Josephine Lange's Memories of Hann

Josephine Lange (10.06.1924-26.04.2010) was a German born in Hann, Westphalia. She lived in Germany during the war. Her father, Heinrich Lange, was a train driver. Since Hann was a major railway site, it was attacked by the Allies. Her father was killed during an air raid on 26th November 1944, while being on the way to an air raid shelter. He wanted Josephine to stay with her mother, but she wanted to go with him. She found him dead outside. She was about 20 years old at the time. She was in the Land Army.

She had a large family including two brothers who died in the war. Her brother, Josef Lange, was killed in Warsaw during the German offensive into Poland on 14th September 1939. Heinrich Lange, her other brother, was a conscientious objector. He spoke against Hitler and was reported against for this. This led to his arrest in 1938 before the war started. He was sent to concentration camps and was forced to work for the German army. He was in Flossenbürg concentration camp from 06.04.1940 to 31.08.1942. He was a guard for women and political prisoners. He was in other camps as well but those details are uncertain. In 1942, he returned home for a week, but never spoke about what he had seen. He was then sent to fight in the eastern front as part of the German army and was killed on 24th August 1944 during the Russian offensive in Poland. Not many details are known beyond this.