There the Germans were put into their own compartment on a passenger train. As they traveled across the United States, all the automobiles amazed Hans. Since the prisoners were not allowed to leave their seats to go to a dining car, they had the unusual experience of being served their food by their guards. He was sent to Fort Leonard Wood, near Jefferson, Missouri.
The camp was surrounded by a barbed wire fence with guard towers. The prisoners were separated into three sub-camps of 1000 prisoners each. He was given a prisoner-of-war uniform and assigned to a barrack. There was one barrack that was used a community room where church services were held. They had regular visits from a physician and a dentist.
They were divided into work groups. Among the work they did was cooking and setting pins in the bowling alley. For their work, they were given postage-sized chits that they could use at the Post Exchange (PX).
There were diversions available. They played soccer with the prisoners in the other sub-camps. They could attend classes. Hans attended English classes in Fort Leonard Wood.
While he was there, some German POWs were beaten up by fellow POWs who were true believers in Hitler.
A prisoner-of-war mess manual was developed to deal with the feeding of the prisoners of war. It was designed to insure that “[p]risoners are not being pampered in regard to food. Their ration has been adjusted to take into consideration their national eating habits, and scarce or rationed foods have been reduced to a minimum in PW menus. Elimination of waste and conservation of food is a must in these camps.” “Food Service Program” Lt. Col. Ward B. Cleaves, Q.M.C., The Quartermaster Review, July-August 1945 found at http://www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/WWII/food_service_program.htm
Sometime late in 1943 or early in 1944, Hans was sent to Camp Ellis in central Illinois, about 50 miles southwest of Peoria. They had lots of resources there – a stage, lectures, recording devices from Red Cross. The prisoners even published a newspaper. For stage productions, the men had to play the female parts in drag.
1944
The United States military had tremedous difficulties in the early stages of the war feeding its troops. Because of these problems, the Office of The Quartermaster General, organized a Food Service Program on 31 July, 1943. One of its operations was a School for Bakers and Cooks at Fort Sheridan.
In the spring of 1944. Hans was sent to Fort Sheridan, near Chicago, Illinois.
Below is a watch tower at Fort Sheridan.
The burial of a German Soldier at Fort Sheridan is pictured below. Notice the use of the Nazi flag. Also note that the prisoners were housed in permanent two-story barracks.
Since Hans had been studying English, he was selected to work as an interpreter in the Bakers and Cooks school. One of his jobs was to translate the menu into German. His boss was Master Sergeant Arthur Kurstmann from Chicago. Hans had his own special driver. On September 30, 1944, Kurstmann bakes Hans a birthday cake.
There were many German-speakers in the area. One time a group of people gathered outside the fence to sing German songs to the prisoners. Eventually, the German Americans and the POWs alternated singing the verses of the songs.
On August 31, 1944, Hans’ father was captured by the Allies near Amiens, France. Even though he was in his mid-40s, he was conscripted into the German army due to the heavy losses the German army had endured. At the time of his capture, he had been promoted to Sergeant. After he was captured, he realized he had forgotten his toothbrush. When he went to retrieve his toothbrush, he was shot since the Allies thought he was trying to escape. (Hans is to this day angry that his father was drafted into the German Army late in the war and that he suffered a senseless death. His father had already served in World War I on the Western Front from 1916-1918. He has cited has father’s conscription and death as one of the reasons he wanted to leave Germany.)
1945
On May 8, 1945, the Nazi government surrendered. Not long after the surrender the prisoners were taken to a movie theater to see a film about the concentration Camp in Dachau. Hans “couldn’t believe it” when showed the atrocities. He felt that he and his fellow prisoners were all kids; there were no real Nazis.
Back in Germany, his mother buried all Nazi–related articles in the back yard including Hans’ copy of Mein Kampf. Hans’ brother Gunter was captured by the Soviet army in East Prussia.
For the second year in a row, the United States Government decided to send German prisoners of war to Cambria to help with the harvest. In the Cambria News of June 29, 1945 is a short article entitled “No Fraternizating [sic] With German POW’s [sic].” The article, which is attached at the end of this history, states there were 335 prisoners being sent to the area along with two officers and 45 guards. The canning factories were obligated to pay the minimum wage for these prisoners with the money going to the United States government, not the prisoner. The prisoners received coupons worth 80 cents per day that could be used at the canteen. (This amount was roughly equal to the pay of an enlisted man in the US army. German POWs: Coming Soon to a Town Near You (Originally published by World War II magazine. Published Online: August 10, 2012). See also Stalag Wisconsin: Inside WWII Prisoner of War Camps, Betty Cowley, Badger Books Inc., 2002)). Each prisoner was fed a ration which was half of the civilian ration. “Capt. Dettmar stressed the fact that drastic measures will be taken if there is any attempt on the part of civilians at fraternization with the German prisoners.”
In late June 1945, Hans travels by train to Fox Lake, Wisconsin. There the prisoners were divided into groups to be sent to different camps set up to supply labor for local agricultural endeavors. He was assigned to Camp Cambria. They were given tents to erect on a field outside of town that was owned by William H. Manthey. The camp was surrounded by a snow fence. They received metal beds. They dug their own latrines. They had hot water for showers.
The German prisoners got the same rations as US soldiers including the infamous chipped beef (SOS), One of the German POWs was the cook. Historically, Germans did not eat corn. When the POWs were fed corn on the cob it was negatively received since corn on the cob is what you feed pigs.
There were two canning factories in the village – the Columbia Canning Factory and the Cambria Canning Factory. They canned peas and then corn in Cambria. Per the Cambria News of July 6, 1945, canning operations started on Monday, July 2. The factory foremen were responsible for assigning work to the POWs.
The head of the camp was Lt. Kurrandowich (Korendovych??). He had been wounded in action and was given the light duty of guarding these prisoners. The guards were elderly soldiers. Since the war with the Germans was over and there was no logical place for the prisoners to escape to, this was easy duty for the soldiers. One time, Hans even covered for a guard who was hung-over.
Since Hans had learned English during his time as a prisoner, he was the logical choices as a translator for the German prisoners. Since Hans had studied both Latin and French in the Oberschule, he was also able to serve as a translator for the Mexican migrant labor. Because of his duties as a translator, he had considerable freedom including the run of the factory, including the kitchen. One time he followed the railroad tracks to the neighboring village of Randolph, a distance of about five miles.
Despite the threat of “drastic measures”, fraternization still occurred. After the surrender of Germany in May 1945, the hostility held toward these prisoners, especially the younger ones, dissipated.
Hans was the lucky beneficiary of the diminution of hostilities. One of the first Americans Hans met was Alice Jones, who was the 21 year old daughter of the a local rural letter carrier, Gilbert Jones ( — January 19, 1981) and Marian Rohrbeck (— April 9, 1995). At the time, she was working on the canning line and so it was ok for her to have a work-related conversation with Hans. (This would not be fraternization.) Alice was pleased to meet this young English-speaking prisoner and the news of his presence quickly reached her parents and her fiancé, Frederick “Ted” Lightner, who was on leave in Cambria at the time. Shortly thereafter, Marian, who worked in the canning company kitchen, gave Hans some pie she had baked.
Although his daughter and wife could have work-related conversations with Hans without running afoul of the fraternization rules, people outside the factory were not supposed to talk to the prisoners. Gilbert Jones was interested in meeting Hans so he approached Lt. Kurrandowich (Korendovych??) and asked for permission to speak to him. Permission as granted and as a result a life-long friendship developed. Gilbert was impressed by Hans and did a number of nice things for him including giving him a tour of the area and developing the roll of film that Hans had hidden in a bar of soap in North Africa. His cordiality toward Hans is striking given that he was a veteran of World War I who had been gassed by the Germans on the Western Front.
In the Cambria News of August 17, 1945, it was reported that “A total of 53,204 man-hours of work was preformed during July by prisoners of war at the Cambria camp on four work contracts. The daily (including Sunday) average at work was 195 and the work brought revenue of $28,483.80 into the U.S. Treasury.”
In the fall of 1945, Hans and the other prisoners are trucked to Rio, Wisconsin and put on a passenger train to Bakersfield, California. Prior to the transfer, the camp commander, Lt. Kurrandowich (Korendovych??) called the camp commander in California, Captain Bridges, to advise him to use Hans as a translator rather than as a field hand in the cotton fields.
Hans was sent to a Camp Old River outside of Bakersfield where the prisoners were used to pick cotton. This camp was opened of October 18, 1945, and deactivated on January 6, 1946. Cotton-picking was a horrible work in the hot sun. There were about 500-1000 prisoners. One of Hans’ primary duties was to help the camp doctor, Dr. Schroeder from Milwaukee, with sick prisoners. Hans was supposed to help the doctor separate the truly ill from the malingerers. A solution for the prisoners with heat exhaustion/prostration was taking salt tablets. They had a drink a glass of salt water before they could get their food.
While he was there, two prisoners escaped and tried to flee to Mexico, Captain Bridges took Hans with him when he went to the jail in Bakersfield to interview the escapees.
Hans became friends with a guard, Howard Eckstein of Jamaica, New York. Hans received permission to listen to a radio broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera with him in the guard house. (Throughout the rest of his life, he was an avid fan of classical music.)
The Swiss donated a record player and records to the prisoner of war camp. He listened to classical records with Harald Blouth. Blouth explained the music to Hans. (Decades later Hans and Harald met for lunch in Dusseldorf when Hans was in Europe on a business trip.)
In November 1945, Hans was sent by train to New York. Along the way he saw the Grand Canyon and the Rockies. In New York, the United States government separated out any member of the SS. (The primary marker was an armpit tattoo of the soldier’s blood type.) Since Hans had not been a member of the SS, he was sent back to Europe on a Kaiser troopship. He saw the Statue of Liberty when he sailed.
They disembarked at the port of Antwerp and then to a camp near Brussels. Hans said that 10,000 prisoners were basically “dumped in a field” without any facilities. They were given shovels and told to dig a hole to sleep in. The conditions were terrible, and Hans said the Belgians were cruel to the prisoners.
Below is a German prisoner of war camp in Germany showing the primitive conditions that Hans endured.
1946
Hans is sent back to England. For most of his captivity in England, Hans is held at Camp Mousehold Heath, in Norwich-Norfolk. (It is listed as 253 G.P.W.W. which probably means German Prisoner of War Work Camp). He works in the accounting office.
One day he tells a woman, Miss Jermyn, walking by his camp near Norwich that “You have a beautiful dog.” (The dog’s name was Wiggles.) Once she realized he spoke English, she befriended him. She and her sister were given permission to take him to London on a day trip. Additionally, she told the future Postmaster General of Germany about Hans.
Hans is allowed to study at a campus of Cambridge University in Norwich. He studied English composition. Because of his work there, he was granted an Abitur, which is the German equivalent of a high school diploma.
Hans had a friend by the name of Sylvia from Rio. Hans has a color portrait of her dated 1947 that she sent to him at some point.
1947
On August 7, 1947, Hans was awarded the Certificate of Proficiency in English by the Control Office for German and Austria in London.
1948
On March 16, 1948, Hans is released from captivity and returns to Germany.
Shortly after his return to Germany, Hans applied for entrance papers for the United States.
From May to November, he works in Neustadt tearing electric motors apart.
For a few weeks, he worked in a sugar beet factory in Lensahn. The factory owner also hired him to teach his daughter English.
Hans wrote to the commander at the British military base at Putlos invited the soldiers to come to tea. Colonel Quayle sent his car to get Hans and bring him to Oldenburg. The Colonel offered him a job which he started on December 20. He handled interactions between the British and the local citizenry such as planning for British soldiers to hunt on royal hunting grounds. He accompanied the colonel to meetings of the Kreisverwaltung and translated for him.
Hans worked as a translator with the British Control Commission for Germany. He translated when the Allies interviewed Lina Heydrich the wife of assassinated SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich on the island of Fehmarn. He also translated at the dedication of a memorial in Neustadt, Schleswig-Holstein to the victims of the bombing of the Cap Arcona.
1949
Hans meets Irene Syzma on the train. She worked in the De-Nazification office in Oldenburg which was next to the office of Colonel Quayle. On an early date in Rettin, Hans forgets his wallet when he took Irene out to dinner. He left his gold watch as security until he paid the bill.
1950
Hans is awarded a Certificate of the Second Class in English for Foreigners by the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce of London. At this time Hans was working for the British Control Commission for Germany.
Because of Ms. Jermyn’s connections in Bonn, Hans was contacted by the German Post office and asked to come to Bonn for an interview. By this point, Hans has his sights set on moving to America, so he declined the invitation. Additionally, he did not have the money to make the trip.
On July 15, 1950, in Neustadt, Hans marries Irene Szyma, who was a refugee from Ober Schlesien (Upper Silesia) which is a part of Germany awarded to the government of Poland after the end of World War II.
1951
Hans and Irene’s only child, Sabine Irene Schwark, is born on February 18, 1951 in Neustadt, Kreis Ostholstein. Irene’s stepfather, Opi, made her a Tragebett out of plywood.
Hans receives immigration papers from the United States Government. Gilbert Jones borrowed $800 from William H. Manthey to pay for their ship fare as part of his sponsorship of the family.
Hans stopped working for the British in August 1951. The new British commander, Colonel Highsmith, threw a farewell party for Hans and Irene. Shortly thereafter they leave for America.
They traveled by train to Paris. They made a stop along the way in a village on the Mosel to visit one a Frau Filopovich. She was a friend of Irene’s mother or her Tante Trudi. Irene knew a former co-worker in Oldenburg who was living in Paris. They stayed with her a few days. They arranged for a babysitter in Paris so they could see the sights. From Paris, they traveled to the port of Le Havre, France. The ship made a stop in Plymouth, England before continuing to New York. Howard Eckstein a former POW guard in Bakersfield met them for a drink in New York.
They travel by train from New York to Chicago. The Jones family picked them up in Chicago and headed north on Highway 41. On the way they stopped for coffee, leaving Sabine asleep in the car. They stayed with the Jones their first few nights in Cambria and then they were put up in an old house in town. The conditions were awful, especially for the infant. Mr. Jones had them come back to his house until he could find them another residence.
They then lived in house they rented from Hans’ employer, owned by William H. Manthey.
Hans was told before he left Germany that there was a job waiting for him in Cambria working with stock. Hans was thinking about stocks and bonds and was looking forward to the opportunity. Instead, the job was working with the stock on the farm of Manthey. Irene got a job in a flower shop, but Sabine put up so much of a fuss, this did not work. Since Hans did not like work on a farm, he looked for another job and found one in Randolph, Wisconsin with Educators Progress Service. He worked for that company from November 1951 until April 1953. His boss was Arthur Philip Horkheimer (March 22, 1904 – August 23, 1974). Horkheimer was a prominent resident of Randolph and served as its mayor for 24 years.
The Schwarks had a close relationship with the Flanagan family for a while. The Flanagans took them on a trip to Madison, Wisconsin. It appears that it ended when Sabine said to Mrs. Flanagan that “You look like an Indian princess.” Sabine meant it as a compliment since she had an Indian princess doll. However, Mrs. Flanagan did not receive it well. In rural Wisconsin, having Indian blood was viewed negatively.
In Silesia, the second language taught in school was Polish. So, Irene had learned no English. She always carried a pocket English-German dictionary.
On October 27, 1951, the Milwaukee Journal printed an article about the family.
1952
They moved to Randolph into a house near the library, across the street from the grade school.
1953
In the spring of 1953, Hans borrows a car and drives to Milwaukee to look for a job. He spends the night in the downtown Milwaukee YMCA.
In April 1953, Hans finds a job as a lab technician with Dings Electronics, Inc. at 4740 W Electric Ave. Milwaukee WI 53219. The family moves to 3216A South 39th St., Milwaukee, Wisconsin which is a little over two miles from Dings.
He writes an article entitled “Electronic Metal Detectors” which was printed in Technical News of the Milwaukee Institute of Technology.
He took some drafting courses at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). At MSOE he also took a course on DC and AC motors and controls. He got an A in the course. He also took a course on Engineering English at MSOE.
Irene took English classes at the Milwaukee Area Technical College.
One landlord feared that Hans was a Nazi spy when she saw him in his trench coat.
Irene worked at a shoe factory, a bank, and the bookstore at Gimbels. At one point she worked at La Rosa spaghetti. She was disliked by her co-workers because she worked so fast. Hans worked as a floorwalker at Gimbels, but they had opposite shifts and never saw each other. They decided they should live on one salary.
1955
In August 1955, Hans takes a job with Wisconsin Paper which had its plant in downtown Milwaukee. He is hired by the owner, Fred Boyce. He works primarily as a paper salesman for the company.
1956
The Schwark family moves to 5430 West Midland Drive in Milwaukee in 1955 or 1956.
Sabine and Irene return to Germany on the TSS Olympia.
1957
The Schwark family becomes American citizens on January 25, 1957.
Hans’ mother Auguste Schwark came from Germany for a visit.
Late 1950s
Irene and Sabine fly to Germany.
Hans bought a beige Plymouth. They drove the car to Niagara Falls. On this trip, they visited a cousin, Klaus Beckman in Toronto.
1959
On January 17, 1959, Hans completes the Dale Carnegie Course in Effective Speaking, Leadership Training and Human Relations.
1961
Move to 3415 N. 105th St. in Wauwatosa, WI. A primary reason for the move was the advice of Sabine’s teacher that she should be enrolled in a better school.
Shortly after they moved to Wauwatosa, they got Frieda, a dachshund, from Doc Snyder.
They made frequent visits to the Carl Schurz Park in Stone Bank, Wisconsin.
They also started going to the German Kino Radio Theater on 2459 W. Fond du Lac in Milwaukee. They frequently saw Heimatfilms which were noted for their rural settings, sentimental tone and simplistic morality. (Think of Lassie Come Home.)
WHEN DID WISCONSIN PAPER MOVE TO WAUWATOSA??
Mid 60s – They subscribed to the Milwaukee series of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
They also went to Chicago to see the Lyric Opera a few times.
They went to the Milwaukee Repertory Theater a couple of times. Hans said they were not theater fans.
For a while, they belonged to the Sprach und Schulverein.
At one point, both grandmothers came together for a long (4 – 6 week) visit.
They visited Alice and Ted Lightner in Hawaii. Sabine got sick there and so Hans went home alone while she recovered.
1968
Sabine graduates from Wauwatosa High School and enrolls at Northwestern University.
1973 – 1974
Sabine and Irene travel from Germany to Iran, India, Nepal, Thailand, Hong Kong and Japan.
1980s
Irene gets a driver’s license.
Hans’ brother Gunter and his wife Margot come to America. Hans surprises them with a trip to Hawaii.
1993
Hans applies for, and eventually receives, retirement payments from the West German government.
1999
Hans and Irene go to Las Vegas for the Turn of the Century (Y2K).
2005
Tom Boyce hosts a party to honor Hans for his 50 years of service to Wisconsin Paper.
2007
In February, Lindenmeyr Munroe acquires Wisconsin Paper. Hans decides to retire.
Shopping
They frequented German shops including Greis Imports, Black Forest Imports, Continental Imports and Bavarian Wurst Haus.
Notes on his family
Hans had an uncle in Wedding. He was a stage director.
A Tante Hebbing
Tante Magda. – Maxi in Lübeck
Klaus went to Toronto, Canada.
Aunt made a Rote Rock aus Fahne