Photo By Timothy Lawn | Obergefreiter (Corporal) Josef Hoettel, Belgium 1942. (Photos digitally re-touched...... read more read more
TAMPA, Fla. - Obergefreiter (Cpl.) Joseph Hoettel talks about life, death and survival in the Second World War Italian Campaign and Coming to America.
Seventy-two years ago, the German, American and Allied armies locked arms in a ferocious seven-month back-and-forth struggle that began on the ancient Mediterranean island of Sicily.
After crossing the Strait of Messina to land at the port of Anzio, Allied armies bitterly slogged their way through fertile plains and mud brick Italian villages, then crossed the Volturno River.
Both sides endured a bloody siege at the medieval monastary at Cassino, and the battle eventually ended in the snow-encrusted Apennine Mountains.
The battle to conquer Italy would eventually cost an estimated 312,000 Allied soldiers and more than 434,646 German soldiers missing or killed. The battle for Italy was the longest sustained campaign of the war.
This campaign account from a soldier, who tells his story of survival in Italy, is unique because it does not come from the memories of an Allied soldier but from the recollections of a German panzer grenadier named Joseph Hoettel. The account tells the struggle of ordinary men fighting and dying for a battle so long ago, but vividly fresh even 72 years today.
ANZIO, Italy (1944) -- The advance party of American soldiers scanning the scrubby Italian valley spied two German soldiers crawling in a small slit trench. Yelling at them to surrender, they noticed the lead German wouldn’t stop crawling. Perhaps the young German was hoping the Americans hadn’t seen him or hadn’t enough tactical advantage to fire accurately at him.
The Americans gave him a split-second, then opened fire with machine guns, killing him instantly.
“The kid was 18 years old … I never found out his name,” said Obergefreiter Josef Hoettel.
Hoettel knew his comrade was dead and now knew he was in serious trouble. Hoettel was already wounded and the American soldiers were aware he was in their vicinity.
“I started to crawl about 10 to 12 yards to the left through a cornfield. The corn was young and only stood about six to eight inches high. I jumped up and started running. The Americans wasted no time. They screamed at me and started shooting,” Hoettel said.
Hoettel was a combat-experienced and veteran German panzer grenadier soldier fighting for his life. He found himself locked in mortal combat against a very determined American Army and its Allies in a brutal seven-month campaign.
Hoettel’s originally assigned unit, the 90th Panzer Grenadier Division, was tasked with defending the abbey at Monte Cassino and its surrounding area. The 90th had already ceased to exist as a cohesive fighting force, and most of Hoettel’s friends were either dead or missing. Hoettel ‘s war in Italy was ending quickly. All he has on his mind was staying alive, but staying alive was getting harder every day.
Keeping Hoettel and his fellow German soldiers alive this long was through the meticulous planning of the German commander, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring. He recognized and made use of the rugged Italian countryside to form defensive lines and to be able to launch counterattacks. From the mountain heights, the Germans could pour accurate gunfire on attacking troops. The planning for the invasion of France tied up needed men and resources. In addition, the Allies weakened the Italian campaign by employing an estimated 18 Allied divisions to dislodge an estimated 23 or more German divisions. This series of events helped Hoettel and his compatriots put up a stiff defense until April 30, 1945.
“We found our unit completely surrounded. It is interesting how things can be remembered so clearly,” Hoettel said.
He remembers the day being a pleasant Italian morning. By 9 a.m. the stark realization set in that continued combat would be futile. One of the surviving senior German officers made an agreement with the American soldiers to surrender survivors by 5 p.m. Money, cigarettes and what was left of food and butter was distributed evenly amongst the men. With rifles in hand, Hoettel and about 1,000 surviving soldiers, paratroopers, Luftwaffe and SS soldiers drove over to the American lines, and Hoettel’s war ended. The rest of his compatriots held out and eventually surrendered on May 2, 1945, two days after the fall of Berlin.
Allied troops had been cut back in Italy for the Normandy invasion, and those that remained pinned down large a sizable number of German troops instead of pressing the offensive. Still, a large number of German troops were able to escape from Italy. Pinning down the remainder allowed the Allies to eliminate from France German men and material that might have potentially tipped the balance in the coming battle of France in favor of the Germans.
Hoettel spent two years as a prisoner of war, and was released in 1947, but his adventure did not end there.
Hoettel’s maternal family now was living in Communist East Germany. In 1950, after much pleading from his sister he decided to go live with his family and help on the farm the East German government allotted to the family.
“It didn’t take me long to realize how much I despised the Communists,” Hoettel said.
His family and friends had to swear an oath of allegiance to the government. Hoettel hated the regime and let his friends know it.
Whether it was luck or fate, Hoettel’s brother-in-law, an East German police officer, called him in one day and informed him that he was on a blacklist, if he didn’t stop causing trouble he would be picked up.
“Usually this meant you disappeared,” Hoettel said.
The next day, Hoettel made his way to a border village with his nephew. A local tavern owner told them to return at midnight. Reflecting, Hoettel realized how naïve he and his nephew were in negotiating their very lives with an unknown local tavern owner to cross a heavily defended border. Communist spies were everywhere and discussing such a plan, letting alone trying it, was paramount to treason, and the punishment was unthinkable.
“It was pitch dark when we arrived, there were two men waiting on us … we were pretty frightened as we began our trek across a potato field,” Hoettel said. A man approached in the dark, and one guide got up and ran; they never saw him again. After things calmed down, the trio continued their trek, eventually meeting up with a West German security guard who charged them 100 marks, close to a month’s salary, and pointed them in the direction to the nearest train station, Hoettel was free again.
Hoettel emigrated to Canada in 1950, became a professional house and business painter.
Surviving the Second World War as a German soldier gives Hoettel pause. He is still proud of his wartime service, has great respect for his former foes and has embraced his life of freedom in America. Now more than 90 years old, and a resident of Michigan, Hoettel is enjoying a quiet retirement and the company of family.
GERMAN SOLDIER INTERVIEW
Opa’s (Grandfather) Reflections, Serving in the German Army in WWII
For the average soldier of World War II, whether he was American, German or Japanese, Allied or Axis, the war had a common thread.
Young men and women rallied around their country, right or wrong, and all either willingly enlisted for patriotism, duty and honor, or were impressed or imprisoned to serve the higher calling. Joseph Hoettel was one of those young men who answered that call.
Hoettel’s war began in 1939. it carried him from the occupation of France through the brutal Italian campaign in Italy. From 1945 until 1947 Hoettel was a prisoner of war of the Americans, and then the British. He returned to his family in what was then Communist East Germany and quickly realized that life there was not suited for him. Hoettel emigrated to Canada, and then to the U.S.
Today Hoettel is a healthy and sharp-witted 90-year-old who enjoys spending time with his children, grandchildren and friends in Michigan.
It was at a World War II re-enactment in Tampa in 1999 that I met Hoettel. Over the course of a year or so he told me his story. I found it fascinating, and hopefully you will, too.
Here is a brief Q & A with him about his military experiences.
Journalist’s Note: Hoettel understands the spoken English word but had a little challenge putting thought to questions.
Timothy Lawn -- Did you feel any effects of Hitler coming into power? What did you and your family think of the Nazi Party?
Joseph Hoettel - We liked Hitler because he promised work and a better living.
TBL - How would you rate the equipment issued to you?
Hoettel - We did not like the boots but the uniform was OK. The boots had spikes and made them noisy to walk in.
TBL - What kind of training did you receive getting ready to go into Italy?
Hoettel - I was trained as a message carrier (by foot). I also went through combat training.
TBL - What deprivations did you endure? How did you self-medicate in field to keep wounds clean?
Hoettel - Every soldier carried eight bandages. All other supplies were at first-aid stations but those were away from the fields.
TBL - How did you get ammo, food and news from home?
Hoettel - The only way to receive news from home was by mail, which was delivered every day. All other supplies were delivered by truck from the army.
TBL - How did the Italian population treat you?
Hoettel - The Mussolini Party was very nice and accepted us. The partisans were against us.
TBL - How did German Army generally treat the Italian populace?
Hoettel - The Mussolini Party supported Hitler, while the Badolio Party did not. We were very accepting of the citizens who supported Hitler but we were not so nice to the supporters of the Badolio Party.
TBL - What do you remember about the partisans?
Hoettel - The partisans were the Badolio troops who fought against Mussolini’s troops and against the Germans.
TBL - When did you realize the war was being lost in Italy?
Hoettel - After the battles in Monte Cassino and Stalingrad were lost, we knew the war was coming to an end.
TBL - What made you keep going?
Hoettel - We didn’t have a choice but to keep going. I dealt with the new lifestyle through friendship and duty.
TBL - When things were quiet, what did you do with your free time?
Hoettel - When I had free time, we trained. We never had enough time for recreational activities.
TBL - How did you cope with constant combat and hardship?
Hoettel - Combat was not constant but training was. We all got used to the work.
TBL - What kind of discipline did you experience from your NCOs and officers in the front? How did leadership keep the fight going? Was it strong and positive leadership or threats?
Hoettel - The relationship between the army and the officers was always friendly leadership and obedience.
TBL - Did you continuously train during quiet times in a combat area?
Hoettel - There was no training in the combat area. It was used for fighting only.
TBL - What do you think about the British?
Hoettel - I did not like the British.
Note: Hoettel’s experience as a POW for the British was more spartan than his experience with the Americans.
TBL - What do you think about the American soldier as a fighting man?
Hoettel - I saw an American tank trying to run over a German soldier instead of taking him prisoner or shooting him. I thought this was too hostile and unnecessary, so (at the time) I did not agree with the American fighting man.
TBL - What did you think of American weapons and equipment?
Hoettel - We had the same or better equipment than the Americans.
TBL - As a POW, what kept your spirits up?
Hoettel - As a POW, I was just glad to be alive. The Americans gave me one slice of white bread and a cup of black coffee every morning. For lunch we received half a quart of porridge. In the evening we received one slice of white bread and one cup of black coffee.
In Gibraltar, we could buy a watch or a golden feather. Food was very good and we could buy soap, toothpaste, and sardines to send to our families in Germany. Our belongings were put into storage and they supplied us with new clothes, toothpaste, toothbrush and comb. Around Christmas, every soldier got one bottle of beer.
TBL - What do you think the German Army could have done differently to change the course of the battle in Italy?
Hoettel - We knew that the war was over but we could not say it so we just acted like it was over. The officers worked against the war and if we saw an American tank, we were not going to shoot without an order.
TBL - What do you think the Allies did right that allowed them to be victorious in Italy?
Hoettel - This question could be more easily answered by an American soldier.
TBL - What do you think of the good fortune that allowed you to survive the war?
Hoettel - We were glad that the war was over and thankful to be alive.
TBL - What were your feelings coming to America after the war?
Hoettel - There was no future in Germany so I had to look for better living.
TBL - How did you fit in with your new community? Did you talk much about your war experience?
Hoettel - I kept to myself within the community and in the first few years, I did not talk about the war. After I had kids I thought that they, and my grandchildren, should know about the war experience so I started to write about it.
TBL - After all this is done and so many years have passed, what do you have to say about the war?
Hoettel - After all of these years, I am glad that Germany lost the war. If we had won, I would have spent my whole life as a soldier in occupied Germany.
For a more thorough accounting of Hoettel’s experiences, pre-war through war years and his subsequent emigration to North American citizenship, please feel free to email me at:
Lawn.timothy@yahoo.com
| Date Taken: | 06.04.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.05.2015 06:45 |
| Story ID: | 165571 |
| Location: | TAMPA, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 13,927 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, WWII German soldier’s account of surviving Italy and the war, by Timothy Lawn, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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