by Ian Gardner
Spoils of war
The 101st handed out several pamphlets to the troops, such as “A short guide to the Bavarian Alps.” Despite being told that certain areas of Obersalzberg were out of bounds, many decided no matter what restrictions were in place they could not and would not let the opportunity to visit the Berghof or the Kehlsteinhaus slip through their fingers.
After crossing the bridge over the Ache, there were two granite pillars displaying a banner which read, “Führer, wir danken dir” (“Führer, we thank you”). The road from here was called Kehlstein Strasse and was the gateway to Obersalzberg and the northern face of Kehlstein Mountain. The drive up to Obersalzberg was comparatively short but nevertheless convoluted as the road climbed steeply to the ruins of the Berghof and Hotel Züm Turken (previously occupied by the security men from the Reichssicherheitsdienst), passing what remained of Hitler’s enormous greenhouse and the shattered SS barracks before turning off toward the famous Kehlsteinhaus or, as it became known by US forces, “The Eagle’s Nest.”
Designed originally as a private tea and function room for Hitler, the Eagle’s Nest was engineered into the tip of Kehlstein Mountain. The views across Berchtesgaden from the Kehlsteinhaus northwest to Baderlehenkopf and Kälberstein were world famous, as was the incredible southern vista down the valley toward Königsee and the Watzmann Massif.
Carved into the mountain directly below the Eagle’s Nest was an impressive stone archway. Beyond the bronze entrance doors was a long tunnel leading to a circular domed waiting room where a brass-lined elevator (powered by a U-Boat engine) climbed vertically 407ft to the nest. The complex (staffed by SS troops) consisted of three levels, all serviced by the elevator. Inside the facility were maps, books, pictures, all manner of antique furniture, and a beautifully appointed kitchen.
Ralph Bennett and his best friend Pfc Spencer Phillips were among the first members of 3rd Bn to ride the “golden elevator” up to the Kehlstein house where almost everything worth having had already been stolen by the French. Ralph recounts his experience:
Spencer and I decided to walk back to the tunnel entrance via the zigzag footpath situated just to the left of the Eagle’s Nest. On the way down we came across a dining set all marked with an eagle sitting on a swastika between the initials “A – H.” I picked up the solid silver service and was on my way back to Göring’s house when we were stopped by a major in a command car who asked, “What have you got there, sergeant?” I told him it was a souvenir but he snapped back, “Nope, that’s loot; you know the rules – hand it over!” As Spence and I were sheepishly walking away another officer, a colonel, approached the major and did exactly the same thing. RHIP: Rank Has Its Privileges. No doubt about it.
By way of consolation we came across a Mercedes open touring car that had been pushed down the side of the hill by the French and I assigned some of my people to guard it. The next day, I asked one of the tank recovery guys to retrieve the vehicle. We got it running and drove the Merc around for three or four days changing roadblock guards, etc. until I was ordered to hand it in because apparently the car belonged to Göring… I don’t think we’d have got that one home in an envelope even if we tried!
Before leaving for Saalfelden, Ed Shames managed to pick up a bottle of Martell Cognac marked with the Führer’s initials: “It was the only thing I took from the Eagle’s Nest. We eventually opened the bottle about 16 years later to celebrate my son Steven’s Bar Mitzvah. We did, however, liberate a lovely Mercedes touring car from Hitler’s garage at the Berghof. The windows were bulletproof and we all took a few potshots with several different caliber weapons but nothing we had could penetrate the glass.” The following day guards were placed at the tunnel entrance to the Eagle’s Nest with only field grade officers above the rank of major permitted to pass.
Everyone else had to traverse the steep winding path on foot to the top of the mountain. Manny Barrios walked up and took a 144-page book, consisting mainly of photographs, from the library, while Len Goodgal and his buddy Eddie Austin helped themselves to a couple of ceramic dishes complete with lids that didn’t actually fit.
The book Manny found was called Wirvom Alpenkorps and contained eight signatures underneath this dedication: “Horrido! Zur Erinnerung – An Die – Allen Kameraden – Im Kriege Marz 1941,” which translates to “Horrido! For Remembrance – To the – Old Comrades – At War March 1941.” “With the exception of the book, I never really went around stealing and never let my squad do it either,” recalls Manny. “However, they could purchase items if they were for sale. Most Germans at that time were desperate for money and would sell their sister if the price seemed right.”
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Located on the slopes below the mountain, Haus Göring was still standing, despite being seriously damaged by the RAF. The three-storey property was situated in the most picturesque part of Obersalzberg below the Berghof. Originally built as a small hunting lodge, the property was a gift in 1933 from the Nazi Party to Göring – who over the next eight years developed it into a large palatial home complete with its own outdoor swimming pool. When 3 Ptn I Co took over guarding the house from F Co, it was obvious that just about everyone who was anyone had been there before.
“‘Dopey,’ the I Co runner, had previously modified a small tool that could be inserted into almost any lock,” recalls Harold Stedman. “I took the ‘skeleton key’ and made my way upstairs to the master bedroom where I ‘forced’ one of the dressing tables.” Reaching to the back of the drawer, Stedman discovered six silver commemorative coins, all minted in 1913 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty. The beautifully made tokens depicted the first tsar, Mikhail Fjodorovits, and the last Russian emperor, Nicholas II. Also in the same drawer was a small glass jar containing around 20 uncut diamonds and five rubies.
Shortly after being promoted to first lieutenant, Fred Bahlau was appointed to 1/506 as supply officer. “Although the Berghof had been badly damaged it amazed me that Hitler’s fancy toilet and seat was still intact! There was a big feature window that had been completely blown out by the bombing. Just to the right of the main building were the offices belonging to the Führer’s personal bodyguard – Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. The Leibstandarte occupied several floors, the first being a food store, second a kitchen area, and the third was stocked with hundreds if not thousands of bottles of wine.”
Directly behind the Berghof was the entrance to a 2-mile-long underground tunnel system that not only acted as an emergency HQ for Hitler and his immediate entourage but also connected with Army HQ to the southwest of Obersalzberg. Heavily fortified with machine-gun ports, the main tunnel accessed the bunker system below Zum Türken and the SS barracks before coursing deep under the road to Martin Bormann’s private bunker and house in the northeast. The tunnels contained art treasures and other precious objects, and Bahlau’s team were tasked with locating and guarding the many entrances. More stolen treasure was discovered in a bunker beneath the Luftwaffe HQ and rest center (today the Hotel Hubertus) along the road running south to Königssee.
Bahlau’s men were waiting for an international delegation to arrive, led by Capt Harry Anderson, who had been given the job of cataloging the works of art that had been stored within the tunnels, especially the separate system belonging to Göring himself. “Of course we had a good look around,” recalls Fred, “and found a 16th-century classical portrait from Italy lying on the ground with the nose cut out. The people from the commission were not pleased by the damage, but despite a detailed search we failed to locate the missing appendage!”
On May 10, the regiment handed over control to a new governing body and moved with a recon troop from 813th TD Bn to Austria. Once again the idea was to enforce the terms of surrender and help establish a temporary form of military government. Before leaving, 1st Lt Denver Albrecht was re-assigned to G Co and took over 1 Ptn assisted by new boy 2nd Lt Charles “Chaz” Schaefer. After Sink moved out, Gen Taylor relocated his Divis
ional HQ from Bad Reichenhall to the Berchtesgadener Hof Hotel. As Bob Sink departed for Zell am See he officially handed Albert Kesselring over to Divisonal HQ where he became Taylor’s “houseguest.” Kesselring and his aide were allowed to move “freely,” albeit accompanied by the 101st counterintelligence section. Over the next few days Kesselring was interviewed by the world press and gave several conferences at the hotel and the train in Saalfelden. On May 15, he was taken via Augsberg to a special camp at Mondorf, near Luxembourg, where reluctantly he was forced to hand over his medals and prized Feldmarschall’s baton.
SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Gottlob Berger was also held at the Berchtesgadener Hof. Forty-nine-year-old Berger was Heinrich Himmler’s assistant and instrumental in the creation of the SS. Berger was arrested by troops from Seventh Army on May 6, while trying to escape along with 2,000 soldiers and civilians, who included the head of the Reich’s chancellery, Dr Hans Lammers, and Himmler’s wife Marga and their teenage daughter. Nicknamed “the Almighty Gottlob,” Berger was responsible for the forced marches imposed on Allied POWs, which included many 3rd Bn members detailed earlier.
Booty and boxing
Col Sink earmarked the spacious and undamaged property previously belonging to Göring’s liaison officer, General der Flieger Karl Bodenschatz, as a training center for the newly re-formed regimental boxing team. At the time the regimental team, coached by 1st Lt John Kelly from D Co, consisted of Jesus Fernandez, Harry Smith, Moose Analoff, Ken Moore, Macrae Barnson, Charley Hogan, Tony Torries, Bill Bitnoff, Andy Sfrisi, Richie Shinn, and Harold Stedman. Harold recalls:
The place had been turned over and things scattered everywhere but the furniture was still in place. Most of the cabinet and dresser drawers were locked and Lieutenant Kelly strictly forbade us from opening them. Native American Indian Charley Hogan (from the Blackfoot tribe) was first upstairs and almost immediately a chest of drawers came crashing down outside. “What in God’s name are you doing?” I shouted and rushed up the staircase only to find him dragging a bed toward the nearest window. “Jesus Charley – it’s a bed, for Christ’s sake … you know the kind we haven’t slept on for about three months. Put the damn thing back and shut the heck up!”
Later I came across a book of gold coins, several large tankards (all made from solid gold), plus a beautiful hunting rifle and pistol.
The boxing team were kept here in relative isolation, training 10 hours a day and fighting every Friday night at Zell am See where they never lost a match against the 82nd Airborne or the 10th and 11th armored divisions.
Just down the hill from Bodenschatz’ HQ was a small artificial lake that ran into the river Lackmühelbach where Harold and the boys fished for trout. As the Berghof was just around the corner, Charley Hogan, Harold, and a few of the others decided to visit, as Harold recalls: “There was nothing really left but Charley managed to take a nice picture of me sitting in a chair overlooking the Alps from Hitler’s picture window. We also discovered the tunnel underneath our billet and had just begun to explore when division posted guards and sealed it off but that is another story. A couple of weeks later we left our mountain training camp for Zell am See. Because my contraband weighed so much, before we departed I dug a hole nearby and buried some of the larger items, like the silver tankards and several jewel-encrusted plates. The only thing I took with me were the Russian coins and precious stones, which I put into a sock and secreted down the small of my back.”*
The heroes of Purple Heart Lane, Austria, May 11– August 2, 1945
The division sent their resident art expert, Harry Anderson, to interview Frau Emmy Göring who was still in residence at Schloss Fischhorn with her daughter and nanny Christa Gormans. Harry was on the trail of a missing painting by 17th-century Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer called The Woman Taken in Adultery.
Although Frau Göring denied any knowledge, surprisingly she handed over six other paintings that had not been on Anderson’s radar. As he was leaving, Gormans called Anderson to her room and presented him with the missing Vermeer, saying that it had been a personal gift from Mr Göring. Ironically The Woman Taken in Adultery turned out to be a forgery. A few days later, on May 12, Emmy and her daughter were transported to Saalfelden before being sent by train to Berlin, where she was given a 12-month jail sentence. While Emmy was in prison, Göring himself escaped justice by committing suicide in his cell at Nuremberg on October 15, 1946.
Shortly after Frau Göring was sent to Berlin, Fred Bahlau arrived at Fischhorn. At the time the Schloss was still cluttered with a variety of art treasures looted by Fegelein and his SS colleagues from Poland and Holland. By coincidence, Fred was billeted in the same suite that had been previously occupied by the Görings. “On opening one of the drawers in the bedroom, I found seven letters from Hermann to Emmy and kept them as souvenirs.” While Fred was at Fischhorn around 200 silver, .900-grade fine hammered cups were discovered, originally designed and produced in Innsbruck, possibly as gifts from Göring although more likely by Fegelein for loyal party members.
After being tasked by Col Chase (who was now also billeted at the castle), Bahlau commissioned a silversmith in Saalbach to customize around 40 of the vessels by adding a pair of silver jump wings before individually engraving the name and campaigns of every surviving officer (including those with battlefield commissions) who had taken part in combat operations with the 506th PIR beginning with Normandy. Each chalice cost 210 marks (then equivalent to $21.00) and was deducted from the recipient’s mess bill.
The 321st GFA were separated from the 506th and sent north to the beautiful, ancient baroque city of Salzburg, birthplace of classical composer Mozart. On May 15, Ray Nagell won a “golden ticket” home, recalling: “It was like a dream come true and I knew that was it; I would probably never be coming back. Shortly after leaving Salzburg I was at the back of a convoy filled with other lottery winners when the lead vehicle struck a civilian truck on a mountain road and tumbled over the edge, killing everyone on board. For those of us who witnessed the accident it was a tragedy beyond comprehension.”
Being platoon sergeant, Lou Vecchi had already decided to stay on, when Bob Martin won his “golden ticket” back to the States. “I appointed one of the replacements called Miller as 1 Ptn guide. Should’ve gone for Hank but I knew he wanted to go home. Miller was a real handful and had a great line of bull but when it came to women, he was in a league of his own.”
The paratroopers from the 506th were sent to Austria in support of the Third and Seventh armies mission. “Each battalion was allocated a specific sector,” recalls Manny Barrios, “which was then subdivided by company. Roadblocks were a key factor to controlling and monitoring all German military and civilian traffic.” The VCPs were required to record the license registration, type and make of vehicle, time stopped, and number of occupants, along with direction of travel. Over the occupation period, the 506th apprehended around 50 people wanted for war crimes. “Other than that the German troops either marched in or arrived at our locations by word of mouth. Our job was simple – disarm and direct them to the discharge centers where they could be processed and sent home. My squad rotated with two other teams, one week on, two weeks off.”
Initially the regiment was given control of the Southern Area of Operations and deployed along two glorious steep-sided Alpine river valleys located either side of the Kitzbüheler Alps, covering a total patrol footprint of some 430 square miles. North of the Kitzbüheler was the Glemm valley, with its rugged terrain divided by the river Saalach, along which are the villages of Hinterglemm and Saalbach. Crossing south over craggy snow-capped peaks, the mountains drop sharply into the more densely populated Pinzgau region and the Salzach valley. At the mouth of these two valleys is Lake Zeller See and the spa town of Zell am See, where the 13th-century Schloss Fischhorn guards the southern end of the lake at Bruck. The 506th was deployed at Zell am See, Bruck, Kaprun, Uttendorf, Stuhlfelden, Saalfelden, Saalbach, and further east at Lend.
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After a short period at Saalfelden, leaving G and I companies in situ, Col Patch moved his CP to Zell am See (where six German military hospitals were also located). Patch established 3rd Bn HQ in the gorgeous five-star Grand Hotel close to Regimental HQ and Col Sink who had his CP at Hotel Zell. The Grand had access to a private “Regimental Beach and Recreation Center” overlooking the lake, complete with rowing boats and a bar selling subsidized local beers. Other facilities included a movie theater offering two films per day and a weekly USO stage show.
Saalbach – home of the free
Being so isolated, H Co organized and maintained its own training regime. Clark Heggeness even posted a radioman overlooking the valley road to warn of any unexpected snap inspections or visitors. 1 Ptn H Co was billeted in a spacious ski lodge at the southern end of Saalbach.
“The second floor was turned over for our accommodation and I had my own room with a proper duvet,” recalls Lou Vecchi. “2 and 3 platoons were split between the surrounding hotels and private homes. We had a club area on the ground floor that served as our breakfast, lunch, and recreational room. The buffet-style meals all came from ten-man (10 in 1) ration packs.” Hank DiCarlo adds, “The lodge was run by a man in his 30s who purported to be the owner. His wife was a lovely redhead and heavily pregnant, who claimed that her husband had been operating the business throughout the war. We could tell by the way he moved that he’d been a soldier but as they were looking after us so well we never said any more about it.”
“For the most part we did our own thing,” continues Vecchi. “Some of the guys enjoyed a spot of fishing in a fantastic little trout stream that ran directly behind the lodge.”
