After almost twenty years, I visited a “strange but powerful place” again – this time with my wife, Elke. I wished I could show it to my students from time to time. Mr. Karsten Conaert, and educator of the youth hostel there, helped us a lot, even to find the “strange spot”. His kindness and understanding was exemplary. Near Lommel, Belgium, you might find the largest German military cemetery in Western Europe outside Germany itself. Established in the early 50s of last century, more than 39,100 soldiers found their last mortal place in 16 ha peaceful land.
My dad, Werner Kosak, enjoying life in his 91st year, plays a “strange” role in our visit. As a young man, having lost already two brothers in the war and the oldest still somewhere serving, he was drafted in the army. In the retreat from Normandy, France towards Belgium, his military unit was involved in the Battle of the Bulge. On December 27, his armored combat vehicle received a direct hit. Some of his comrades were killed and he lost his dog tag.
Later on also my dad was heavily wounded. Shrapnel pieces were wandering for almost fourty years between heart and lungs before they were removed in 1985. In my youth I saw him spitting blood often while playing soccer with us or when he had to work hard in the garden.
After the Lommel cemetery was built in 1952, my Kosak grandma received a letter from the German Red Cross wherein it was stated that the body of her son, Werner Kosak, was found in Belgium and buried together with ten thousands of German soldiers – though he was still alive.
During communist times we were not allowed to visit this place. As soon as the Wall came down, my two brothers and my dad went to Belgium and visited the place. I still remember vividly how touching it was for dad. One of his friends must have been buried where his tombstone with his name was placed. In 1997 we repeated the trip and declared to their astonishment in the cemetery office, my dad was still alive.
Perhaps there is truth in the German saying, “Totgesagte leben länger” (there’s life in the old dog yet), as dad’s joy for life is unbroken. In the communist country he lived in, and since he didn’t want to touch a weapon anymore, my dad was treated badly. He knew and experienced what Dwight D. Eisenhower described, “I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, it’s futility, it’s stupidity”.
When my parents married, my dad had changed his life dramatically. As a member of our church he was disinherited soon after. On the contrary, his life was filled with eternal truth and five kids, and many grandkids and great-grandkids followed. He still misses mom a lot. It’s ten years ago that my mom passed away. Still, and every day, he studies his scriptures and bears testimony in every phone conversation we have together. I love him. It’s good to have him as patriarch of our family.
Dad follows now Leo Tolstoy’s warrior definition, that “the two most powerful warriors are patience and time”. At Christmas he wants to be alone – every year. The battles of the past and Christmas 1944 come back in memories, every year a little bit stronger, it seems.
2016
1997
1990
Great Happiness 