Free Legacy of Sorrows by Roberto Buonaccorsi Page A

Kuller immediately shouted to his men, ‘Cease fire, cease fire!’ The SS men in the truck stopped shooting, and came out throwing down their weapons and raised their hands above their heads. The Partisan leader then said to Kuller and Peter, ‘Lay down your side arms and raise your hands as well.’ They did as they were told. The partisan leader said, ‘We are the 10th Garibaldi Brigade, my name is Vittorio and we are authorised to check all transport heading to Austria for escaping Italian fascists, Nazis or SS personnel. I will need to see your identification papers and search the truck for anything suspicious.’ Kuller could feel the tension in the air as the Italians went efficiently about their business. Eventually, the truck was cleared and Vittorio walked up to Kuller and asked him in German for his papers. Kuller and the rest of the men handed over their papers without a word. Vittorio took some time examining them before saying, ‘Where are your orders for returning to Austria, Sergeant?’ Kuller gave a short laugh and said, ‘Orders, what orders? We just want to go home. The war is over and you have won, Vittorio. Just let us go home.’ Vittorio seemed to accept this. ‘Well, Sergeant, you can all go home. However, you will have to walk. We still have fascist militia to fight and we will need your weapons and transport for that. The border is only a few miles along the road and it is manned by British troops. They will see you are taken care of. Thank God, it’s not the Russians. They are less friendly and are not taking any German prisoners.’ Kuller thanked him. Turning to the rest of his group he said, ‘All right, we can go home now, let’s go.’ Eventually they reached the border post, where they were strip-searched by British troops who then processed them into a POW camp where they would be eventually interviewed by the Military Police.
    It did not take them long to find out that Kuller was in fact an SS Sergeant in the 16th Waffen SS. However, as there was no war crime listed against his name, they could not hold him for very long, and after some six months in a special SS prisoner of war camp in Nuremburg he was set free. The other SS men he had escaped with were found out to have been on the SS staff in the death camps in Poland and were put on trial. They were all convicted of crimes against humanity and were imprisoned for varying terms.
    Kuller thanked his lucky stars that his unit had left no survivors on Monte Sole to come forward and testify that he was not only present there, but was one of the SS leaders. The British knew that his unit had been active in the killings but could not prove he had been with them at the time. He smiled as he made his way into Vienna to start a new life. His first thought was to find work and earn some money, which he did at a bakery near the city centre. The owner of the bakery had lost a son in the war and needed some help with his business. He took one look at Hans with his straight back and height and asked him if he had worked in a bakery before. Hans had helped an old uncle a few times in his bakery in Salsburg when he had visited with his family before the war when he was a boy. When he mentioned this to the baker, he jumped on this and offered Hans a job.
    Kuller worked at the bakery for three months, sleeping in the back shop on an old mattress to save as much money as he could. The baker gave him his keep and a small salary, which Kuller managed to save for the next part of his journey. Eventually, he decided he had saved enough for his travel expenses and other costs to give him a start in Munich. The next morning, he said his farewells to the baker, thanked him for his help and left.
    It was January 1946 when Kuller arrived in Munich. His first impressions of his home city on the bus ride left him feeling angry. There didn’t seem to be a building standing. He found out later that Munich had