September 10th to September 20th, 2004
(9/10/04) This
family trip was planned at Dad’s request – to attend the 60th reunion
of the airmen in Kovarska (done in 2002 – see “Return to Joigny”) and to see a
little more of the Czech Republic and southern Germany. We had a long
night and day of travel, leaving Philadelphia (Candy and Stan) and Dulles (Paul,
Dad, and myself) at 8:30 and 9:30 PM last night, then meeting at the Frankfurt
airport at noon. We headed out in our rental car (an Opel station wagon),
encountering heavy traffic and construction on Route 3 between Frankfurt and
Wurzburg, but finally
made
it to Bamberg – a pleasant town where we enjoyed our first German lunch: soups,
open baguette sandwiches, and chicken schnitzel. We continued east across the
Czech border (were waved right through) and enjoyed an interesting ride in the
mountains – through some towns that were strikingly poor, while others had
beautiful spas and resorts (skiing is big here). We arrived in Kovarska ~ 7 PM
– weary and rumpled – but went straight to the “Museum
of the Air Battle over the Ore Mountains” for an informal reception with
other US and German airmen and their families. The three Luftwaffe pilots Dad
met two years ago were there, so he was happy.
Our rooms at “Pension Pohada” –
recently renovated with lovely tile bathrooms, were basic – but
more
comfortable than Hotel Central where we stayed two years ago. We spent the rest
of the evening in the “club” on the premises, where we met two teachers from
town (Marie, “Jenny” and her husband George), and were later joined by Mattthias,
the delightful young German (who does crash site recoveries) that we met in
2002. We had a lovely time and some funny translations as we attempted to
communicate in English, German and Czech. (The bill for beer, wine and potato
chips for 9 people was less than $15.00!) Paul slept like a log, but yours
truly was restless, as always, in the beginning of a trip.
(9/11/04)The 60th anniversary of the battle …and
the 3rd anniversary of the tragedy that has changed the world
forever… Sobering …
After showering and attempting to dry with the
“world’s smallest non-absorbent bath towels”, we had a typical Czech breakfast
(Turkish coffee, rolls, cheese, lunchmeat and jam). At 10:30 we went to the
museum for snacks and visiting, then walked to town and explored the tiny
grocery store.
There
was a large crowd for the ceremony at 12:15, and it was very moving, with
speeches, wreath and flower presentations, and two fly-overs by USAF F-15s.
Dad
gave interviews to USAF personnel and Czech radio, and autographs for the
locals. (click here to
see the article) We had a late lunch at Hotel Central (pepper-steak, pork
schnitzel, pork with asparagus, and roasted or French fried potatoes and a
medley of raw vegetables). From 3 – 5 PM we thoroughly enjoyed a concert on the
square of “Big Band Swing” music by “Slany” – a wonderful orchestra of young
musicians and an excellent singer.
It was a picture-perfect sunny day. There were balloons
instead of bombers in the air, and
former
enemies were relaxing as friends and clapping to big band music a la Glenn
Miller. The horror that took place over this town and the many Germans and
American lives lost that day will never be forgotten – but are now a part of
history, thanks to Jan Zdiarsky and his museum. Miraculously, noon in the
town was killed that day, according to dad.
To read a short history of the battle from the museum’s
brochure... click here
The Luftwaffe pilots from the battle that attended the
ceremony were: Manfred Kudel (JG4, FW 190), Alfred Ambs (JG7, Me262), Helmut
Detjens (J64 & J67, Me109, Me262) and Heribert Koller (J654, FW 190). The
Americans were Dad (George Geise – B-17 navigator), Lew Wallace (copilot, B-17)
and Eva Sage (sister of Elmer Farnsworth, a B-17 pilot killed in the battle that
day).
The busy dad concluded with a concert in the Catholic church by students from
a school in Chumotov – a smaller group than the one we enjoyed two years ago,
but still outstanding acapella music, followed by some lively pieces by a sextet
with 2 guitars, cello, keyboard and 2 singers (who also played Irish flute,
tambourine, etc.). The program included classical religious pieces, gospel, and
Czech and American folk music
We then went back
to the museum, but there was little time for visiting with the
Luftwaffe pilots because they were kept busy signing 500 (!) prints of a
painting of the German jet fighter plane for a private company. Since no food
was available there, we returned to Pension Pohada to meet our teacher friends
and were delighted to find out that the club was also a “café” and could give us
each a
plate
of chicken schnitzel and French fries. It was delicious and welcome – though
I’m sure that our late order (9:30 PM) was not appreciated by the young woman
trying to run a busy bar alone! We had another pleasant visit with our new
friends, continued our Czech, German, English translation challenges, and
promised to write via email. After many warm hugs, they gave Dad two gifts: a
1920 photo of Kovarska (called “Schmiedeberg” at that time) and a book of
pictures and descriptions of the towns in the area.
(9/12/04) Everyone had a poor night’s sleep because of wild screaming and
stomping in the bar below, where the locals were watching the Czech national
team play hockey in the semifinals on TV. (The Czechs lost to Canada 4-3 at ~
3:00 AM!) We left Pension Pohada at 9:15 and decided to try the Hotel Central
for breakfast, but they stopped serving at 9:00 (!), so we drove to Prague on
empty stomachs, arriving at the outskirts at ~ 11:30. We then circled
countless times around narrow one-way streets before finally finding the
Betlem Club Hotel with the help of a taxi
driver! After unloading the luggage, Paul and Stan had to take the car to a
parking garage behind the National Theatre – then walked back to the hotel
(getting lost again)!
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