Disappointed with Munich, Frank was glad when the HJ leader decided they should travel south to Berchtesgaden. Maybe there, Frank thought, he would feel more inspired. They would visit the Obersalzberg, the area above Berchtesgaden where Hitler and other senior Nazi party leaders had their country estates. When they arrived, they found the mountains impressive, but Berchtesgaden was an unremarkable small town, and Obersalzberg was inaccessible, the tight security zone around the Nazi leaders’ estates preventing the boys from seeing the homes. They had hoped to be lucky and see some of the famous German leaders in person, but once again were disappointed.
Map of western and central Europe showing the approximate route of Frank Sikora’s trip across the German Reich in 1939. Cities and towns named are those mentioned in Frank’s story. National boundaries are those in 1938, including changes brought about at that time by German expansionism and aggression. German city names are used although Czech and Polish names of cities in Czechoslovakia were used concurrently. Based on a map reproduced with permission from Stanford University’s Spatial History Project on “Building the New Order: 1938-1945.”
(www.stanford.edu/group/spatialhistory/cgi-bin/site/pub.php?id=51&project_id=)
The group could not decide what to do next. Some wanted to head back to Leitmeritz while others suggested climbing the hiking trails on nearby Watzmann Mountain. The second highest mountain in Germany, the Watzmann was not a climb to be taken casually. Although Frank was the youngest in the group, he had previously climbed a two thousand-metre mountain. He knew that in street shoes and summer clothing, they had no chance of reaching the summit. The others disregarded his warnings and went ahead anyway, Rudy among them, leaving Frank by himself.
Alone, he wondered what he should do. They might be gone all day, and if they were fortunate enough to reach the Watzmann House, an inn high up the mountain, they might have to stay there overnight, leaving him stranded in Berchtesgaden.
The longer he sat there thinking back on almost every stage of the trip, the angrier he became. He was disillusioned and upset. The planning for the trip was poor, and no one they met seemed the least excited by the “glorious German Reich.” He was angry at all the time spent in HJ meetings, the meaningless political slogans they were taught, and the indifference of the people they had met in Munich. The travellers had not spoken about it, but Frank was certain he was not the only one feeling that way.
What was he to do? He was fifteen, far from home and his parents for the first time. He wanted to explore Germany, and if the others were not interested, then he would go on his own. He decided to travel west as far as he could. He went to the roadside, stuck out his thumb, and in a few minutes a car pulled over. He was on his way, not sure where he was going, but excited about discovering Germany for himself.
Frank took leave of his ride at the Swiss border near Lake Bodensee. He unfolded his map and spread it out. Before him was all of Germany. Everywhere were borders: France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Poland. Within those boundaries Germany waited. He returned to the highway and continued his journey.
From Lake Bodensee he travelled to Karlsruhe, then to Cologne, Hamburg, Rostock, and Berlin. He met many people along the way, some providing rides, some offering a place for the night, and still others giving him dinner. At one point he stopped and helped a farmer, fulfilling a pledge all German boys were to carry out during their summer school break. The further he travelled, the more apparent it became that Germany was more or less the same as home and not nearly as exciting as it had been made to seem by the HJ leaders.
When the other boys returned to Leitmeritz after a week, all they could tell Frank’s parents was that he was gone when they had come down from the mountain. They had returned to Leitmeritz expecting to find him there. Two weeks later, Frank showed up at home. He looked ragged, and when his mother saw him she nearly collapsed.
“Where have you been?” she demanded, relieved but exasperated. “I reported you missing to the police, and they are looking for you!”
It was only then that he remembered. Reaching into the side pocket of his jacket, he pulled out the postcard his mother had given him.
“I am starved. What is for dinner?” Frank asked, handing her the postcard.
That night, Frank’s mother spoiled him with a local specialty, a dumpling made around a plum and sprinkled with sugar. Normally, three or four was enough for a meal. Frank ate twenty-one. He was not punished by his parents for leaving the travel group. On the contrary, they admired his spirit and resourcefulness and wanted to hear all about his trip. They were impressed that he had seen Germany. He had even seen Berlin, which they never had. His trip had taken him completely around the country, from the Alps in the south to the Baltic Sea on Germany’s northern coast, covering thousands of kilometres.
Frank kept his disappointment about the earlier part of the trip to himself. The Bannführer in Leitmeritz, his friend Karl Habel’s father, heard about Frank’s trip and thought so highly of the fifteen-year-old’s initiative and resourcefulness that he asked Frank if he would be willing to be a troop leader for the Pimpfe, the Hitler Youth for ten to fourteen-year-old boys. Leitmeritz was divided into two distinct social groups. The north side of the city was wealthy and the children well-behaved, the south was poorer and the boys had a reputation for being wild. Frank, who lived in the north, agreed to be “Troop Leader South.” The Bannführer presented him with the green and white cord for his uniform, signifying his position.
The first meeting took place in the main square of Leitmeritz, where he planned to teach the boys to march and to stand at attention. As the boys arrived in the public square and Frank called to them to stand in line, some of the older ones began to loudly mimic Frank’s Czech accent. Many were barely younger than he, and soon it was clear they had no intention of taking orders from this outsider. Frank was helpless as the boys he was supposed to lead broke ranks and ran wildly around the square, yelling and laughing, ignoring Frank’s shouts to return.
From behind where he stood Frank heard an adult say, “Someone should be in charge of these hooligans and get them under control.”
Turning, Frank saw it was his schoolteacher, and his face flushed. He had been proud when the Bannführer asked him to be a leader. Now he felt only embarrassment. The next day, he returned the green and white Hitler Youth cord. Frank blamed himself, but his vision of turning the boys into a well-trained troop had always been doomed to failure. He should have received help from someone older.
But Frank’s enthusiasm had gotten the better of his common sense.
Frank’s exploration of Germany happened the summer before Germany invaded Poland. On September 1, 1939, Germans were told the invasion of Poland was necessary to protect fellow Germans in Poland from attack. Hitler also declared in the Reichstag and through German newspapers and radio that attacks by Polish forces on German territory had taken place the evening of August 31, precipitating action by German forces.[2] German troops invaded Poland from the north, west, and south, and Polish resistance collapsed after Russia invaded from the east on September 17.
France and Britain were treaty-bound to come to Poland’s defence. An ultimatum was issued that if German armed forces were not withdrawn from Poland, war would be declared. Hitler ignored the threat, and Britain and France formally declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. People in the German territories were not anxious to go to war. However, after a few weeks without a major attack