Echoes-Sentinel from Warren Township, New Jersey • Page 10

ElO ECHOES-SEtiTINEL, THURSDAY, FEB. 16,1984 Who's Who In The Hills By KARLA WILEY German Army Major Herbert Axster, father of Mrs. Gerald Economy of Pottersville, knows intimately the story behind rocketeer Wernher von Braun's surrender at the conclusion of World War II. He was there with him. Says Major Axster, "I was a reserve officer, with a home in Berlin and a farm in Pomerania, near Peenemunde, site of Germany's rocket center a military institution of which von Braun was the civilian head.

"I had been on duty in Russia from June '41 to Dec '43 all the way from the Caucasus and Moscow to Reval. It was cold and rough and very tough. While on furlough at my farm in Pomerania my home in Berlin was out of the question because of the air raids I met one of the directors of the rocket institute He got the idea that the combination of my experience in the technical field plus my background in law could be very helpful to them. I was back in mid-Russia when I received a Tdex transferring me to Peenemunde. In a way I was pleased, although I regretted having to leave my regiment and my friends.

"At i'eenemunde 1 was put to work as liaison between the military and civilian part of the outfit. Von Braun and 1 became close friends. Wernher von Kraun was a genius, possessed with the idea of flying a rocket to the moon and stars. He didn't want to make a weapon of it; Hitler forced him to. "I was in Peenemunde only a short time before I was sent to head an outpost in Paris.

1 remained there for several months, returning to Pennemunde before the invasion. In May, with the approach of the Russian Army, we were ordered to evacuate the site and transfer the operation to the mountains of Bavaria in mid-Germany. I was in charge of the organization, a small group which included von Braun, his brother, Magnus, General Dornberger (The Rocket General) and I.indberger, his Chief of Staff. "The Russians and the German S.S., both were after us. Our families didn't know whether we were dead or alive.

The S.S. took the V2 weapons and hid them. They forbade us weapons and ordered that we immediately contact S.S. headquarters upon arrival in the mountains." Axster's daughter says, "My father never carried a pistol. During his entire tour of duty in Russia he carried a shaving kit in his pistol case because he couldn't bear to go unshaven.

But when the S.S. forbade weapons he put a pistol in the case." Happenings In The Hills (Continued from preceding page) habits, she says, is being late. "And wouldn't you know, so is one of his. Everyone was waiting around for us the entire week!" One of the only foods Norma hates is cucumber. "We were out to dinner one night and he tried to pass me the cucumbers from his salad, when my husband warned him that I'd never eat them.

He replied 'Well no daughter of mine They also felt an instant rapport. "We had no trouble talking to each other. When everyone would go to bed, we would stay up till the earliest hours in the morning together. We simply couldn't get enough of each other." Both had idealistic impressions of each other. Norma had envisioned her father as a young serviceman "bigger than life," while he always thought of her still as a little girl.

"It was such an emotional experience to rediscover each other. After all these years I finally feel a sense of completeness. No longer do I walk in a crowd of strange people and wonder if he is in that crowd. "It also put my father's fears to rest. He had had the same nagging thoughts as They still keep in close touch.

"He is always sending gifts to my children (his grandchildren) and always calls. He thanks me so many times for writing that letter. Our only regret is that I didn't write it sooner." Norma warns that not all reunions with long-lost family members will have such a happy ending. "There are risks involved. Rejection, for example, is something always pending." Although she would never actually encourage adopted persons to trace their natural parents, she would definitely support the decision.

They may not always be good endings, Norma said, "But it is an answer, and in most cases that is what they are really looking for. For more information about ALMA, write P.O. Box 627 Morristown, N.J. 07960, or call 540-8839. How The German Rocket Experts Came To The U.S.

AlLeimre Rocket expert Herbert Axster, visiting from Germany, relaxes at the Pottersville home of his daughter, Mrs. Gerald Economy. Says Axster, "When we arrived in the mountains we made telephone contact with the S.S. and reported our location, thus fulfilling our duty. After dark I went out with a pair of clippers and cut the cable so we could receive no further orders from the S.S.

At this point we found ourselves hemmed in on one side the French, on the other, the British and Americans. We didn't want to surrender to the French. We had more confidence in the Americans. We knew we had something extraordinary; we thought America was the country which offered the best opportunity to make von Braun's dream come true. "It was very strange.

We walked to the American military post in Fussen to surrender, and as I was the only one who spoke English, I talked with the officer in charge. When I explained who we were he became very excited. We were served lunch and asked to wait. "No more than 45 minutes later a helicopter arrived with a Major from Eisenhower's headquarters. He took us to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, headquarters of the Bavarian Division of the German Army, and interned us but not as prisoners of war.

A Colonel Toftoy started the negotiations. The Americans wanted von Braun and the crew of the V2, some 7,000 people from Peenemunde, to come to the United States. As I had the necessary legal knowledge I drew up the document. "When the British and French found that the Americans had the top rocket people in their custody, the British asked to be allowed to interrogate us. I negotiated a contract with the Americans stipulating that our crew not be released to go to Britain without the British first signing a contract stating that they would not attempt to keep them there.

"I also asked to be permitted to fly with an American plane the next morning to evacuate our families in mid-Germany, now under Russian domination. The condition was agreed to, and an armada of 2,000 trucks performed the mass evacuation. From that moment on we were under the protec- Ridge Teen Named Runner-Up Jennifer Ann Johnson of Basking Ridge has been selected as a runner-up in the 1984 Miss Love's Baby Soft teen model contest. More than 4,000 teens, ranging in age from 13-19, participated Model Contestant Jennifer Ann Johnson of Basking Ridge was selected as runner-up in the 1984 Miss Love's Baby Soft teen model contest. in the competition.

She received a special edition "Love's Baby Soft Contest Winner" T-shirt as her prize. Miss Johnson, 18, daughter of Joanne and Robert Johnson, is a student at Georgia Southern College in Statesboro, Ga. She likes to keep in shape by dancing, playing tennis and swimming, and she is a member of the Southern Dazzlers, the C.SU dance team. She plans to become a commercial artist. To enter the contest, teens submit photographs and are judged in competition with other contestants on the basis of the photos.

Three national finalists, 50 state winners and 150 national runners-up are honored. While in New York, the girls met the top modeling agents, ate at some of New York's finest restaurants, attended the Broadway musical, "Dream Girls," and toured the boutique shops in the East Village. The judges' panel included Elizabeth Ward, Miss America 1982; Jack Rowe, president of the Miss America Pageant; John Casablancas, president, of Elite Model Management; fashion photographer Patrick DeMarcheJier and the beauty editors of Seventeen, Teen, Coed and Young Miss magazines. During the past three years several of the national finalists have signed contracts with major New York model agencies. Greenfield Convalescent Center MEDICARE APPROVED OFFERING: SKILLED NURSING CARE CONVALESCENT CARE CARE OF THE CHRONICALLY ILL RETIREMENT LIVING YOUR INSPECTION CORDIALLY INVITED Call.

526-8600 875 RTS. 202 206 N. BRIDGEWATER, N.J. tion of the Americans. We signed a contract with them which the Americans fulfilled with the highest fairness.

"Reunited with our families, a few hundred of us were living in a school." Says his daughter, "My mother and I cooked for Wernher von Braun. He demanded coffee to serve to the American officers who came to visit him. We had no coffee, so my brother and I picked up tins of coffee grounds and left-overs from American headquarters which we then served to visiting American officers even a General!" Continues Axster, "The essence of the contract which I drew up was that a crew of 120 top men from Peenemunde, headed by von Braun, would be transferred to the United States. The conditions were, first, that the Americans would take care of our families, and after a certain length of time, would bring them to the U.S. "When the negotiations were finished and the contract signed, 1 told Colonel Toftoy, 'Now my job is over.

I've done everything I could, but I am not a technician. I never helped develop the rocket and I don't want to develop a rocket in the future. It makes no sense for me to go. Let me stay here in this camp with my "Toftoy didn't agree. He thought I should go along.

The next day he came back with word that von Braun wanted me to join him as chief of Dornberger's staff and, as I knew all about the organization, he would like me to set it up in the United States as it had been in Peenemunde. That made sense. I had nothing here. My house and office in Unter Den Linden, Berlin, had been totally bombed; my farm in Peenemunde by the Baltic Sea, taken by the Russians. All that was left me was a small chalet in the Alps reached only by cable car.

I went to El Paso, Texas, hired by the military to work from a civilian point of view. "In El Paso, von Braun wanted to go ahead with the development of the rocket, but the government stopped him. The entire operation was mothballed until the advent of the Russian Sputnik in 1948. At that time Eisenhower called von Braun from the White House, asking him how fast he could develop a rocket. One night von Braun had called a group of us together and explained to us how to go to the moon.

He had it all in his head, on the basis of (he old V2. Within nine months, he had accomplished it. "In 1950 I was transferred, with my family, to Huntsville, Ala. I worked in research and development from '45 to' '51, when I decided that the Americans now had all the necessary knowledge I was no longer needed. The Americans had been very lenient and very fair but after eight years as an employee I wanted to be on my own again.

"I opened an office in international law in Milwaukee, but after eight years in the States I decided to return to Germany where I was in a better position to conduct international business. I re-established my old firm in Dusseldorf with my son." Major Axster still feels at home in the States, spending several months a year here with his daughter. The States have become his home away from home. PRESIDENTS I FINAL LREDUCTIONS OUR Onln FIRST QUALITY tesbions Sizes 6 to 20, 5 to IS petites 4 to 16 See out new Petite Dept. We now catty 0 full line of Bali THERMO GUIS CUSTOM INGROUND POOLS TOTAUf SON CORROSIVE All Sim and Solar Heating Encknurat Fencing Landscaping" Spat MU If A NMMTIf ITWCtlK SAVE up to mat TNflMMtM MMMtmi On Display FINANCING AVAllABlf BUvwinr mtwooum OPEN SUNDAY NOON to 5 SUN FUN POOLS INTEGRITY'QUALITY -SERVICE BERGEN AND MONMOUTH AND MORRIS COUNTIES OCEAN COUNTIES 752-6556 431-2445 261 ROUTE 22 "TCO GREEN BROOK OZ OPEN DAILY TO 9.

SATURDAY TIL 6 30. SUHOAY lo Distributors of Women's Fashions Steffi CLOTHING OUTLET i VALLEY TRADE-IN OFFER "THERE'S NEVER BEEN A DEAL LIKE THIS BEFORE! FOR YEARS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ASKING ME IF THEY COULD TRADE-IN THEIR OLD FOOD PROCESSOR FOR A STATE-OF-THE ART CUISINART" DLC7 PRO, OR THE NEW SUPER SIZED DLCX. IS YOUR CHANCE! GET $66 WHEN YOU SEND BACK ANY CONDITION CFP MODEL CUISINARTv GET $36 FOR ANYONE ELSE'S OLD FOOD PROCESSOR! SEE ME TODAY. I'M TRADING!" pan tree 11 Mine Brook Rd. Bernardsvllle 221-1335 Hours: OFFER GOOD UNTIL.