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Volume 34, Issue 1 The TMCA News Page 3 |
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My Very Special German Lady Friend - By Bob Lee - (TMCA Life Member 001) During the 1960s I was very aggressive in contacting WW II veterans to buy relics from them. Every relic had a story behind it and that made each relic special for me. During that time I began to meet German women who had married American soldiers after the war ended. Nearly all of them served in the HJ and RADwj. German relics have an especially historical relevance to me, if I personally know the recipient and have wartime photos of that individual wearing the actual medal or insignia. One such German friend of mine is Rosemarie Kempe. Rose served in the RADwj (Reichsarbeitsdeinst der weiblichen Jugend) for 12 months during WW II. Pictured is Rose wearing her RAD brooch for the rank of Arbeitsmaid (photo taken in 1941). After her service time in the RADwj, Rose became a mathematician in the German V-2 rocket program and calculated the trajectories for Germany’s V-2 missiles. Her boss was Dr. Wernher von Braun. Sometimes I visit my sweet lady friend, Rosemarie, and she tells me what it was like to be a member of the HJ and stand only a few feet from Adolf Hitler when he made a speech in 1935, to sit around a camp fire on a dark night with young women in the RADwj or hear her describe her boss Wernher von Braun when she worked with the V-2 missile program. History is best told by those who lived it. What a privilege it is to have friends who are witnesses to history!
Pictured in the photo grouping are three of Rosemarie’s RADwj medals: Submitted by Bob Lee, email: rjustinlee@yahoo.com
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A photo of the RAD flag which flew over Rosemarie’s RADwj Lger (camp). |
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Reichsarbeitsdienst Pass (issued to Rosemarie Kempe) |
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Commemorative RADwj Brooch (Erinnerungsbrosche) in silver RADwj War Helper’s Badge (Kriegshilfsdienstabzeichen) RADwj Rank Brooch in silver finish for the rank of Arbeitsmaid |
