March 11, 1945 - The Journey to Dulag Luft
Our train trip was not exactly first class. We spent most of the ride between cars or at the vestibule at the cars end. We sat on the floor even though the train was not crowded. At one station stop we were inside using the bathroom facilities. The bathrooms were very clean and were maintained by female attendants. While waiting at one of the stations our guard was approached by some other travellers and it seemed they were asking the guard who we were. When he explained that we were Allied prisoners they acknowledged the fact by spitting at us. I supposed under the same circumstances I may have responded [in] a like manner.
At the train station in Cologne I was amazed to see the train station standing intact. The huge front columns that seem to grace all train stations were intact and it appeared unscathed. I remarked to my travelling companions, “How did we miss this?” Entering the front of the station answered my question. There was only the front façade standing, almost like a Hollywood setting. Behind this façade was total destruction. There were railroad tracks bent in curving arcs reaching skyward and piles and piles of rubble. A path had been cleaned for the one railway track that served that station. I now felt relieved that we had totally destroyed this facility.
While riding in the back of a truck at one stop to change railroad stations the destruction was more than obvious. There were piles of rubble all over. They seemed to have bulldozed the streets clear of all the rubble and if it could be said it looked as if the street had been hand swept and immaculate still surrounded by piles of rubble and destruction.
Cologne was bombed many times by the RAF over the course of the war. The RAF's most recent, and final attack, occurred just nine days previously on March 2, 1945.
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