Sunday, September 14, 2008 9:07:18 AM
Stalag 17B survivor dies at age 85
Raymond Elias 1923-2008 / Amid the horrors of war, he survived — his humor intact
Raymond Elias (courtesy)
By Tad Vezner
tvezner@pioneerpress.com
Article Last Updated: 09/13/2008 12:08:05 AM CDT
Sometimes, Raymond Elias thought, you can stay a step ahead of the enemy — even if you're in chains, eating potatoes and sawdust.
His time in Stalag 17B — a German World War II prisoner of war camp near Krems, Austria — was filled with secretive innovation. Sure, there were failed attempts at tunnels or hacking through the fences. No one managed to escape.
But as a mechanically gifted man with scraps to work with, Elias rigged plenty of contraptions to give his fellow inmates hope. He used concealed electrical wiring to heat water. He built a secret radio and picked up an occasional broadcast from London.
"Because they were so shut out from the world, everything was news to them,'' said a daughter, Terri Elias.
Raymond Elias — the last survivor of a B-17 bomber unit known as "Mason's Morons" and the recipient of four Purple Hearts — died Friday at his White Bear Lake home. He was 85.
His path to captivity was littered with good news and bad.
After flying 16 bombing missions over Europe, Elias, a gunner, was shot down over Germany on Aug. 17, 1943.
On the way down, his chute failed. Bad.
He landed in a haystack and only broke a few bones. Good.
His safety matches went off and set the hay on fire. Bad.
"They were supposed to, you know, hide. Instead of hiding, he drew a lot of attention," his son, Mike Elias, said.
A few days later, the Nazis caught up to him as he was trying to ford a river into France.
"They thought Elias was a Jewish name, so they put him in a hole for weeks, shackled in his underwear with no light," Terri Elias said.
Somehow, Elias managed to keep some humor about his roughly two years in the camp. While watching the 1960s television show "Hogan's Heroes" with his kids, he'd wink at them.
"See? I had it easy," he'd say.
While a prisoner, sleeping on a burlap sack filled with sawdust, Elias would pray every time he'd be taken with a group to get "deloused." Two lines would form in the camp. One went to the showers. Whoever got in the other line wasn't seen again.
The diet of potatoes, rutabagas and sawdust was so scant that some Russian prisoners would occasionally send a fast runner from their barracks, scampering crazily to attract the camp's guard dogs. The runner would then high-tail it back to his barracks, where his cohorts would be waiting as the dog followed.
"They would eat the dog and throw the collar out ... There were consequences, but the living conditions were so poor, it was like, what was the difference?" Mike Elias said.
Finally, by the spring of 1945, the camp was evacuated, its prisoners taken on a death march toward Berlin.
"They didn't say where they were going. They just said, 'We have another 200 miles to march,' " Mike Elias said.
On May 3, a contingent of Gen. George S. Patton's army caught up with them. The German soldier who'd been marching next to Elias was shot, and Elias got his boots.
Born in South St. Paul, Elias started working at 3M when he was 16 years old after fibbing about his age. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps, was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant and went back to 3M after the war. He retired in 1981 as a supervisor in abrasives.
In 2001, Elias returned to the site of the camp. All the structures had been torn down — but Elias still remembered where the showers stood.
"It didn't bother him, until he took the march up to the area where he got deloused. He said that sent a shiver up his spine," his daughter said.
Elias was a member of VFW Post 1782 in White Bear Lake, a former commander of the Polish American Club in St. Paul and national commander for Stalag 17B POWs.
He is survived by his son, Mike Elias; daughters Kathy Elias, Terri Elias, Bonnie Ohata and Barb Ketola; brother Ted Elias; and 10 grandchildren.
Visitation will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Church of St. Mary of the Lake, 4690 Bald Eagle Ave. in White Bear Lake, followed by services at 1 p.m.
Tad Vezner can be reached at 651-228-5461.
http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_10451240?nclick_check=1&forced=true
Raymond Elias 1923-2008 / Amid the horrors of war, he survived — his humor intact
Raymond Elias (courtesy)
By Tad Vezner
tvezner@pioneerpress.com
Article Last Updated: 09/13/2008 12:08:05 AM CDT
Sometimes, Raymond Elias thought, you can stay a step ahead of the enemy — even if you're in chains, eating potatoes and sawdust.
His time in Stalag 17B — a German World War II prisoner of war camp near Krems, Austria — was filled with secretive innovation. Sure, there were failed attempts at tunnels or hacking through the fences. No one managed to escape.
But as a mechanically gifted man with scraps to work with, Elias rigged plenty of contraptions to give his fellow inmates hope. He used concealed electrical wiring to heat water. He built a secret radio and picked up an occasional broadcast from London.
"Because they were so shut out from the world, everything was news to them,'' said a daughter, Terri Elias.
Raymond Elias — the last survivor of a B-17 bomber unit known as "Mason's Morons" and the recipient of four Purple Hearts — died Friday at his White Bear Lake home. He was 85.
His path to captivity was littered with good news and bad.
After flying 16 bombing missions over Europe, Elias, a gunner, was shot down over Germany on Aug. 17, 1943.
On the way down, his chute failed. Bad.
He landed in a haystack and only broke a few bones. Good.
His safety matches went off and set the hay on fire. Bad.
"They were supposed to, you know, hide. Instead of hiding, he drew a lot of attention," his son, Mike Elias, said.
A few days later, the Nazis caught up to him as he was trying to ford a river into France.
"They thought Elias was a Jewish name, so they put him in a hole for weeks, shackled in his underwear with no light," Terri Elias said.
Somehow, Elias managed to keep some humor about his roughly two years in the camp. While watching the 1960s television show "Hogan's Heroes" with his kids, he'd wink at them.
"See? I had it easy," he'd say.
While a prisoner, sleeping on a burlap sack filled with sawdust, Elias would pray every time he'd be taken with a group to get "deloused." Two lines would form in the camp. One went to the showers. Whoever got in the other line wasn't seen again.
The diet of potatoes, rutabagas and sawdust was so scant that some Russian prisoners would occasionally send a fast runner from their barracks, scampering crazily to attract the camp's guard dogs. The runner would then high-tail it back to his barracks, where his cohorts would be waiting as the dog followed.
"They would eat the dog and throw the collar out ... There were consequences, but the living conditions were so poor, it was like, what was the difference?" Mike Elias said.
Finally, by the spring of 1945, the camp was evacuated, its prisoners taken on a death march toward Berlin.
"They didn't say where they were going. They just said, 'We have another 200 miles to march,' " Mike Elias said.
On May 3, a contingent of Gen. George S. Patton's army caught up with them. The German soldier who'd been marching next to Elias was shot, and Elias got his boots.
Born in South St. Paul, Elias started working at 3M when he was 16 years old after fibbing about his age. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps, was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant and went back to 3M after the war. He retired in 1981 as a supervisor in abrasives.
In 2001, Elias returned to the site of the camp. All the structures had been torn down — but Elias still remembered where the showers stood.
"It didn't bother him, until he took the march up to the area where he got deloused. He said that sent a shiver up his spine," his daughter said.
Elias was a member of VFW Post 1782 in White Bear Lake, a former commander of the Polish American Club in St. Paul and national commander for Stalag 17B POWs.
He is survived by his son, Mike Elias; daughters Kathy Elias, Terri Elias, Bonnie Ohata and Barb Ketola; brother Ted Elias; and 10 grandchildren.
Visitation will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Church of St. Mary of the Lake, 4690 Bald Eagle Ave. in White Bear Lake, followed by services at 1 p.m.
Tad Vezner can be reached at 651-228-5461.
http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_10451240?nclick_check=1&forced=true
Join the InvestorsHub Community
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
