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conies inLastfromSol di er the coldbody,” he said.He said he learned recently War in America.”The that FBI agents came close to•V SUB MANNINGAssociated Press WriterLOS ANGELES (AP) man who called himself “Hit- him in 1964 when he and his wifeler’s last soldier in America” were living in Palo Alto. Anlived in fear for 40 years that alert was posted. “I never knewevery stranger he met might be when I was sitting in a coffeean FBI agent come to arrest shop if the man next to me was him for escaping from a New going to arrest me,” he said.author of “Nazi Prisoners ofMexico prisoner-of-war campBut he has had a good life hereGeorg Gaertner, 64, was the and wants to stay.Krammer said the Army indicated that all but 12 of the German prisoners who escaped from the 511 POW camps in this country had been recaptured by the time the last repatriation ships sailed. Gaertner was the last.Ezell said Gaertner, whose filelast of 2,222 German prisoners of war who escaped in the United States. Most were free less than a day.But Gaertner’s life on the run lasted for 40 years, from September 1945 until Wednesday, when he surrendered to Immigration and Naturalization Service officials in suburban San Pedro.INS Western Regional Director Harold Ezell, who joined thefugitive and his attorneys at anews conference, said Gaertner, who has been married to a U.S.“During livedmy freedom, I have was closed in 1976, was forgottenmy own version of the until his attorneys, Ronald T.American dream,” Gaertner Oldenburg of Hawaii and Mi-said. chael-John Biber of Los Angeles,He said he fled the POW camp arranged the surrender.Sept. 21, 1945, because he knew the Russians had taken over his hometown of Schweidnitz, Germany, and he feared he would be placed in a gulag, or slave labor camp, if he was sent back.“I only escaped from the camp so that I could remain safe and free in the United States,” he said.He crept under a fence.citizen for 21 years, would prob- avoided sentries and hopped aably be allowed to remain in this country.“We feel that someday he will be able to become a citizen of the United States,” Ezell said.Gaertner wept as he described his 1945 escape from Camp Deming. and his 40 years as a fugitive.“You envision close calls allwestbound freight train that deposited him in San Pedro No-y was hurt.Gaertner. who lives near Den-Gaertner married in 1964 and opened a tennis club in Aptos, near San Francisco, associating with such celebrities as court star Bjorn Borg, and actors Lloyd Bridges and Robert Stack. Biber said Gaertner said he hid his identity from his wife, Jean, until 1983, when she threatened to leave him because he was evasive about his past.“Her bags were packed, and the taxi was waiting.” Gaertner said “Faced with that. I told thever under the name Dennis truth to her She didn't spurn Whiles, has written a book. “Hit- melers Last Soldier in America.” published Wednesday to coincide with his surrenderAsked about the title of his book and being Hitler's Last Soldier.” he said “It was moreThe book was written with or less the publisher's idea ” Arnold Krammer. a history pro- The book is published by Stein the time. You watch every- fessor at Texas AM University. Day of New YorkAP laser photoGeorg Gaertner and his wife Jean chat with reporters in los Angeles after his surrender
Newspaper Details
Brownsville Herald
Brownsville, Texas, US
Thu, Sep 12, 1985
Page 38
Full Page
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USA 01 Nov 2019
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