Trek Through Russia to the Black Sea
by Captain Billy Bingham, 34th Inf. Div.
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by Captain Billy Bingham, 34th Inf. Div.
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While I was living near Rembertov, Poland, some Russian soldiers arrested Capt. Bob Crawl and me and
placed us in a refugee camp, along with several hundred Croats, Serbs, and Czechnies from the Balkans.
In this refugee camp, they was no organization whatsoever. The Russians would dump some 'kasha'
(barley grains) over the barbed wire fences; but the strong men would take it all.
No privacy whatsoever, men and women would sleep together on straw over the cold concrete floors.
No toilets and only one tap of running water.
A Russian Commissar Political Officer came into the camp and gave Bob and me a hand written note
saying we were permitted to ride box car on the Russian Rail System. The problem with this note was
that no one we presented it to could read.
After a few days, we were able to get out and again some Russian troops stopped us. When they found
a German newspaper with a Swastika in my back pocket, the damned near kicked me to death. I said,
"Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, Washington, London, Moscow, Molotov" to no avail. I finally sputtered,
"STUDEBAKER" and the soldier that was kicking me said, "Da, da." I then assumed he had ridden in a
lend-lease Studebaker truck. Make no mistake about it, the word "STUDEBAKER" saved my life there in
the snow outside of Rembertov.
The Germans with their 'scorched earth' policy had torn up the rail roads as they retreated out of Russia.
The trains we rode from Rembertov, Poland to Odessa, Russia, could travel no faster than 10 - 12 miles
per hour.
The Russian women, operating the train, would shoulder guns and get everyone out of the boxcars to cut
wood for the locomotive. I saw the women operators on two occasions shoot refugees. They then left
them in the forest.
The weather on this trip was bitterly cold, 20 degrees below zero. The rail tracks in Stalingrad had been
so badly damaged that we had to get on another train going to Odessa. We marched through Stalingrad
which was total devastation. The fighting in this area had been fierce. The German 'scorched earth' policy
didn't leave a building standing.
Not one refugee on that train from Rembertov to Odessa was given any food. I had stolen a few shirts
and socks and was wearing them. When the train stopped at sparsely populated villages, I would trade a
shirt or a pair of socks for some bread. I then hid the bread in my clothing and ate it only at night.
A Serb woman riding beside me gave birth to a baby. She wrapped it in her shawl. Ten days later the
baby was still crying.
When Bob Crawl and I got to Odessa, the Russians gave us some fish soup with eyes still in the fish's head.
This was the first warm meal we had since leaving Rembertov two weeks before.
While we were still in Rembertov, Bob and I had met two Ukrainian girls who could speak some German.
The girls had been abandoned by the German Army. They told us that they would take us to Moscow to
see Stalin. We told them that we would take them to the United States and make them movie stars.
The next day, about 50 miles out of Rembertov, Poland, the train stopped at a small station. Russian
soldiers entered our boxcar took the two girls to the platform and beat them to death with their rifle butts.
All we could do was look on .
placed us in a refugee camp, along with several hundred Croats, Serbs, and Czechnies from the Balkans.
In this refugee camp, they was no organization whatsoever. The Russians would dump some 'kasha'
(barley grains) over the barbed wire fences; but the strong men would take it all.
No privacy whatsoever, men and women would sleep together on straw over the cold concrete floors.
No toilets and only one tap of running water.
A Russian Commissar Political Officer came into the camp and gave Bob and me a hand written note
saying we were permitted to ride box car on the Russian Rail System. The problem with this note was
that no one we presented it to could read.
After a few days, we were able to get out and again some Russian troops stopped us. When they found
a German newspaper with a Swastika in my back pocket, the damned near kicked me to death. I said,
"Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, Washington, London, Moscow, Molotov" to no avail. I finally sputtered,
"STUDEBAKER" and the soldier that was kicking me said, "Da, da." I then assumed he had ridden in a
lend-lease Studebaker truck. Make no mistake about it, the word "STUDEBAKER" saved my life there in
the snow outside of Rembertov.
The Germans with their 'scorched earth' policy had torn up the rail roads as they retreated out of Russia.
The trains we rode from Rembertov, Poland to Odessa, Russia, could travel no faster than 10 - 12 miles
per hour.
The Russian women, operating the train, would shoulder guns and get everyone out of the boxcars to cut
wood for the locomotive. I saw the women operators on two occasions shoot refugees. They then left
them in the forest.
The weather on this trip was bitterly cold, 20 degrees below zero. The rail tracks in Stalingrad had been
so badly damaged that we had to get on another train going to Odessa. We marched through Stalingrad
which was total devastation. The fighting in this area had been fierce. The German 'scorched earth' policy
didn't leave a building standing.
Not one refugee on that train from Rembertov to Odessa was given any food. I had stolen a few shirts
and socks and was wearing them. When the train stopped at sparsely populated villages, I would trade a
shirt or a pair of socks for some bread. I then hid the bread in my clothing and ate it only at night.
A Serb woman riding beside me gave birth to a baby. She wrapped it in her shawl. Ten days later the
baby was still crying.
When Bob Crawl and I got to Odessa, the Russians gave us some fish soup with eyes still in the fish's head.
This was the first warm meal we had since leaving Rembertov two weeks before.
While we were still in Rembertov, Bob and I had met two Ukrainian girls who could speak some German.
The girls had been abandoned by the German Army. They told us that they would take us to Moscow to
see Stalin. We told them that we would take them to the United States and make them movie stars.
The next day, about 50 miles out of Rembertov, Poland, the train stopped at a small station. Russian
soldiers entered our boxcar took the two girls to the platform and beat them to death with their rifle butts.
All we could do was look on .
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