The Stowaway
October 31, 2008 – 11:43 amAt one of my talks the other day, a number of the attendees shared memories of World War II days.
One woman told the following story.
During the war years, she recalled a German family living nearby. Some of the neighbors wondered if they were German sympathizers, or even possibly spies. One evening around dusk, she and a friend were out walking her dog. Suddenly they saw a man walking across the yard. As he approached the girls, her dog growled viciously and attempted to attack the man. She held the dog with all her might, straddling the dog to keep him from tearing the man apart.
He approached the girls cautiously and began talking in a foreign tongue. With great difficulty they figured out he was looking for the home of the German neighbors. They directed him to the house. When he left them, they were almost certain that he was a spy and would find refuge in the home of the neighbors.
However, to their relief, the following day the story came out. He was a stowaway who had managed to escape on a ship making port on the Delaware River. He was not well received by the German neighbors. Indeed, they called the authorities and he was arrested.
That settled the question concerning the loyalty of the German neighbors.
Other stories concerning possible German spies are found in my book, We Knew We Were at War; Women Remember World War II on pages 3, 19, and 88.
For more World War II stories, go to www.peggeorge.com.
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