German vet sends son to reconcile

LA CAMBE, France – Weak from lung cancer, 79-year-old German veteran Theodor Baas couldn’t risk the trip to Normandy. His son came instead to hand deliver the elderly man’s message to the wartime enemies who haunt his dreams.

Juergen Baas made a nine-hour overnight car trip to carry out his ailing father’s wish: Find an Allied veteran, anyone of his choosing, and hand over a typed letter.

The message starts:

“In May 1944, at the age of 19, I came to this beautiful country as an enemy. Now, 60 years later, I would have liked to come back as a friend . . .”

In the six decades since Allied forces stormed Normandy, changing the course of World War II, France and Germany have become the strongest partners at the heart of a united Europe.

Many Normandy towns have sister cities in Germany, and signs at the city limits proudly announce the partnerships. Still, this year will mark the first time a German chancellor has been invited to D-Day commemorations – a sign that lingering wounds may be ready to heal.

While Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder takes part in ceremonies today with other world leaders, Juergen Baas will carry out his father’s private rites of peacemaking and penance.

Since Friday, Baas has visited American and German cemeteries, as well as beaches stormed by the Allies. At night, he slept curled up in his small red Nissan, as the region’s hotels are fully booked.

The 46-year-old engineer made the trip from Rheinberg as a gift to his father, who has heart disease in addition to cancer. Doctors fear he only has about two years to live.

Five years ago, the Baas men visited Normandy together for the 55th D-Day anniversary. The Germans weren’t invited then. Juergen Baas felt that was unjust.

“I think some people didn’t want us there,” Baas, who was visiting the German war cemetery in La Cambe, which has more than 21,000 graves. “Times have changed.”

In his letter, Theodor Baas, who fought with the 116th Panzer-Lehr division, an armored unit, wrote about the disillusionment of many German veterans after the war.

During the fighting, “we thought we had to defend our native country against the Allied forces,” he wrote. “Years later we recognized that we were cheated by our political leaders.”

The younger Baas recalls that his father used to talk about the war for hours with other relatives who served. But there were dark memories, too, that came mostly in the night.

“Killing was anonymous for us until the day when my comrade Erwin and I shot three young American soldiers in close combat,” he wrote. “In my nightmares I still see their widely opened eyes and their astonished, disbelieving faces.”

Baas found a recipient for his father’s letter on Friday, at a ceremony for the U.S. 29th Infantry Division. When an elderly veteran came up to shake his hand, Baas handed him the letter.

The German didn’t even have a chance to ask for a name – in an instant, the man was gone, on board a bus to the next destination.

A day later, Baas tried to imagine how the American would react when he found the letter folded neatly in his jacket pocket.

“I’m thinking how I would feel if someone gave me a letter like that. I can’t express it.”