Friday, March 29, 2024
Art Raske spoke of his story of spending World War II in Germany before finally returning to the United States in 1952.

Raske family finally back in U.S.

(Editor’s Note: Arthur Raske has been a resident of Kasson since 2008. As a very young child he found himself caught up in an international conflict. A family visit to see his grandparents in in 1939 turned into a multi-year stay in Nazi Germany and a harrowing escape from East to West Germany after the war. And finally, a return to the United States. This is the conclusion of his story.)

Art walked with his father toward the Immigration office (in East Germany) just to do something when a message came over the loudspeaker that his dad was able to understand. The message would roughly translate to “We have received a directive straight from Moscow to allow people on the next train to leave without inspecting their papers. Please all aboard.”

The “impossibility” of such a message cannot be exaggerated. The message was contrary to everything that Communism practices as they do not allow people to “escape.” It would be similar to a person strapping on explosives, carrying guns, and attempting to board an airplane only to have airline employees and security standing aside and just watching this taking place.

Art and his dad returned quickly to the waiting family to give them the news and grabbed their few belongings and walked into the Immigration Building. There were Russian soldiers on both sides of the hallway who parted to each side as they walked right between them to the waiting train and no orders were issued for them to stop.

It was almost like Moses felt with the parting of the Red Sea with the Egyptian army coming after the Israelites, Art said. Now they understood all the delays as God had timed it perfectly. If they had arrived 30 minutes earlier soldiers and officials would have arrived to question them without an Exit Visa the family would have been arrested and sent to the nearby Concentration Camp where death was the only destination.

If they had arrived 30 minutes later, the train would have departed and they would have met the same fate. God makes no mistakes.

Within a few minutes, the train chugged across the first half of the Iron Curtain so at least their lives had been spared, even if the customs people would confiscate their belongings. The train stopped at the Customs Building, a small one-room shack and they unloaded their suitcases and placed them onto the platform to be inspected.

 

For the rest of the story, SUBSCRIBE to the DCI!

See full story in this week’s print edition or subscribe online. Please subscribe here or current subscribers can login here.

Dodge County Independent

Dodge County Independent
Dodge County ADvantage
301 S. Mantorville Ave.
Plaza 57 • Suite 200
Kasson, MN 55944

Dodge County Printing
301 S. Mantorville Ave.
Plaza 57 • Suite 200
Kasson, MN 55944

507-634-7503
 
Hours: 
Monday-Thursday 10a.m.-3p.m.