|
June 4, 1945:
Well, I left Gross Gerau, Germany, for a furlough in Paris, France,
on Monday at 7:00 a.m. We drove 250 miles to Verviers, Belgium,
by truck, then we boarded a train for the rest of the journey.
The trip was interesting for we went through many towns we went
through last August. I set some kind of record for myself as
I went through three countries (France, Belgium, and Germany)
in a 24-hour period. Some of the towns I went through were Frankfort,
Limburg, Koenigwinter, Honnef, Bonn, Duren, Escheweiler, and
Aachen, Germany; Verviers and Liege, Belgium; Soissons and many
small towns in France.
We arrived in Paris about 2:00 p.m. We cleaned
up and started to take in the sights of "Gay Paree".
Had my first experience with the French Subway. At first it was
a nightmare. We didn't have our bearings plus what little French
we learned as we came through France last August wasn't enough
to help us to read the directions in French. We (there were other
guys with me) managed to find the French Opera House and after
the opera we went back to the hotel to go to bed. We were tired.
The next day we decided to split up so I was
on my own. I got my first experience at observing the black market.
A guy can't walk down the street without being approached by
someone and asked "Are you in the business?", or "Do
you have anything to sell?" They will buy anything from
cigarettes, your shoes, or the shirt off your back. You can get
fourteen dollars for a carton of cigarettes (they were one dollar
a carton in 1945) and whatever you have you can sell and make
a nice profit.
The girls in Paris are something too. They
dress good, wear all kinds of makeup and appear to be beautiful
mademoiselles. They are just as beautiful girls in the U.S.A.
I had a most interesting experience one day.
I went to the Red Cross and learned I could take a tour of Paris
with an English speaking mademoiselle. I had no trouble getting
around the subway this time. With her as my guide, I saw the
Arc de Triump on the Avenue des Champs Elysees, and under the
Arc the Tomb of the French Unknown Soldier of World War I. It
was quite a thrill to go up the Eiffel Tower and have a view
of Paris (this was a dream come true for I remember pictures
of this tower when I was in grade school).
One of the most beautiful and less publicized
edifices that I saw was the Basilique of the Sacre-Couer (Sacred
Heart) in the Montmartre section of Paris. This Cathedral sits
high on a hill overlooking Paris. The building and its grounds
are very beautiful and inspiring. Here, the Blessed Sacrament
is exposed all the time and there are worshippers coming and
going continuously to pray. There are twenty alters in a complete
circle around the inside of the church and there are many priests
saying Mass.
To visit the Cathedral of Notre-Dame was also
a thrill. I remember the movie which came out when I was in high
school (The Hunch Back of Notre-Dame). The Cathedral was just
as I remembered in the movie.
Other beautiful places I visited with my guide
were the Church of the Madeline and Concorde Place (Palace of
Justice).
I also had the experience to have dinner with
a French family. It happened like this: I went to a photographer
to have my picture taken and there was a very attractive girl
waiting to have her picture taken. Jokingly, I asked, "Would
you like to have your picture taken with me?" She nodded
yes ... so, we did. After the picture taking she asked me if
I would like to go to her home as her mother and dad would like
to have an American Soldier for a meal. I took her up on the
offer and off we went to her home. Her home was a nice, clean,
modest home on the outskirts of Paris. Her folks were very sociable
and couldn't do enough for me. The supper was very tasty, despite
the fact they had no meat.
We started off with an "aperitif"
and then the first course which was a soup of some kind. It was
good. Then came the main entre along with a bottle of wine. It
was very good. After the bottle of white wine was finished, they
brought on a bottle of red wine. After the meal we sat around
and talked. After a pleasant evening the girl took me to the
subway and I went back to the hotel.
Two other things of unusual interest. I met
Jake Scornenchi at a street corner. He is from Johnstown and
married my cousin. Isn't that something? Two guys from the same
hometown and we met in a large city of millions of people half
way around the world. After exchanging pleasantries I learned
he was returning from England and going back to his base in Germany.
He was broke and I loaned him twenty dollars. (NOTE: Every
time I see Jake he reminds me of the incident.)
The other unusual incident was bumping into
Mac Pienas (a Greek boy from Chicago) and Russell Holsinger.
I was in their company in the 13th Armored Division at Camp Beale,
California. I used to buddy around with Mac and Kenny Salem at
Camp Beale. They brought me up to date with my old outfit and
learned that they entered the war in March and helped to close
the "Rose Pocket". Three of their members from the
company were killed.
Another learning experience on this trip was
learning the technique of money exchange. We are issued what
they call "invasion money". In Germany it is the mark.
Going through Belgium (we had better than twelve hours in Belgium)
we had to exchange the mark into Belgian francs, then when we
hit France, exchange it to the French francs. It was quite complicated
and tricky.
I arrived in Gross Gerau, Germany, the evening
of June 10. In a period of about a week I left Germany, passed
through Belgium and France and then back to Germany again. On
our way back we were delayed in Frankfort due to a parade featuring
Generals Eisenhower of the U.S.A., Montgomery from Great Britain,
and Zhukov from Russia.
|