Hedda and Henry

“Good morning, my name is Hedda Martens. I have an unusual request; do you have a moment?” asked a woman on the phone with a slight German accent.

Intrigued, I said, “Yes, of course.” She urgently wanted to speak with Henry Bawnik, a local Holocaust survivor.

Hedda was a German WWII refugee (not Jewish,) living with her daughter south of Buffalo. She recently had read Henry Bawnik’s Holocaust survivor testimony in the local newspaper and realized she and Henry had a shared history and were now living only a few miles apart. As the executive director of a local Holocaust organization, I was her connector.

“Ms. Martens, I’ll have to reach out to Mr. Bawnik, ” I answered.

Henry consented. I gave his number to Hedda.

Hedda

Hello Henry, this is Hedda Martens. Thank you for taking my call.

Henry

Okay, vat do you vant?

Hedda

I read the article about you in the newspaper and was very shocked but happy to know you survived. I…I…I was there too.

Henry

Are you a Survivor? Martens is not a Jewish name.

Hedda:

I did survive the war, but no, I am not Jewish. I was a 16-year-old school girl living in Lübeck when we saw RAF (Royal Air Force) planes bomb the ships in the harbor. I lived up on the hill.

The next day, British commanders forced all the students to come and help drag the bodies out of the water to the beach. It was… awful… something I never will forget. The British told us the Nazi Luftwaffe bombed the harbor and boats.

Henry: In German

You are a German. You have no idea what we went through. I survived concentration camps, death marches and witnessed hanging and beating of children.

The British should have taken us to freedom, not bomb us. It was the British, not the Nazis who bombed us. I was thrown into the sea – I never learned how to swim. I held onto a rope on the burning ship until a friend grabbed me. We were tossed around as the ship started sinking. Later, rescuers in a small boat saved us….

Hedda:

I’m so sorry, I was on the beach taking bodies from the sea. I’m so sorry…” her voice trailing off.

Henry: In English

I vant nothing to do with you. Never call me again.

A click and the line went dead.

Hedda called me back three days later.

“Did you speak with Henry?” I asked.

Hedda:

Yes, but he was not that open to speaking or remembering. He hung up on me. I understand… memories are painful. But they are painful for me too. My entire life, I believed it was the Germans who bombed the SS Cap Arcona. That is what the British told us. Until I read the article, I didn’t know it was a mistaken maneuver by the RAF.

There was muffling sound, and then:

“Hello, this is Anna,” Hedda’s daughter. “I didn’t want my mother to do this - it brings back such painful memories to her. She wants me to ask you to come visit her for tea. She is in my home – homebound. Could you visit next Wednesday afternoon?”

Hedda, I later learned was palliative and determined to reach Henry before her death.

I visited Hedda’s home. She had tubes in her nose, an oxygen cannister at her feet, and wheezed throughout our conversation.

Me:

I’ve discussed your story with our teachers and board of directors. Hedda, your story is a story of the Holocaust. We want to document all the stories. Would you be willing to be interviewed ? The video will be used to teach high school students about WWII and all those impacted by the horrors of the Nazis. While you are not a Holocaust Survivor, you are a WWII refugee with an important story. She agreed.

Hedda’s story

Hedda was born in the port city of Lübeck, Germany in 1928.

In 1936, her father became ill and died, leaving a wife and four children. The German Reich decided to cut off the Marten family from social benefits because they believed her father’s illness was genetic and the children would also die – not a good investment in the furor’s Aaryan future.

Kristallnacht and other events came to Lübeck and their Jewish friends were forced to wear Jewish Stars on their sleeves. Hedda and her siblings would play with lots of different children, not knowing or caring about their background. Mrs. Marten, a seamstress would cut the Stars off their sleeves. Hedda said her mother hid some of their Jewish friends. A small neighborly act.

An uncle, Hans was interned in Dachau for being gay was released and immigrated to the U.S. It was this uncle who helped sponsor Hedda and siblings after the war and paid for her education. She eventually studied linguistics and was a professor at University of Rochester for many decades, never knowing the truth about the time she and Henry shared in Lübeck.

Henry’s story:

Henry was born in Lodz in 1925. His parents ran a bakery and like Hedda, his father died when he was seven years old from illness. He survived the Lodz round up, Auschwitz, and other death camps and marches only to be on the SS Cap Arcona ship mistakenly blown up by the British Royal Air Force (RAF.)

Three days after Hitler died by suicide, in the early hours of May 3, 1945, the RAF mistakenly bombed the SS Cap Arcona and other ships docked in Lübeck Bay, Germany. There was botched communication stemming from the Allies’ misconception that Nazi SS leadership and former concentration camp administrators were escaping to SS-controlled Norway. Seven thousand concentration camp survivors were on the SS Cap Arnona and other ships without the protective Red Cross designation. Most were below deck; sitting ducks. Only 350 concentration camp survivors lived; one of them was Henry Bawnik.

Henry died June 2018. Hedda died August 2018, not long after our visit.

Two people connected by history, location and fate only to be reunited in a permanent discord.

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Hedda’s autobiography: https://www.amazon.com/Chocolate-Fell-Sky-Journey-Through/dp/194763514X

Henry’s story: https://buffalojewishfederation.org/henry-bawnik/

Hedda’s story: https://buffalojewishfederation.org/hedda-martens/