Mission at Nuremberg (39 page)

  77  
visiting 2,000 patients:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” January 1945.

  77  
“birthday anniversary”:
Hank Gerecke interview, 13 July 2011.

  77  
and it showed at chapel:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” June 1944.

  77  
“Prayers for the sick ones . . .”:
Gerecke, “Sickbed Sidelights,” pp. 122–123.

  77  
visit from his oldest son:
Hank Gerecke interview, 13 July 2011.

  79  
silently behind the surgeons:
Gerecke, “Sickbed Sidelights,” p. 123.

  79  
For a moment, Gerecke froze:
Ibid., 121.

  80  
“I am fortunate . . .”:
Ibid., October 1944.

  80  
Ninety-Eighth General Hospital Orchestra:
Sullivan, “Historical Report, 16 July to 30 September 1944.”

  80  
encourage the Jewish members:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” May 1944.

  80  
Yom Kippur services:
Ibid., November 1944.

  80  
Gerecke held Thanksgiving services:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” October 1944.

  80  
“ . . . will provide Christmas trees”:
Ibid., November 1944.

  81  
three thousand feet of sidewalks:
Sullivan, “Historical Report, 1 January to 8 May, 1945.”

  81  
“
. . . but I must watch him”:
Henry F. Gerecke, Letter to Dorothy Williams, 19 October 1944.

  81  
a Western Union telegram:
Henry F. Gerecke, “Please rush German literature.” Telegram, 24 October 1944.

  81  
to extract information:
Hank Gerecke interview, 13 July 2011.

  82  
to that of a general hospital:
Sullivan, “Historical Report, 16 July to 30 September 1944.”

  82  
“We feel highly gratified . . .”:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” December 1944.

  82  
a note of commendation:
James P. Sullivan, Commendation letter for Gerecke, Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” December 1944.

  83  
soldiers from the front lines:
Sullivan, “Historical Report, 1 January–31 December 1945.”

  83  
fire destroyed the bar:
Ibid., 1 January to 8 May 1945.

  83  
he began taking cigarettes:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” March 1945.

  83  
to sew and mend their clothing:
Sullivan, “Historical Report, 1 January to 8 May 1945.

  84  
“Opportunities for individual . . .”:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” January 1945.

  84  
“Our wounded men . . .”:
Ibid., February 1945.

  84  
“A cheerful, loyal, devout officer . . .”:
Sullivan, “Efficiency Report for Henry F. Gerecke, 1 March 1945.”

  84  
Sullivan chartered a boat:
Sullivan, “Historical Report, 1 January to 8 May 1945.”

  85  
“An unforgettable experience
. . .”:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” April 1945.

  85  
The unit set up delousing stations:
Sullivan, “Period Report, Medical Department Activities, 1 January–31 December 1945.”

  85  
were to be sent back to the United States:
Ibid., “Historical Report, 1 January to 8 May 1945.”

  85  
Hank was on the Champs-Élysées:
Hank Gerecke interview, 13 July 2011.

  85  
“We thank God for Victory . . .”:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” May 1945.

  86  
breaking down the hospital:
Sullivan, “Period Report, Medical Department Activities, 1 January–31 December 1945.”

  86  
The Ninety-Eighth stopped:
Ibid., “Historical Report, 9 May to 23 May 1945.”

  86  
boarded the MS
Dunnottar Castle
:
Ibid., “Period Report, Medical Department Activities, 1 January–31 December 1945.”

  86  
“ . . . and confidence in any future task”:
Ibid.

  86  
The Ninety-Eighth landed in France:
Sullivan, “Period Report, Medical Department Activities, 1 January–31 December 1945, Munich addendum.

  87  
Gerecke sent a message:
Hank Gerecke interview, 13 July 2011.

  87  
He attended a conference:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” July 1945.

  87  
“ . . . need special attention right now”:
Ibid., June 1945.

  87  
“Both were devoted . . .”:
Sullivan, “Period Report, Medical Department Activities, 1 January–31 December 1945, Munich addendum.”

  87  
“enormous problems”:
Descriptions of the hospital the Ninety-Eighth took over in Munich, and the lives the unit led there, come from James P. Sullivan's, “Period Report, Medical Department Activities, 1 January–31 December 1945, Munich addendum.”

  89  
“Beautiful chapel . . .”:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” July 1945.

  91  
Hank Gerecke took a jeep:
Hank Gerecke interview, 13 July 2011.

  92  
Rosh Hashanah services:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” August 1945.

  92  
The Mastersingers of Nuremberg
:
“Da Prinzeregentheater.”

  92  
Yom Kippur services:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” August 1945.

  93  
Amid the snowball fights:
Geist interview.

  94  
The two men conferred:
Hank Gerecke interview, 13 July 2011.

  94  
“This area is being retained . . .”:
Photo, collection of Thomas V. Geist.

  94  
Gerecke returned several times:
Gerecke and Sinclair, “I Walked the Gallows.”

  95  
He said it over and over again:
Geist interview.

 

CHAPTER 5

  96  
“If your enemies . . .”:
NRSV.

  96  
had asked for Gerecke:
Andrus, Untitled manuscript draft “Gerecke.”

  97  
“ . . . possible spiritual benefit”:
Ibid.

  97  
Andrus's situation was “urgent”:
Ibid.

  97  
“But I finally got it”:
Ibid.

  97  
entered the army as a cavalry officer:
Andrus and Zwar,
I Was the Nuremberg Jailer,
pp. 13–14.

  98  
He was furious:
Ibid., p. 12.

  98  
“ . . . a better man for the job”:
Galbraith, “The Cure.”

  98  
“somewhat allergic . . .”:
Ibid.

  98  
“They have religious statues . . .”:
Andrus, Letter to the Recorder, San Diego Commandery No. 25, 15 March 1945.

  99  
When Andrus arrived at Ashcan:
Andrus, Letter to Katherine Andrus, 18 May 1945.

  99  
“ . . . has to verify the signature”:
Galbraith, “The Cure.”

  99  
any vantage point high in the town:
Ibid.

  99  
The Palace had a veranda:
Ibid.

  99  
the Palace's gray stucco façade:
Tusa and Tusa,
Nuremberg Trial,
p. 43.

  99  
He requested floodlights:
Andrus and Zwar,
I Was the Nuremberg Jailer,
pp. 18–19.

  99  
“I even feared murder . . .”:
Ibid., p. 19.

100  
“I hate these Krauts
. . .”:
Persico,
Nuremberg,
p. 50.

100  
“Here is some paper . . .”:
Andrus, Letter to Katherine Andrus, 5 April 1945.

100  
“I am treated here . . .”:
Andrus and Zwar,
I Was the Nuremberg Jailer,
p. 33.

101  
“ . . . a bunch of jerks?”:
Galbraith, “The Cure.”

101  
“
. . . a certain motion picture . . .”:
Andrus and Zwar,
I Was the Nuremberg Jailer,
p. 44.

101  
“held a handkerchief to his mouth . . .”:
Ibid., p. 45.

102  
Andrus decided to use:
Ibid., pp. 46–50.

103  
“ . . . without a ‘chute,' sir?”:
Ibid., p. 51.

103  
Andrus had first recruited:
“Minister Counseled Nazi Elite.”

103  
they refused to be counseled:
Hank Gerecke interview, 23 March 2011.

103  
“I absolutely needed his services . . .”:
Andrus, Untitled manuscript draft “Gerecke.”

104  
Sullivan had given Gerecke the option:
Gerecke and Sinclair, “I Walked the Gallows.”

104  
Gerecke was badly shaken:
Gerecke, “My Assignment,” and Hank Gerecke interview, 30 June 2011.

104  
Gerecke had recently traveled to Paris:
Hank Gerecke interview, 30 June 2011.

104  
calling Hank for advice:
Ibid., and Gerecke and Sinclair, “I Walked the Gallows.”

105  
Christ's forgiveness:
Hank Gerecke interview, 30 June 2011.

105  
Gerecke was staring:
Gerecke, “My Assignment.”

105  
“I'll go,” he said:
Gerecke and Sinclair, “I Walked the Gallows.”

106  
Translatio imperii
came from:
Remley,
Old English Biblical Verse,
p. 250.

106  
“the God of heaven . . .”:
Daniel 2:31–44, NRSV.

106  
Biblical scholars mostly have agreed:
Miller,
New American Commentary,
pp. 94–97.

107  
a Danish prince named Sebald:
Descriptions of Sebald's life come from Collins,
Reforming Saints,
pp. 58–61.

107  
peregrinatia pro Christo
:
Volz,
Medieval Church,
p. 35.

108  
Romanesque and Gothic parish:
Kootz,
Nürnberg,
p. 28.

108  
fifteen-foot-high brass tomb:
Schieber,
Nuremberg,
p. 34.

108  
critical position in Germany's history:
Kootz,
Nürnberg,
p. 3, and Schieber,
Nuremberg,
p. 8.

108  
The word
Norenberc
:
Schieber,
Nuremberg,
p. 8.

109  
The city housed:
Ibid., pp. 28–29.

109  
German cities with a history:
Voigtländer and Voth, “Persecution Perpetuated,” p. 2.

109  
defiling Holy Communion wafers:
Hsia,
Myth of Ritual Murder.

109  
“the eyes and ears of Germany”:
Brockmann,
Nuremberg,
p. 181.

109  
“would deal severely . . .”:
Luther, “On the Jews and Their Lies,” pp. 33, f96.

110  
violence spread:
Voigtländer and Voth, “Persecution Perpetuated,” p. 7.

110  
Jews sought shelter:
Schieber,
Nuremberg,
p. 44.

110  
Germans began burning Jews:
Voigtländer and Voth, “Persecution Perpetuated,” p. 7.

110  
annihilation of six hundred people . . . synagogue had once stood:
Schieber,
Nuremberg,
pp. 44–45.

111  
“For the glory of
. . .”:
Kootz,
Nürnberg,
p. 52.

111  
In the wake of the First World War:
Dietzfelbinger interview.

111  
he was interested in Nuremberg:
Schieber,
Nuremberg,
p. 6.

111  
blessing the Nazi swastika:
Dietzfelbinger interview.

112  
four times more Nazi Party members:
Ibid.

112  
Knight, Death and the Devil
:
Brockmann,
Nuremberg,
p. 181.

112  
built more than three hundred churches:
Dietzfelbinger interview.

113  
“the worst in the history of human beings”:
Ibid.

113  
Gerecke didn't press the issue:
Geist interview.

113  
“among the dead cities . . .”:
“Nuremberg: Historical Evolution,” p. 7.

114  
had increased 60 percent:
Ibid.

114  
Nuremberg's remaining citizens:
Gaskin,
Eyewitnesses,
p. 113.

114  
seemed to hover in midair:
Ibid., p. 117.

114  
foraged from nearby farms:
Ibid., p. 104.

114  
mostly of bread and potatoes:
Ibid., p. 108.

114  
“there was no money”:
West, “Greenhouse with Cyclamens I (1946),” p. 10.

114  
to barter for food:
Gaskin,
Eyewitnesses,
p. 104.