Displaced Persons -

Lentersheim

Germany

Archives:

Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Hesselberg
Wittelshofener Str. 30
91725 Ehingen.
Tel: 09835-97910


This is the mill outside of Lentersheim were my mother worked as slave labor from 1940-1945. Olga	This water, which is now dammed up used to run under the house and run the water wheel on the front of the house. My dad's town was across the lake and he used to sneak out (after curfew) to hike down the road past this lake and visit my mom.

We sincerely thank Christof Maihoefer for taking the time to take these photos.
If you have a town or village in Germany that you want photographed, e-mail
correspondence directly to Christof and he will advise you of his prices.

	Remembrance and commemorative marker in Lentersheim... In front of this tudor-style house, you can see the 1000 year dedication plaque; the city was founded in 996. So remembrance seems not to be a foreign thing to the people around.



Also at the church of Lentersheim, you can find places of remembrance.	An old wooden cross in the cemetary...
	The cemetary marker commemorates the fallen and the missing of the wars-- but who commemorates the pain and the losses of the victims of the regime?

	In the pubs of Lentersheim, people talk freely. Will they ever mention the fate of the forced labourers?
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Panoramic view of Lentersheim from top of Hesselberg


Forced labour in Lentersheim and the region was mostly traditional farmwork in farms like those in these pictures. After the war, Lentersheim became a DP center, where DPs were distributed into private accommodations.
	I talked to the town officials in Lentersheim. They say, that they have the regular registers of the archive quite complete (but not much further) and they told me of an afterwar DP camp at the Hesselberg, where DPs stayed there only for short time, and then they were sent into 'private houses' like in Lenningen or Dinkelsbühl.

Tractor and...	stalls in back of the farmhouse


Unterschwaningen a nearby neigbourhood, commemorates the 950 years anniversary in July 2003. They keep up other traditions: The military history and their relation to the military today. The tanktroops bear the logo of the Tiger, previously in the Wehrmacht, it was the name of a strong tank, which rolled through occupied Europe under the slogan: "One people, one reich, one führer." Today, the slogan of the "Tiger- tanktroops is written on the plate: "One company, one aim, one success" What do foreigners feel, when they pass by?



Wassertrüdingen is one of the larger towns around the Hesselberg, a place of forced labour and a DP camp after the war.	Rathaus (city hall) in Wassertrüdingen

	Hesselberg The highest hill in mid-Franconia with 360 degree views. http://www.hesselberg.de/ Touristikverband Hesselberg Marktstrasse 9 91717 Wassertrüdingen Telefon: +49 0 98 32 / 68 22 45 Telefax: +49 0 98 32 / 68 22 42 I was on the Hesselberg nearby. It is a wonderfull hill; a marvelous sight of all the area around. I asked a woman for details. She said, "The Hesselberg was a fortified place in the very early days of history. Today, one still can see the remains of the walls of the fortification. The Nazis wanted to have this impressive hill as a part of their propaganda and claimed it 'The hill of the Franks' (Franken is the name of the region) and started to build a school there which was never finished."
Hesselberg plant life


An antenna marks the Hesselberg. Who will write the history of forced labour and DP life in the region...and send it into the world?	The beautiful scenery erases the cruel reality of slave labour in the '40s under the Nazi regime. Website with photos of Hesselberg region: http://www.region-hesselberg.de/showpage.php?SiteID=1