[4V50 Gary]

On July, 1944 PFC Frank Harold was captured in Normandy. He survived several USAAC strafing runs on the RR.

"On Nov. 5, 1944, PFC Frank, who by now was healed from the wound and able to work, asked Karl (German supervisor of PoWs), "Many Germans are good, hard-working people. How did the German people allow Hitler into power?"

"Hitler did it through intimidation and bypassing the Reichstag [German Congress]," Karl replied. Then he told Frank that "Unarmed German SS came and had us register all firearms. They said they didn't want the weapons but just wanted to make sure who had them. Then several months afterwards, a German Army halftrack came, and armed SS soldiers ordered me to give up the guns listed."

"I don't have guns anymore," Karl had said.

But the SS officer told Karl, "You have ten minutes to hand over the guns, or we will kill your wife and kids."

"They got the guns," Karl stated, while adding, "then we could do nothing."

From Mark Hager's The Last of the 357th Infantry: Harold Frank's WW II Story of Faith and Courage, page 171.