Person:Elisabeth Wilborn (1)

Coping with WWII and death of Erich

Letter from Elisabeth, 5 Aug 1946

The following is f rom a letter from Elisabeth Kramm dated 5 Aug 1946 fol­ lowing the death of her husband, Erich, 12 Jul 1946.

"...On July 6th we celebrated my birth­ day. We went to the Staats Opera and saw Rigoletto. It was our ( Erich and Elisabeth ) last walk and pleasure to­ gether... He ( Erich ) must not have felt so well as on the way he told me he would have to give up bicycle riding. I felt that his lack of strength was caused by undernourishment. Erich should have consulted a doctor long before then. He might have been able to help him ... Because of much wor k and nervousness, we neglect to enjoy lif e...Erich had not been well lately.

"For years we had to be satisfied with an unbalanced diet consisting of practi­ cally no fats. Yet, my father at age 61 died in 1922, also of brain stroke and at that time the supply of food was nor­ mal. My father was well fed. Erich's ( death ) must have been from mental overtaxation••.•

"On 8 July ( Erich ) came home from the office. He did a little garden work; some weeding and cut a little wood. In the evening he told me, "I don't know what's the matter with me today." During the night he developed a terrif­ ic headache and said he felt so very, very badly. Since Erich suffered from headaches quite frequently, I did not particularly worry over this one. I believed it to be the result of overeat­ ing of berries, But Erich thought it had nothing to do with that.

"At 4 AM Viola went to the drug store and got some migraine powder and I made him some bean coffee. Af ter tak­ ing the powder he fell into a deep snoring sleep from which he did not awaken. He slept through the whole day (9 July). In the evening he threw up in his sleep. In extreme fear, I called Viola. On sight of her dad, she let out a loud scream. It was then that Erich opened his eyes for the last time. His look was unnatural. Immediately after, he fell once more into uncon­ sciousness. We called the doctor who ordered him taken to the hospital. There it was decided he had had a stroke on his lef t side. The doctor gave us little hope. There Erich lay three full days unconsciousness. Death came quickly on Friday 12 Jul 1946 at 11PM.

"For Viola and me it was gruesome and unbelievable. Erich had been torn abruptly out of his full lif e.•• he could not have known he was dying. Certain­ ly it was a pleasant death, so sudden; but what makes me so unhappy, it was too soon. He would have been 60 in December. All of us will some day have to leave this earth to make room for the younger generation•.• But, he was called at the height of his activities••• it is for us very painful.

"Now Viola and I are alone. We had to take all the necessary steps alone. These days, everything is hard to get; many are buried without a coffin. We were fortunate to get a nice high coffin which was covered with a beautif ul mantle of flowers, Mter much demand­ ing, we were able to get a nice grave in the woods of Lichterfelde. It will be­ long to us for 60 years, until 2006.

"Our Erich now sleeps forever..."