The Last Nazi to Surrender in WW2二戰最后投降的納粹

加雷思·戴維斯 何丹萍

Lieutenant Wilhelm Dege’s incredible story has been previously untold outside Germany， but he is thought to be the last Nazi to surrender after World War Two and was once awarded Germany’s highest medal the Iron Cross.

In an exclusive interview， Eckbart Dege， 74， a retired German academic， described in detail the precise historic moment his father finally handed over his pistol.

Upon war being declared in 1939， the German military High Command could no longer obtain the necessary observations through the international meteorological network which were controlled and encrypted by the allies. To fight effectively， the Germans were forced to establish their own weather station in the Arctic. Weather reports were so crucial to German military strategy， Lieutenant Dege was commissioned to lead Operation Haudegen， which established a base on the remote Norwegian peninsular of Svalbard， near the North Pole.

They transmitted reports for a year from August 5， 1944 until the eleven-man team learned of the German surrender from their wireless transmitter in May 1945.

After twelve gruelling months surviving Polar bear attacks and being under constant threat of British Commando ambushes， they were ordered to destroy all their scientific and communications equipment.

The marooned soldiers were left with only a rowboat until a tiny Norwegian sealer boat called Blasel， arrived on September 3， 1945 to take the men of Haudegen back to Norway.

Dr Dege told the tale of the comedic scene on the night of his father’s surrender. “My father and his comrade Reyer went to the beach to greet the Norwegians，” he said. The captain， L. Albertsen of Troms?， and the cook of the ship rowed ashore.

“My father greeted them in English， but the captain was totally confused， since he did not understand English. Then my father switched to Norwegian， which he spoke fluently， having been interpreter in the German Army in Norway from 1940 to 1943.

“He asked the captain： ‘Shall we start our official business right here on the beach or may I invite you to our station for a coffee and a schnapps？’ The Norwegian captain answered： ‘Real coffee and a good German schnapps？ Yes， of course.’ So the Haudegen people treated the Norwegians to all the good food， drinks， cigarettes they still had in their provisions.

“In the early morning hours of September 4， 1945 the Norwegian captain became a bit nervous. My father asked： ‘What is the matter？’ The captain answered： ‘The Navy authorities in Norway have ordered me to first ask you to surrender.’

“My father then replied： ‘Why don’t you ask me？’ to which the captain said， ‘I don’t know how such things are done.’

“My father answered ‘I don’t know either’ and took his pistol from his holster， put it on the table， pushed it over to the Norwegian captain and said ‘With this I surrender.’ The Norwegian captain was very astonished. All he could say， was ‘May I keep the pistol？’

“Then my father formulated a document of surrender in Norwegian， which both men signed. That was the surrender of the last German military unit of WWII—in many ways a strange surrender.”

After their return to civilian life Wilhelm Dege and his unit tried to meet up every year after the war for a reunion although this was dangerously complicated during the Cold War with tensions high between East and West Germany.

“The year these eleven men spent in cramped quarters in a hostile environment of cold， gales and darkness shows how superb camaraderie and an understanding leadership were able to maintain high morale and helped the group to master the horrors of the Arctic night，” Eckbart said.

“In the beginning yearly reunions of the Haudegen men only took place in East Germany. The West German ‘Haudegen’ men were always invited to join， but nobody dared to travel there because of the Cold War politics of the time.”

“In 1984， a few years after the death of my father in 1979， I accepted an invitation from the East German Haudegen men and joined their reunion with my family. Then we were given a tip that the East German State Security the Stasi had watched these forbidden ‘military comrades’ reunions’ and were planning a raid for the next reunion.”

“So these Haudegen reunions came to an abrupt end. A few years after German reunification， the tradition of yearly reunions was taken up again. With fewer and fewer Haudegen members alive， these reunions have come to a natural end.”? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ■

威廉·德格中尉的故事令人難以置信，此前在德國以外并不為人所知，而一般認為，他是二戰最后投降的納粹，服役期間曾被授予德軍最高榮譽“鐵十字勛章”。

74歲的德國退休學者埃克巴特·德格是威廉·德格中尉的兒子。在接受獨家采訪時，他詳細回顧了他的父親最終交出手槍的歷史性時刻。

1939年宣戰后，德軍最高指揮部無法再通過由盟軍控制和加密的國際氣象網獲得必要的觀測數據。為了有效作戰，德軍不得不在北極建立自己的氣象站。天氣報告對德軍制定策略至關重要，德格中尉受命領導“擊劍行動”，在偏遠的挪威斯瓦爾巴特群島上靠近北極的地方建立了一個氣象站。

自1944年8月5日開始，德格中尉帶領的11人觀測隊向指揮部發送天氣報告近一年，直到1945年5月，他們通過無線通信得知德國投降的消息。

他們經歷了12個月的艱苦生活，不僅要抵抗住北極熊的襲擊，還要時時提防英國突擊隊的伏擊。如今，他們受命摧毀所有科技和通信設備。

這支受困的觀測隊只有一艘小船，無法離島。直到1945年9月3日，一艘名為布拉塞爾的挪威小型海豹船抵達該島，將“擊劍”觀測隊帶回了挪威。

德格博士娓娓講述了父親投降當晚頗帶喜劇色彩的場面。他說：“我父親和隊友雷耶到海灘迎接挪威人。”海豹船船長L.阿爾貝特森來自特羅姆瑟，他和該船廚師劃小船上了岸。

“父親用英語和他們打招呼，但船長一臉茫然，因為他不懂英語。于是，父親改說挪威語，1940年到1943年他一直在駐扎挪威的德軍中擔任翻譯，他的挪威語說得很流利。

“他問船長：‘我們是就在海灘上辦理公務呢，還是可以請您到我們的氣象站先喝杯咖啡或杜松子酒？’船長回答說：‘正宗的咖啡和上好的德國杜松子酒？當然，我很樂意。’就這樣，觀測隊隊員將壓箱底的美食、佳釀和香煙都拿出來款待挪威人。

“1945年9月4日清晨，挪威船長顯得有些緊張。父親問：‘怎么了？’船長回答說：‘挪威海軍部門命令我首先要求你投降。’

“父親于是問：‘那你為什么不要求我呢？’船長回說：‘我不知道這種事情該怎么辦。’

“父親一邊說著‘我也不知道’，一邊從槍套里掏出手槍放到桌上，一把推到船長面前說‘我繳械投降’。船長非常吃驚，最后只擠出一句：‘我可以留著這把手槍嗎？’

“后來，父親用挪威語寫了一份投降書，雙方都簽了字。這就是二戰最后一支德軍的投降經過，很多方面都顯得很奇怪。”

威廉·德格和隊友戰后回歸了平民生活，他們試圖每年舉行一次聚會，盡管這在冷戰時期很危險也很困難，因為那時東西德關系緊張。

埃克巴特說：“在嚴寒、狂風和黑暗的惡劣環境中，這11人擠在狹小的氣象站度過了將近一年。這一年的經歷顯示出崇高的戰友情誼和通情達理的領導如何能讓團隊保持高昂的士氣，幫助他們戰勝了恐怖的北極之夜。

“最初，觀測隊的年度聚會只在東德舉辦。來自西德的隊員每年都會收到聚會邀請，但礙于當時的冷戰政策，沒有人敢去赴約。

“父親于1979年去世，幾年后的1984年，我接受了來自東德隊員的邀請，帶上家人一同參加聚會。聚會上，我們得知，東德國家安全局斯塔西一直監視這些明令禁止的‘戰友聚會’，并計劃在他們下次聚會時發起突襲。

“于是，隊員聚會戛然而止。德國統一數年后，這一年度聚會的傳統又被提起。不過，隨著觀測隊隊員一個個離世，這樣的聚會也自然而然地畫上了句號。”? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? □

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）