Note: In this post, I quote from the “Secret Statements” of two British prisoners-of-war who were debriefed following their liberation at the end of the Second World War. These statements corroborate and shed further light on the exploits of my father’s first cousin Heinz Löwenstein during the war. The first POW, Jack Powell, escaped with Heinz from a work camp connected with Stalag VIIIB in Lamsdorf, Germany (today: Łambinowice, Poland), where both were incarcerated, on February 1, 1943. Before they were recaptured in Danzig (today: Gdańsk, Poland) after four days on the lam they had traveled almost 620 miles. The second account by J. Cronie, who also crossed path with Heinz in Lamsdorf, offers insights into Heinz’s role as a forger of identity and travel documents needed by POW escapees.
Related Posts:
POST 137: MY FATHER’S FIRST COUSIN HEINZ LÖWENSTEIN: DISCOVERING HIS WHEREABOUTS DURING WORLD WAR II
POST 163: THE WARTIME ESCAPADES OF HEINZ LÖWENSTEIN, FEDOR LÖWENSTEIN’S BROTHER
POST 163, POSTSCRIPT: THE WARTIME ESCAPADES OF HEINZ LÖWENSTEIN, FEDOR LÖWENSTEIN’S BROTHER
POST 181: JOE POWELL, ESCAPEE FROM A GERMAN STALAG WITH MY FATHER’S FIRST COUSIN HEINZ LÖWENSTEIN
Brian Cooper, my friend from Maidstone, England specializes in the study of British Commonwealth prisoners-of-war imprisoned in German stalags during the Second World War. Most of what I’ve learned about my father’s first cousin, Heinz Löwenstein, is thanks to Brian. Heinz enlisted in the Royal Pioneers Corps in Palestine and his regiment was deployed to Greece.
Better known as “Henry Lowenstein,” he was captured by the Wehrmacht on the Peloponnesian Peninsula in 1941 during the Battle of Greece. However, following the last of his five escapes where he successfully made it to Hungary, yet unoccupied by the Nazis, and his eventual recapture after Germany invaded the country on March 19, 1944, he somehow transformed into “Henry Goff” with a new prisoner identification number. How exactly he orchestrated this Houdini act is an enduring mystery.
Brian recently obtained and sent me the postwar debriefing that was conducted with Jack “Joe” Powell (Figure 1) following the latter’s liberation by the Russians on the 7th of May 1945, south of Breslau, Germany (today: Wrocław, Poland), a report that was filed as a “Secret Statement.” This report provides details on Henry Lowenstein’s first escape, the one from Stalag VIIIB in Lamsdorf, Germany (today: Łambinowice, Poland), in the company of Joe Powell that took place on the 1st of February 1943.
As readers can see from the related posts listed above, I’ve written multiple times about Heinz Löwenstein owing to all the information Brian has unearthed and graciously shared with me over the years. Every time I write about my father’s first cousin, I’m invariably reminded of what the mother of one of my former girlfriends remarked to her when she was working on her Ph.D., “you’re learning more and more about less and less.”
Post 181 documents information I learned about Joe Powell from his son John Powell who found and contacted me through my blog. Joe’s debrief augments some of what I previously wrote, including the circumstances of his capture and his first escape.
Regarding his capture:
“Evasion and Capture
I was on my way out on a raid on the night of 8/9 Jul 42 when the aircraft was hit by fighters and I was forced to bale out [Sic]. I landed near the ZUIDEE ZEE and I met a Dutchman who spoke English. He took me to his house and gave me food. I met my pilot at the house and we discussed ways of escape with our host. While we were there the Dutch police and Germans arrived and took us prisoner. We were sent to LEEUWARDEN for interrogation and stayed there one night. From there we went to DULAG LUFT.”
Regarding his first attempted escape:
“First Attempt. In Oct 42 I changed identity with a soldier in order to get on a working party. In Jan 43 I was working on railway sidings at BEUTHEN (TODAY: BYTOM, POLAND) (Figure 2a) and planned to escape with a fellow prisoner, Heinz LOWENSTEIN, Royal Corps Signal, Palestine Regt., a German Jew. I got civilian clothes by bartering with German civilians using our cigarette ration. We saved up food from Red Cross issue. We collected 500 Marks by selling our personal property. On 1 Feb 43 we broke away from the siding where we were working. We went into town and took a tram out to GLEIWITZ (TODAY: GLIWICE, POLAND) where we boarded a train for a small town outside BRESLAU (TODAY: WROCŁAW, POLAND). (Figure 2b) We went into BRESLAU by bus and caught a mid-night train to FRANKFURT (Oder). (Figure 2c) At FRANKFURT we decided to take a local train to KUSTRIN (KÜSTRIN-KIETZ)(Figure 2d) where we waited half a day for a train to STETTIN (TODAY: SZCZECIN, POLAND). (Figure 2e) While we were in the station the German police checked up on our papers. I was posing as a Belgian slave worker and my friend a German foreman. They were satisfied with our papers and about 1330 hours we took the train to STETTIN. We arrived at STETTIN about 1600 hrs on 2 Feb 43 as there was no train to DANZIG (TODAY: GDAŃSK, POLAND) until 0130 hours we went around the town and to the Cinema. We caught the express train to DANZIG and travelled all night.
In order to avoid suspicion we got off the train at ZOPPOT (TODAY: SOPOT, POLAND) (Figure 2f) before we got to DANZIG and went into the Port by local workers train. (Figure 2g) We arrived in DANZIG early on 3 Feb 43 and stayed in the town all day. We went down to the docks to find a Swedish ship but the docks were closely guarded. In the evening we toured the cafes and pubs hoping to contact a Swedish sailor. Unfortunately we could not contact any so we spent the night in the railway station. On the morning of 4 Feb 43 the German police came around the station checking on papers. They were suspicious of us because all workers were kept in camps for the night. They found my Red Cross food and we were taken prisoner. The German civil police destroyed our false papers so that we would not be handed over to the Gestapo. We were handed over to the military authorities and returned to camp to serve seven days. We collected valuable information for the Escape Committee of the camp on the possibilities of traveling by passenger train and where to expect checks.”
A few remarks regarding Joe Powell’s account of his and Heinz Löwenstein’s escape from a work camp connected to the Stalag VIIIB in Lamsdorf. The distance between Stalag VIIIB and the work camp, the railway siding they initially escaped from, was perhaps 65 miles. As Joe Powell recounts, following their getaway he and Heinz walked to the nearby town and hopped on a tram to Gliwice. They escaped on February 1, 1943, and arrived in Gdańsk on February 4, 1943, covering a distance by tram and train I estimate to be roughly 620 miles. As the crow flies, the distance is only about 320 miles. (Figure 3)
Readers may rightly wonder how Joe and Heinz were able to travel so openly over such a large distance. At least two factors account for their ability to elude the Germans for four days. As multiple POW debrief interviews and accounts in various books repeatedly attest, Heinz was a master forger of official documents required to travel through Nazi-occupied areas. Ultimately, it was not poorly made documents that gave them away, but rather the food stuff originating from Red Cross parcels that were recognized by the German police as being of foreign origin.
The second reason Joe and Henry were successfully on the lam for four days is that Heinz had been born and raised in Gdańsk and was fluent in German. He was familiar with the city and the port and obviously knew if he and Joe could convince a foreign shipworker to take them aboard as stowaways, they stood a good chance of making it back to Allied lines. Unfortunately, luck was not with them, although as Joe observed, the information they brought back to the Escape Committee at Lamsdorf proved useful.
There is an intriguing observation recorded in Joe’s debrief, namely, that following his and Heinz’s capture in Gdańsk, the German civil police destroyed their false papers so they would not be handed over to the Gestapo. Given they were traveling on well-crafted identity cards and given that Heinz spoke German fluently, it is reasonable to assume they could have been treated as spies rather than escaped POWs.
A POW would generally prefer to be captured by the Wehrmacht rather than the Gestapo. Because the Wehrmacht was the regular German army, they typically followed the rules of war and abided by the Geneva Conventions. In contrast, the Gestapo was the secret police known for its brutal tactics, including torture and extrajudicial killings, making capture by them far more dangerous. While I reckon that Heinz’s multiple escapes provided him with a perverse sense of entertainment, as a Jew there seems little doubt that being turned over to the Gestapo might not have ended well for him.
While not directly related to Heinz Löwenstein’s own escapes from various German POW stalags, Brian Cooper also shared a second debrief statement from another English POW named J. Cronie, attached to the 217 Squadron, Coastal Command, R.A.F. He was captured in the sea near Brest on the 25th of November 1941. For a time, Cronie was also imprisoned in Stalag VIIIB where he crossed paths with Heinz Löwenstein.
Regarding the circumstances of his capture, Cronie wrote:
“We took off from THORNEY ISLAND in a Beaufort aircraft at 1600 hours on 25 Nov 41 to attack BREST Harbor. The aircraft was hit, I believe, by shells from Coastal guns or a Flak ship and the sea mine we were carrying exploded. I was blown out of the aircraft, from my position as Wireless/Operator. The other members of the crew were killed. I regained consciousness in the water.
I was unable to get into the dinghy as it was unserviceable. I was seen when a German merchant vessel turned her searchlights on the wreckage, and was picked up by one of two dinghies which were launched, approximately one hour after the aircraft had been hit. I was fairly well treated by the German merchant seaman who picked me up, and the following morning I was taken before the Captain, a regular Naval officer.”
Regarding his escape activities, including Heinz’s role in crafting false papers, Cronie stated:
“Escape Activities
Owing to my injuries I was physically unable to take part in any escapes until Jul 43.
At STALAG VIIIB (LAMSDORF) from Mar 42 until Jul 43. I worked as a contact, obtaining information, and documents, from which I made forgeries. I was able to speak German. The main escape committee was organized by S/M PEET (?), and there was some dissatisfaction among the R.A.F. personnel, as there was a general lack of co-operation between the services. I acted as interpreter to W.O. LAWRENCE, E.M., and W.O. FIRMAN, the successive compound leaders, and LAWRENCE arranged many changes of identity between Army and Air Force personnel with the object of enabling R.A.F. personnel to go out on working parties. I supplied forged documents, and information gained from newspapers and timetables, etc. I became known to the more keen and capable escapers as a P/W who held a stack of papers of use to escapers, and among those who I helped are Sgt. BOYLE (Duke), Cpl. CORFIELD, D., and J. SPRING. A Palestinian (name unknown), nickname MICKY, did the clever forgery work for us, and made several attempts to escape, once impersonating a female.
I followed the usual outline when forging the papers used by W.O. DOWD, in his successful escape from the Camp. From one of many sources I obtained a copy of a form picked up, I believe, in a German prison office. This at the time appeared to be a very useful document but contained a fair amount of detail and was hard to forge. A Palestinian named LOWENSTEIN obtained good quality paper and Indian Ink [Sic] from a working party at a paper factory. Pens, rulers, etc., were obtained from the Camp School and feathers needed for a quill pen were acquired from a local working party. Carbons were obtained from the Camp Office (English) and the letterheads borrowed from the German office. The document as it stood was not quite suitable for our plans so I amended it a little, after the first rough copy or so had been done. Some of this work was done by Cpl. PALMER, J., who had been, I believe, a commercial artist. These first attempts did not turn out so well as it was such a good document and had to be almost perfect as a forgery. LOWENSTEIN carried on with the forging, and latterly turned out a couple of good examples, one of which was to be used by himself. . .”
Beyond confirming what other POWs claimed about Heinz Löwenstein’s extraordinary abilities as a forger, it is evident that obtaining copies of needed travel documents to be falsified, as well as the ink, quality paper, feathers for a quill pen, etc., to forge them required interaction with the local populace. These interactions were perforce undertaken by working parties who would trade Red Cross staples or personal belongings to obtain what was needed. While Heinz clearly assisted the Escape Committee, including pilots, for example, whose escape and return to fighting positions were deemed of particular importance, he was also forging documents for his own personal use.
Because I met Heinz Löwenstein as a child and because he and his sister were the two cousins (Figure 4-5) with whom my father was closest to when he was growing up, his story has captured my attention. My childhood memories of his wartime exploits, never fully explained to me, gave me the freedom to construct my own imaginative but distorted narrative. I am forever grateful to my friend Brian Cooper for having drawn my attention to the primary source documents that have enabled me to cobble together a more accurate account. However, like anything shrouded in the mists of time, there are things I’ll never know or learn about Heinz.
Aside from being a gifted forger, Lowenstein was lucky. I did wonder about his traveling over borders without being caught. Quite the escape artist! Great story.