(Editor’s note: Noted local architect and cancer survivor Norbert Peiker was born in Germany in 1940 and was 3 1/2 years old when his city was bombed by Allied air forces on Feb. 25-26, 1944. The target was the Augsburg Messerschmitt works. Below are his memories of that fateful time, 75 years ago. Augsburg, Bavaria is one of Germany’s oldest cities.)
Remembering 75 Years ago … the WWII Bombing Night of February 25-26, 1944
… Norbert, then a 3-1/2 year old kid, his destiny and Llfe changed forever…
Just a cold day like most in February… Wartime… unknown to our family “Operation Big Week” was about to start… daytime bombing raids targeted to destroy wartime industry… nighttime raids designed to level the inner city of Augsburg…
Having been stuck inside our home for too long, around noontime I snuck outside and joined up with my neighborhood friend, “Büable,” destined to explore the nearby forest as we lived at the edge of town.
Nosey, we wanted to “inspect” the air defense cannons hidden in the forest. Half way along the gravel road sirens went off. Air raid…
Panicking Büable turned around and ran back. “Hero Norbert” spotted a man running from the nearby farmhouse to be swallowed by the ground. Jumping into the roadside ditch I crawled toward the place where he disappeared, found the partially open hatch, crawled down into the hole…
The man and I survived the next hour… Hero Norbert proudly returned home just to get his behind reddened by a frantic Mama.
The night set in early, cold, unfriedly… tension in the air… Again, sirens went off. The British were coming…
Mama grabbed our 5-month-old baby, Eberhard. I woke up Klaus, my 2 1/2-year-old, deaf brother. Down the steep stairs to the basement shelter! Mama sat on the cot, holding the baby in her arms. Klaus and I shared the other cot, government issued gas masks at our sides.
We heard the planes coming… followed by screaming, shrieking sounds of falling bombs… All shook.
Klaus, feeling the vibration, jumped up, hung on my chest. Oh God. My whole body shook.
“Mama, are we dying?” “Mama!” Baby in one arm, Mama kneeled in front of Klaus and me, placed her free hand on my head, her face stoic, a tiny spark in her eyes… “Jesus loves you, he protects, don’t be afraid, he has plans…” She smiled, I calmed, but worried. “Mama, did Papa get to the bunker (a disabled veteran assigned to work at Messerschmitt)?” “No, he is hiding in the woods.”
Papa came home late. From the second floor window we saw the City… a burning inferno.
Augsburg’s historical records revealed that during that horror night 850 civilians died, 1,600 major fires destroyed whole city blocks, 85,000 lost their homes… The British had bombed Augsburg’s inner city. A strayed bomb set our neighbor’s house on fire… Büable died.
Next morning after seeing the destruction of homes and lives I told my parents that I will help to rebuild… l never wavered… As years passed by I learned the trade of a mason, worked in construction, studied architecture… became an architect who helped changing the environment and finding purpose by improving people’s lives through charitable leadership and actions.
“What we are is a gift from God. What we become is our gift to God.”
