Alfred Jank
Alfred Jank (born May 21, 1929 in Byhleguhre ) is a contemporary witness whose fate in the Soviet NKVD special camps exemplifies many post-war biographies. Alfred Jank endeavors to pass on his experiences to the young.
biography
Alfred Jank was born on May 21, 1929 as the fifth child of 14 siblings in Byhleguhre, Lübben district (Spreewald) . After eight years of school he began an apprenticeship in the city of Lieberose as a machine fitter. There he joined the Hitler Youth .
In the final phase of the war in 1944, at the age of 15, he was called up twice for training in weapons, the Volkssturm . In order to escape the approaching combat troops, his parents fled with him and his siblings to a swamp area in the Spreewald until the end of the war .
On August 31, 1945, he and his brother were arrested by the Soviet occupying forces and unjustifiably suspected of being members of the " Werwolf " riot movement.
From August 31, 1945 to July 18, 1948, Alfred Jank was imprisoned in the special camps No. 5 Ketschendorf and No. 9 Fünfeichen under the most adverse circumstances, which ultimately led to open tuberculosis and lifelong physical impairment. His brother, who was also arrested, died while in custody.
After his release, the GDR leadership threatened him with renewed imprisonment and forced him to keep silent about this dark chapter in post-war history.
In 1960 Alfred Jank and his family fled to the Federal Republic of Germany .
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, he decided, as a contemporary witness of the Stalin era, to educate young people in particular about the crimes of the Soviet occupying power and the GDR's Ministry of State Security . He published his story in the book The Longest Years .
Appreciation as a contemporary witness
Alfred Jank conveyed his experiences in lectures and readings in addition to the book. His commitment has been welcomed and appreciated by many institutions. Both Federal Chancellor Schröder and then Federal President Rau thanked him for his commitment. The council chairman of the Evangelical Church in Germany , Wolfgang Huber , referred explicitly to Jank's fate in memorial speeches.
Web links
- Speech by the Chairman of the EKD Council, Wolfgang Huber
- Recall suffering. Lausitzer Rundschau of April 27, 2004 , accessed on May 27, 2012
literature
- ↑ Hubertus Knabe. Liberation Day ?: the end of the war in East Germany . Propylaea, 2005, p. 309. ISBN 3549072457
- ↑ Alfred Jank. The longest years: in Soviet special warehouses in Ketschendorf and Neubrandenburg Fünf-Eichen Selbstverlag, Huglfing 1998
- ↑ Martin Jehle. Find a common language. Germany Archive 6/2006, pp. 1087-1089, here p. 1089 ISSN 0012-1428
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Jank, Alfred |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German contemporary witness of Russian prison camps |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 21, 1929 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Byhleguuhr |