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He chased Hitler

By MINDY RUBENSTEIN
Published January 27, 2007

SEMINOLE - Ernest Drucker grows frustrated as he fumbles through the loose pages of the photo album, his hands struggling to create order out of memories he would rather forget.

He forces himself to concentrate. At 87, he feels a sense of urgency. He wants his five grandchildren to know about his life.

Not about the man they call Poppy, who loves golf and reminds them weekly during Shabbat dinner of their duty to perform mitzvahs, or good deeds.

But about the U.S. soldier who was part of World War II's D-day invasion and became a counterintelligence officer who helped capture Nazi officers, including members of Adolf Hitler's personal staff.

He is writing a book, trying to get it all down.

"I think it's important for any family to pass on their legacy," he said. "Of course, our story is different because of our escape from Hitler. It's important not only for our family but for its historical significance."

* * *

Ernest and his wife, Marietta, were raised in Vienna, though they didn't know each other then. They met in 1952 at a dance in New York, the year after she moved from London to start a new life.

Marietta was one of thousands of children sent to London on the Kindertransport, a British program established to rescue Jewish children from the Nazis.

Ernest's older sister smuggled him and his twin brother to Paris on a six-month visa she secured with fake documents. From there, he went to Cuba and then the United States, where he was drafted into the Army.

It wasn't long before he found himself back in Europe. "Sooner or later, I knew I'd be part of the world fighting against Hitler," Drucker said in a recent interview.

Part of the 2nd Infantry Division out of Houston, he went to Northern Ireland and Hungary. He learned hand-to-hand combat techniques, like the "easiest way to kill a guy with a bayonet."

His unit was part of the D-day Plus One invasion, on June 7, 1944, when Allied forces began liberating Europe from Nazi occupation.

He recalls coming ashore at Normandy in the early morning darkness, terrified.

"There were a million soldiers waiting for D-day, but no one knew exactly what it was," Drucker said. "We knew this was not a training exercise.

"You're thinking a lot of things. What's it going to be like facing combat? But you're living minute to minute, hour to hour. You get caught up in the mass hypnosis, all staring out into the dark night wondering what's going to happen next."

The bloody takeover, generally considered the beginning of the end for Hitler's Nazi regime, was costly. More than 37,000 Allied troops were killed; more than 150,000 were injured or lost.

After the Battle of Normandy, Drucker became part of the Army's Counter Intelligence Corps. The blond, blue-eyed Austria native was fluent in four languages - German, French, Spanish and English - and good at mixing with the locals, asking the right questions, finding his man.

With a staff of 10 men, Drucker traveled the countryside chasing Hitler. "We captured many of Hitler's personal staff," he said. "We thought maybe we could catch him, too. We really chased him, but he escaped to Berlin."

As he talks, he remembers an artifact he has tucked away somewhere in a closet. As he searches for it, he wishes out loud that he had everything organized in one spot. Eventually, he emerges with a framed copy of his service certificate, which even his wife had never seen.

* * *

Ernest and Marietta have been married for 54 years. They moved to Florida about 18 years ago.

As they recall their histories, they argue about dates and ages. Mrs. Drucker, 75, spells out names of German cities like Siegsdorf and Traunstein, pointing to the small words on a map that Ernest can't quite see and repeating questions that he can't hear.

The couple have never talked much about the war.

"We just didn't want to live in the past," Mrs. Drucker said. "We wanted to get on with our lives and build a life."

Drucker shows black and white pictures of himself before Hitler's invasion, and after, as a soldier embroiled in World War II.

He tells of hiding in the mountains of Bavaria, hunting men disguised as farmers - men who only days earlier were running concentration camps.

The Druckers once contacted an auction house about their mementos, which include pictures confiscated from Hitler's staff photographer and a cue card for a speech that Hitler wrote on. They were told it was likely worth $10,000.

The couple prepared meticulously for that trip to New York. Worried about the 60-year-old card's deteriorating condition, Drucker had it laminated. He still kicks himself for that, because it lowered the item's value.

Many of his historical documents are stored in a safe deposit box, like the 1938 Christmas card signed by Hitler and an original memo sent by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower before troops stormed Normandy.

Spread across the table along with maps and books, Drucker's war photos sit among hundreds of others: pictures of his parents and siblings, photos of vacations in Normandy and the military cemeteries he visited.

Seeing it all, he is upset that he didn't write his story down sooner. He worries that his photos will deteriorate and isn't sure how he should preserve them.

His wife tries to reassure him:

"We'll get it done."

[Last modified January 27, 2007, 00:04:33]