Fritz Fark
Fritz Fark was born in Zurich on June 12, 1890(his parents moved here from Germany). After his father's death, his mother moved back to Mühlheim, Baden, with her three children. He participated in the First World War, but the details of his military service are unknown, all we know is that he served in the Cavalry. He studied economics and worked in a bank, and married in Dortmund in 1925. Three children were born from his marriage. One of his children still remembers the morning of September 30, 1939. The phone rang in the apartment at 8:00, and the whole family was resting in the parents' bedroom. "My father became very serious," he said, announcing that he would be sent to the Eifel Mountains. From then on, we hardly saw him. The last time he met my mother was probably in 1942, when I saw him in Dresden in 1943, when I was evacuated to my relatives there because of the bombings. My father was wearing the clothes of the Africa Corps at the time, and in principle he should have gone back to Tunis via Rome. The last time we met in Freiburg im Breisgau was in March 1944, when my older brother was confirmed. From there he went straight back to Hungary."
Fark's Second World War service locations are very difficult to reconstruct due to lack of personnel documents. What is certain is that he started his service at the Garrison in Dortmund. In Article 26: As a member of the Wehrmacht police squad, he first served in Romania in 1944 (he visited there in 1941). In his letters to his wife, he wrote a lot about the friendly behavior of the Transylvanian population. The late summer of 1944 was already in Budapest. His penultimate letter, dated November 2, 1944, sent his last letter home in early December, and he attached to it his writings to his wife, so that no one else would read it later— suggesting that he was rather gloomy about his future and the military situation. In Article 26: As a direct unit of the German city command, the Wehrmacht police unit was probably stationed at the Gellért Hotel from the beginning of 1945.
Fark was reported missing until the end of 1945. In early 1946, the family received word that his death had been confirmed. According to eyewitnesses, he died on February 14 near Pilisvörösvár and was buried in the cemetery there. A teacher who defected from Pilisvörösvár after 1956, who accidentally met Fark's son, also gave accurate data on the tomb, but only revealed the details of the death as "terrible". He didn't want to say anything more about it. In 1958, however, his identity card (without any other documents or remains) was found on Baross Street in Budapest.
Only one officer from his unit, Captain Rommel (who was not related to Erwin Rommel) mentioned below, managed to survive the breakou. tHowever, none of the officers identified by name survived the captivity. This may also have been related to the fact that this squadron was basically older and unfit for frontline service for health reasons (usually more seriously wounded). They had no chance to survive the trials of the first weeks of captivity.
Captain Karl Rommel, who succeeded in breakout, replied in a letter to a comrade on March 20, 1945, in which he also described the last days of unity.
"Dear Mr. Schulbeck,
I received his lines today. I want to respond immediately, but I can only report what remains in my memory. The latter is not the best and not always reliable due to the injury to my head. Please forgive my handwriting. I was in captivity, and the pens you can buy are so bad [illegible words] writing and paper are at odds with each other. Unfortunately, I was not in Kőszeg [illegible words] The Blood Field was under constant artillery fire. Most of my unit was disbanded and divided among the fighting troops. I joined the 8th SS Cavalry Division with some of my comrades, and Otinger applied in the Tunnel. As far as I know, everyone was involved in the eruption. [unreadable words]. Our last combat position was at the Department of Commerce, along with the 8th SS Cavalry Division. Among them were the captains, Rohr, Richter, Röhrig and, Fark, among others. The Russians have pushed us into an increasingly narrow area. On February 9, we had to give up the Gellért Hotel. The remaining tribe and Major Grelle went to the 8th SS Cavalry Division. These are the last data I can remember about the unit.
On February 11th came the breakout order. It gave me courage and new hope. The order came as a secret command case. Nearly 12,000 unfortunate wounded languished in the cellars in the worst conditions.
Many people were aware of the outbreak. Anyone who could go, wanted to join. As a result, the treno blocked the streets to the very first lines. The enemy noticed the preparation and began firing at the assembly sites. Before the breakout a part of our group, Colonel Oetinger, Majors Roth, Homula, Leisbeck, Richter and Brögkman, and Staff Sergeant Böker met here. The situation became especially uncomfortable, because the order to attack did not come, while time had already passed, and so we betrayed our intentions to the enemy. [...]
After seeing the failure of the first seizures, I decided it was best to be in front. I ordered the others to do the same. Unable to do so, I ran after the attacking wedge. In a murderous fire, we broke through the Russian position and fought our way through the city. Our group melted like snow in the March sunshine. In the end, I was alone in the gardens of Swabian Hill. After a while, I found other groups. At sunrise, there were 69 of us. Without rest, we tried to reach the meeting place marked for the second breakout day. No one came here until dusk except us. Most of them were so tired and weak, some wounded, that I, in consultation with other officers, gave orders to move on. Thanks to this, we reached a wide plain. It was under strict control by the Russians and was partly under water. After desperate hours, we finally found a way out, but almost immediately we ran into a closing position. However, this was broken with heavy losses. Meanwhile, I got a head, jaw and arm shot. With the help of a few comrades, I was able to drag myself further. After a few hours of wandering around, we finally found the first Russian line. Hurra and I broke through. It took us another four hours to find the first German patrol.
I met Corporal Dehnen at the main lashing in Győr, and he also managed to breakoutand Captain Löneisen, who was granted special leave shortly before the encircled. I learned from them that besides me, Staff Sergeant Böker and Platoon Leader Schmidt had left Budapest. I don't have their titles, but I've heard from Mrs. Grelle that Löneisen wants to write to me. He was also tasked with the liquidation of our unit.
I am very concerned about the fate of those left behind. It's hard to say what happened to them. The Russian beat Budapest hard after the breakthrough. In particular, the projectiles of stalinorgons were unpleasant. This was a terrible sight from Swabian Hill. I hope that most of my friends are among the living."
