Roman Halter • Life and Art through Stained Glass 1 | Page 66

Death on the Death March, design for stained glass
and cast aluminium and alloy
1978
Acrylic and gouache on paper

Verso inscription
Death on the Death March in Feb. 1945
(my friend Eliasch Kadysiewicz, b.1926)
Designed for Stained-glass and Cast Al.Alloy
Roman
During the bombing of Dresden on the 13th Feb 1945.
The munition [sic.] factory on 68 Schandauer Str. in
which we worked as slave labour was severely damaged
by incendiary bombs (the big heavy bombs missed us).
The S. S. who guarded us thought that they could make us
repair the damage quickly and restart production. First,
we were all marched to PIRNA where they divided us
into three groups. Group 1 was made up of those who
admitted to feeling weak, exhausted and unwell. ‘All you
need is some rest and more food’ said the S. S. office [sic.]
in charge. They were taken to a makeshift recuperation
shed and were given ‘VITAMIN’ injections. None of
them came out alive. Group 2 were taken to Dresden to
collect the dead. I was in Group 3, we were taken back
to the factory to pump out the water, clean the machines
and repair the bomb damage. After two weeks of very
hard work (and sleeping close to colleagues from Group 2
who came back each evening smelling of the rotten dead)
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the S. S. realized that the factory could not be made to
function. So all of us from Group 2 and 3 were marched
away from Dresden in a southerly direction. We were
made to walk at the double through built-up areas. People
came out of their homes to shout abuse at us. Some of us
thought that they blamed us for the bombing of Dresden.
The S. S. guard encouraged the onlookers to be as bold as
they liked. A few of them came very close to our column
and spat on us. Others who stood well back began to pelt
us with stones. One person, a woman, standing by herself,
began throwing pieces of bread. She actually threw bread
at us. Wonderful dry pieces of bread. My friend Eliasch
bent down to pick up a piece which fell short of our
column. Doing so he had to step slightly out of line. An
S. S. guard at that moment hit him on the head. For the
remainder of our march that day Eliasch walked holding
the side of his head. That night we were made to sleep
in a field. In the morning Eliasch did not awake. He died
during the night. He was 18, one year older than I was.
To the Trustees and staff of the Pears Foundation with
appreciative thanks for their help.
Roman Halter