Into The Fire: 3

Summary

Introduction

In Episode 3: "Into The Fire" of "The Man Who Calculated Death" by PodcastOne, host Suzanne Rico delves deeper into her family's tumultuous past during World War II. Tasked with completing her dying mother Gabriele's unfinished memoir, Suzanne and her sister Stephanie uncover startling truths about their ancestry, particularly concerning their grandfather, inventor Robert Lesser, and his intricate involvement with the Third Reich. This episode masterfully intertwines personal narratives with historical insights, shedding light on the moral complexities and enduring impacts of war on a family.

The RAF's Bombing Campaign: A Childhood Defined by Fire

The episode opens with a vivid portrayal of the Royal Air Force's (RAF) controversial bombing offensive against German cities in 1942. Suzanne sets the scene by contrasting the detached accounts of bomber pilots with the harrowing experiences of civilians on the ground.

Heidi Lesser [00:25]: "Carpet bombing, they called it, was always done at night, and it was done in waves."

Suzanne Rico [00:40]: "In 1942, when England decided to unleash the full power of its air force on German cities, Tanteheidi was nine years old."

Listeners are transported to the Luftwaffe tactics, where the first wave of bombers would illuminate the sky with "Christmas trees" to mark bombing zones, followed by waves of incendiary and explosive bombs known as Sprengbomben. These devastating attacks not only targeted infrastructure but also aimed to break the spirit of German civilians.

Heidi Lesser [01:17]: "The first wave of airplanes would drop what we called Christmas trees. They would light up the sky in a square and mark the area which was supposed to be bombed."

The intense bombing led to massive firestorms, rendering entire cities unrecognizable and forcing families into cramped, smoky shelters where survival was uncertain.

Heidi Lesser [04:31]: "When we looked out of the door, we saw that the entire sky from one end to the other was orange. And none of us knew whether our parents were alive or dead."

Robert Lesser: From Esteemed Inventor to Nazi Scapegoat

Central to the episode is the unraveling story of Robert Lesser, once a celebrated technical director at the Heinkel Aircraft Factory. Robert's brilliance in aviation engineering earned him prestigious accolades, including the Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross. However, his meteoric rise was abruptly halted in 1941 due to political intrigue within the Nazi hierarchy.

Suzanne Rico [09:28]: "Not only did he have a top tier job at a top tier firm, he'd also received one of the highest awards bestowed by the Third Reich, the Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross."

Robert's outspoken criticism of project timelines led to his dismissal, making him a target in the cutthroat environment of Nazi Germany. Accusations of sabotage and treason emerged, branding him as a Staatsfeind (enemy of the state).

Tantaheidi [12:07]: "They said he lied and neglected his duties and was a Staatsfeind."

Expert insights from Professor Erhard Milch of Ruhr University illuminate the political rivalry that ensnared Robert. A fierce power struggle between Colonel General Ernst Udet and Milch resulted in Robert being scapegoated amidst escalating tensions.

Erhard Milch [13:49]: "Well, you could say these guys hated each other."

Despite the adversities, Robert exhibited remarkable resilience. Faced with impending doom, he penned a 20-page memorandum to Milch, proposing innovative designs that would eventually lead to the development of the V1 Vergeltungswaffen (Vengeance Weapon 1), a pioneering guided missile.

Suzanne Rico [22:07]: "And then ends with a little strategic ass kissing."

This strategic move not only salvaged his career but also positioned him at the forefront of Germany's missile program, intertwining his fate irrevocably with the nation's wartime advancements.

Life in Rostock and Kassel: Navigating War and Personal Turmoil

Robert's relocation to Rostock marked the beginning of a precarious period for the Lesser family. While Suzanne's younger siblings found moments of joy even amidst soldiers and uncertainty, the family grappled with Robert's tarnished reputation and subsequent house arrest.

Suzanne Rico [07:39]: "The four Lesser sisters and their mom travel by train. And as they chug along through a Germany quickly transforming into a country at war, Troudi and Heidi, who are 7 and 9, manage to find fun."

The family's move to Kassel in 1943 offered a semblance of normalcy as Robert resumed work at the Gerhard Fieseler aircraft factory, but the shadows of war loomed large. The children were conscripted into the Hitler Youth Camps (Kinderlandverschikungslager), where indoctrination was rampant.

Heidi Lesser [27:16]: "It gets me that the people say, you were in the Hitler Youth. And I said, listen, you guys, it wasn't like the Girl Scouts. You didn't have a choice when you were 10, on April 20th, that's when you went in."

Despite the oppressive environment, Fraulein Buchner, a camp leader with anti-Nazi sentiments, provided a semblance of hope and resistance for the children. Her clandestine efforts to undermine Nazi indoctrination underscore the complex moral landscapes navigated by individuals during the war.

Surviving the Kassel Bombing: A Family's Ordeal

A pivotal moment in the episode recounts the Kassel bombing on October 22, 1943, where the city was devastated by a massive Luftwaffe attack. Suzanne's mother, Gabriele, shares harrowing memories of the night, highlighting the chaos and loss endured by her family.

Heidi Lesser [31:54]: "The whole sky was red and her face was so, so telling. I could see the absolute horror of what she was seeing because the sky could not be that red without the whole city burning."

In a dramatic retelling, Gabriele describes how her husband, Robert, heroically rushed back into the burning building to save their children, epitomizing the desperate measures families took to protect one another amidst relentless assaults.

Gabi Lesser [37:41]: "Papa runs out dragging a stumbling ghost. He shouts, pulls. It's my sister behind him. She's crying so hard."

This traumatic event not only reshaped the family's future but also left indelible scars, reinforcing the profound personal costs of war beyond the grand narratives of history.

Uncovering Hidden Truths: The Memoir and Beyond

As Suzanne and Stephanie sift through their mother's memoir, they uncover critical insights into Robert Lesser's work and the ethical dilemmas he faced. The revelation of Robert's involvement in developing the V1 missile raises profound questions about his legacy and the broader implications of his contributions to warfare technology.

Suzanne Rico [23:53]: "The memorandum turns out to be a brilliant tactical move. The Field Marshal summons my grandfather to the Air Ministry. But he doesn't want to talk about war crimes or hangings. Instead, he hands Robert Lesser the designs for a top secret wonder weapon."

The family's journey through these revelations not only illuminates the intricate connections between personal lives and historical events but also challenges Suzanne to reconcile her family's past with the moral complexities of wartime actions.

Conclusion: Reflections on Legacy and History

"Into The Fire" serves as a poignant exploration of how war intertwines with individual lives, shaping destinies and legacies in unforeseen ways. Through Suzanne Rico's meticulous storytelling, listeners gain a nuanced understanding of the Lesser family's struggles, resilience, and the enduring quest to unearth and make sense of their past. The episode elegantly balances personal narratives with historical analysis, offering a comprehensive view of the multifaceted impacts of World War II on a single family.

Suzanne Rico [38:58]: "Coming up on the man who calculated death."

As the episode concludes, Suzanne leaves audiences eager for further revelations and the continued unraveling of her family's intricate ties to one of history's most devastating conflicts.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Heidi Lesser [00:25]: "Carpet bombing, they called it, was always done at night, and it was done in waves."

• Suzanne Rico [04:31]: "When we looked out of the door, we saw that the entire sky from one end to the other was orange. And none of us knew whether our parents were alive or dead."

• Tantaheidi [12:07]: "They said he lied and neglected his duties and was a Staatsfeind."

• Heidi Lesser [27:16]: "It gets me that the people say, you were in the Hitler Youth. And I said, listen, you guys, it wasn't like the Girl Scouts."

• Gabi Lesser [37:41]: "Papa runs out dragging a stumbling ghost. He shouts, pulls. It's my sister behind him. She's crying so hard."

• Suzanne Rico [23:53]: "The memorandum turns out to be a brilliant tactical move."

These quotes encapsulate the emotional and historical depth of the episode, highlighting the personal struggles and broader implications of Robert Lesser's actions during the war.

Final Thoughts

Episode 3: "Into The Fire" deftly weaves a narrative that is both deeply personal and historically significant. Suzanne Rico's exploration of her family's past offers listeners a compelling blend of memoir and investigative journalism, urging reflection on how individual lives are inextricably linked to the tides of history. As Suzanne continues her quest to complete her mother's memoir, listeners are left anticipating the profound discoveries and reckonings that lie ahead.

Transcript

[Suzanne Rico]

Hey, everyone, it's Suzanne Rico. Just a quick reminder that new episodes of the man who Calculated Death are available for free every Tuesday, wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening. And now onto the show.

[Heidi Lesser]

Carpet bombing, they called it, was always done at night, and it was done in waves.

[Robert Lesser]

Green light flashes on the control tower. That's the sign.

[Suzanne Rico]

In 1942, when England decided to unleash the full power of its air force on German cities, Tanteheidi was nine years old.

[Robert Lesser]

There we go. We're airborne and on our way. We join the stream of bombers making towards Berlin.

[Suzanne Rico]

The controversial bombing offensive by the Royal Air Force was meant to force Adolf Hitler to surrender. And the Allies, angry, tired and frustrated after three years of Nazi attacks, decided German civilians were fair game.

[Heidi Lesser]

The first wave of airplanes would drop what we called Christmas trees. They would light up the sky in a square and mark the area which was supposed to be bombed.

[Robert Lesser]

Hello, engineer skipper here. Yeah, will you put the revs on, please?

[Suzanne Rico]

Yeah. There's a disconnect between the casual recordings of the men who dropped bombs from.

[Robert Lesser]

The sky and put there that I.

[Suzanne Rico]

And the experience of a little girl on the ground.

[Heidi Lesser]

I run like heck. Outside the square that they had marked. I still have those nightmares.

[Robert Lesser]

Okay, boys, okay. Hello, bomb and deer.

[Tanteheidi]

Okay, when you are.

[Suzanne Rico]

Bomb doors open.

[Robert Lesser]

Bomb doors open. Bomber Deer.

[Suzanne Rico]

Heidi ran. Everyone ran. Because after the Christmas trees, hundreds of Lancaster bombers rumbled across the sky, packed with what the Germans called Sprembomben, which.

[Heidi Lesser]

Were the bombs that would destroy the buildings.

[Suzanne Rico]

Sprengbogen weighed 4,000 pounds and were capable of destroying entire blocks. The English pilots called them cookies.

[Robert Lesser]

There goes the cookie. Lucky, lucky, lucky.

[Suzanne Rico]

And just to be sure that the Nazis got the message, thousands of four pound incendiary bombs lit entire cities on fire.

[Heidi Lesser]

And those were phosphorus bombs. And phosphorus was a liquid which would slide and slither into little crevices.

[Suzanne Rico]

Wood floors, drapes, furniture, clothes. It all went up in flames.

[Heidi Lesser]

You couldn't put it out with water. And so we always had sand and shovels in the attic. And every time they headed out in one corner, it would start up someplace else.

[Suzanne Rico]

And then as people tried to save their homes, as they tried to save their families, they became the target.

[Heidi Lesser]

The last wave was Tieflieger, the dive bombers that shot at civilians trying to escape or put out fires or save photographs or whatever.

[Suzanne Rico]

The firestorms that engulfed German cities were so intense, they created their own windows systems. Streets buckled in the heat. Residents piled into cellars and air raid shelters with children and seniors, pets and Passports and enough food and water to get them through the night. But as they huddled together in the dark, the toxic smoke crept in and many didn't make it to sunrise.

[Heidi Lesser]

When we looked out of the door, we saw that the entire sky from one end to the other was orange. And none of us knew whether our parents were alive or dead.

[Suzanne Rico]

I'm Suzanne Rico and this is the man who calculated Death.

[Robert Lesser]

A new chapter opens. The Battle of the flock.

[Suzanne Rico]

Episode 3 Into the Fire.

[Robert Lesser]

The birds are about to fly.

[Lutz Boudras]

I see black in the future.

[Suzanne Rico]

Come in, come in.

[Lutz Boudras]

This is an invitation.

[Suzanne Rico]

This is gonna blow your mind. Because it blew my mind.

[Heidi Lesser]

So you listen really well.

[Lutz Boudras]

This is the original of the Man Calculated Death.

[Tanteheidi]

The man who calculated Death. Der Mann der den Tod er reghnate.

[Suzanne Rico]

Ever since my mom died, I've been trying to work out how our family history fits in with, well, history, history. It helps that my German tantas remember so many details from the war years. Here's 90 year old TR.

[Tanteheidi]

On every radio was a little sign that went over one of the dials and it said, careful when you talk, the enemy is listening in.

[Suzanne Rico]

They can always find documents to fill in the gaps too. Here's Heidi.

[Tanteheidi]

Son of a bitch.

[Suzanne Rico]

The potty mouse. What'd you find?

[Heidi Lesser]

Oh, no article. Ooh.

[Suzanne Rico]

About Robert Lesser.

[Heidi Lesser]

Yes, yes, the Germans went after him like you wouldn't believe.

[Suzanne Rico]

Now you might be wondering, why would the Germans be after Robert Lesser? So was I. Last we heard, he was flying high, getting promoted by Willie Messerschmitt and having a fourth kid, my mom, Gabby. Well, somehow all this success went sideways. And to understand why, I had to go back to the start of World War II.

[Robert Lesser]

The fateful hour of 11 has struck and Britain's final warning to Hitler having been ignored, a state of war once more exists between Great Britain and Germany.

[Suzanne Rico]

In September of 1939, Robert Lesser takes a new job that pays twice his Messerschmitt's salary. He's moving his family to Rostock in northern Germany.

[Tanteheidi]

Dietrich Eckart Strasse. Trui.

[Suzanne Rico]

You remember the address. The four Lesser sisters and their mom travel by train. And as they chug along through a Germany quickly transforming into a country at war, Troudi and Heidi, who are 7 and 9, manage to find fun.

[Heidi Lesser]

Wherever Troudi and I go, there is laughter.

[Suzanne Rico]

The girls sit in a coach full of soldiers, hundreds of them.

[Heidi Lesser]

And Troutie and I entertained these young boys and we had the best time. And while we were moving, they put Troudi out the window and they passed her to the next window and they pulled her in.

[Tanteheidi]

And you guys thought that was hilarious.

[Heidi Lesser]

We thought that was the biggest fun and we had the best time with them.

[Suzanne Rico]

But this career move wasn't fun and games for Robert Lusser. It was a serious step up.

[Tanteheidi]

Look, Susie, I have his resume.

[Suzanne Rico]

Oh my God.

[Tanteheidi]

It's all typed out. He worked for Ernst Heinke, the head honcho of the Heinke Aircraft factory.

[Suzanne Rico]

Okay. My grandfather's new title was technical director and he was out to make big dreams come true.

[Tanteheidi]

He developed the world's first jet plane.

[Suzanne Rico]

Tanta Trouty's Talking about the HE 280 Turbojet, which under my grandfather's leadership would also become the first to have tricycle, landing gear and an ejection seat. These were revolutionary ideas. And Heinkel was paying him accordingly.

[Tanteheidi]

60,000 Reichsmark.

[Suzanne Rico]

I did the math and that's about 450 grand a year in today's dollars. War is good for business if your business is designing warplanes.

[Robert Lesser]

Germany occupies Copenhagen. Hitler's troops disembarking from transports in the harbor carry out the Fuhrer's latest act of aggression, the invasion of peaceful and innocent Denmark.

[Suzanne Rico]

Over the next year, as Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands and France also fall.

[Robert Lesser]

This was the price the French were to pay as they signed the armistice.

[Suzanne Rico]

Robert Lesser's ego rises.

[Heidi Lesser]

One time my father said to one of the neighbors, I know this much. And he spread his arms wide and he said, and you know this much? And he took his thumb and forefinger and squeezed them together.

[Suzanne Rico]

He sounds like such a pompous ass. But you could argue Robert Lesser had reason to be arrogant. Not only did he have a top tier job at a top tier firm, he'd also received one of the highest awards bestowed by the Third Reich, the Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross. And I can't help noticing an ominous parallel here. It seems my grandfather and the leaders of the country he loved were both so dazzled by early success that they were blind to the fact that the future was darkening fast.

[Tanteheidi]

When I came home, I noticed our father home, home in the middle of the day. And Moody said, don't go in the living room. There is a big problem at Heinke. And the feeling was very subdued and we were scared.

[Suzanne Rico]

By 1941, 18 months into the job, Robert Lesser has been fired. Maitanta says her dad's big mouth got him into trouble when he outspokenly insisted the HE 280 jet could never be ready on the Luftwaffe's timeline. Heinkel lost the government contract to Messerschmitt. And my grandfather's high flying career comes to a screeching halt. But believe it or not, unemployment is soon the least of his worries. In a stunning reversal of fortune, not long after getting the Boot by Heinkel, Robert Lesser finds himself on the wrong end of the Nazis powerful baton.

[Tanteheidi]

They said he lied and neglected his duties and was a Staatsfein.

[Suzanne Rico]

What's a Staatsfein?

[Tanteheidi]

An enemy of the state.

[Suzanne Rico]

Meaning they thought he'd been working against the Reich.

[Tanteheidi]

Yes.

[Suzanne Rico]

The golden boy of the aircraft industry stands accused of designing faulty airplanes. But Tanteheidi says it was all Kvatch. That's German for bullshit.

[Heidi Lesser]

All those dictatorships, they look for scapegoats if something goes wrong. You gotta find a scapegoat.

[Suzanne Rico]

From top dog to scapegoat. This just set my mind reeling. Had my grandfather been committing quiet sabotage? Treason was usually a deadly charge and I couldn't make any sense of it. So I found an expert in World War II Aviation and armament who could.

[Erhard Milch]

Hello, can you hear me?

[Suzanne Rico]

Hi Lutz, how are you?

[Erhard Milch]

How are you? I'm fine.

[Suzanne Rico]

Lutz Boudras is a professor at the Ruhr University of Bochum in Germany.

[Erhard Milch]

Lussa was one of the brand names of the German aircraft industry. And your grandfather was considered a very good pilot and being brilliant engineer. On the other hand, he was born for one of the top positions in the industry.

[Suzanne Rico]

Dr. Boudross is also familiar with my grandfather's fall from grace. And the story behind it is unbelievably sinister. With a plot that revolves around two Nazi bigwigs in a fight to the death.

[Erhard Milch]

Well, you could say these guys hated each other.

[Suzanne Rico]

And Robert Lusser got himself caught in the crossfire. On one side, Colonel General Ernst Udet, a former actor and star pilot In.

[Erhard Milch]

World War I he was the ace of aces.

[Suzanne Rico]

Udet was Minister of Armaments at the Luftwaffe. In the opposite corner, just one rung under Udet in rank.

[Heidi Lesser]

What is your name?

[Suzanne Rico]

Field Marshal Erhard Mich. The Luftwaffe's Inspector General.

[Robert Lesser]

I swear by God.

[Heidi Lesser]

I swear by God.

[Suzanne Rico]

This is a clip from his Nuremberg trial when he was sentenced to life in prison. But long before he was a convicted war criminal, Milch was an up and coming politician.

[Erhard Milch]

Milch is not a hero, he's an organizer. And both people come to the Air Force when it is founded in 1935 and they have both unlimited resources at their hand.

[Suzanne Rico]

It's your basic high stakes power Struggle. Both men vying for the attention and approval of uber Nazi Hermann, Hitler's second in command. So to simplify a very complicated feud, the cunning politician kicks off a damning whisper campaign against the happy go lucky pilot who just happens to be my grandfather's patron in the aircraft industry. Udet is already an alcoholic, and the barrage of rumors pushes him deeper into drinking, depression and drugs. As his power weakens. Any protection Robert Lesser has in a regime of lies, spies and knife in your back politics weakens too.

[Erhard Milch]

ERDMA tries from mid-1941 onwards to destroy the network of Udet in the Ministry and in the industry. And your grandfather became a victim of that strategy.

[Suzanne Rico]

Tagged as one of Udet's supporters who must be eliminated. My grandfather goes up against a judge named Manfred Ruder. You wrote in your email that this judge was one of the most feared and brutal of the Nazi judges. Tell me a little bit about him.

[Erhard Milch]

He's considered in particular brutal because he's used to identify adversaries of the Nazi regime. In the higher echelons of that regime.

[Suzanne Rico]

Roeder has earned himself the ominous nickname of Hitler's blood judge.

[Erhard Milch]

I mean, Roeder was appointed to, how do you say, clean house, drain the swamp.

[Suzanne Rico]

He blackballs Robert Lesser from the aircraft industry and places him under house arrest.

[Erhard Milch]

As a judge, not German, you were able to do that. I mean, if you're singled out as a scapegoat, you have a problem. I mean, this is the Nazi regime.

[Suzanne Rico]

For my unemployed grandfather, sole support of a wife and four kids. Things go from bad to worse when Udet dies by suicide in November of 1941. And the moment the Colonel General shoots himself, Robert Lusser's life is on the line.

[Erhard Milch]

Mirch once said that anyone found guilty of corruption would be hanged in the court of the Reichslufferdministerium.

[Suzanne Rico]

This is the Air Ministry, a government building. And we're not talking Game of Thrones or Handmaid's Tale. This is real life Berlin.

[Erhard Milch]

So he wouldn't be hanged in some prison or elsewhere, but there would be a gallow in the central court of the Reichsluffer Museum, where people would be hanged.

[Suzanne Rico]

In her memoir, my mom remembers 1941 as a year of tension and tears.

[Gabi Lesser]

Sometimes Papa yells at my muti in their bedroom. She cries and cries. I stand in front of their big shiny wooden door. I pull the handle down. It's locked.

[Heidi Lesser]

And we had to be quiet. We had to tiptoe and we were not even allowed to open a door.

[Suzanne Rico]

Heidi's 8 Trouty, 10 Gabi. My mom is a rambunctious 4 year old and Dole the oldest, a rebellious teenager. It's not an easy group to keep quiet.

[Heidi Lesser]

And one time I did open the door shut by accident and made a noise and he spanked me because of the noise that I was making.

[Suzanne Rico]

Everything revolves around my grandfather.

[Tanteheidi]

He constantly had to prepare his defense and so Moody had to type day and night all these letters to the Air Force, basically trying to clear his name. Yes, to clear his name. And he had to hire and it was all very difficult in the Third Reich.

[Suzanne Rico]

The kids don't understand what's going on. They just know their mother is out of reach.

[Heidi Lesser]

We didn't get enough attention from her. But you have to look at it from her standpoint. She couldn't do her mothering because he took all her.

[Suzanne Rico]

And one night, Troute says Hilda's energy simply ran out.

[Tanteheidi]

I have one recollection of that year that is very vivid. They were in the living room and she was typing and we were already in our nightgowns and we had this Gillendo, you know, the banister and it curved and we always would hang out there and look down and so I could hear dad starting to scream at her and Moody pleading and it got louder and louder. She was exhausted and she probably said, Robert, ich muz in s bed. I have to go to bed. And he screamed, how can you think of sleep when I'm fighting for my life?

[Suzanne Rico]

Trouty ran down to see her father looming over her mother.

[Tanteheidi]

I still see it in my mind. I still do all these years later, how she was crouching there on the floor, protecting her stomach.

[Suzanne Rico]

Protecting her stomach because Hilda was eight months pregnant with her fifth child.

[Tanteheidi]

He had that look in his eyes like he could kill him.

[Suzanne Rico]

Like wild.

[Tanteheidi]

Like wild.

[Suzanne Rico]

My grandfather had a bad temper, a big mouth and an even bigger ego. But Tanta Trouti says her dad also had qualities she admired.

[Tanteheidi]

I always thought of him as one of those kids toys that are weighted at the bottom of the Stay auf Manchin.

[Suzanne Rico]

Stand up people. Remember those inflatable punching bags that pop back up no matter how hard you hit them? Well, Robert Lesser always figured out a way to bounce back.

[Erhard Milch]

Has anyone ever told you about that memorandum Lusser wrote to Erhard Milch?

[Suzanne Rico]

Nope. This is the first I've heard about my grandfather's desperate next move. He writes a 20 page memorandum on how to make Germany's Luftwaffe more effective and sends it straight to the guy who got him into trouble in the first Place Erhard Milch holds all the power now. And if Robert Lesser can convince him he'd be an asset to his team, maybe he can keep his neck out of the noose.

[Thomas Lesser]

Very dear Field Marshal General.

[Suzanne Rico]

I've asked my German cousin Thomas to read my grandfather's words.

[Thomas Lesser]

I sometimes got into disagreements with some gentlemen in your ministry.

[Suzanne Rico]

He strikes a deferent, apologetic tone.

[Thomas Lesser]

Far be it from me to attack anyone personally.

[Suzanne Rico]

He musters all his intelligence, enthusiasm and expertise.

[Thomas Lesser]

All that matters to me is to use my own many years of experience to help ensure that successful aircraft development is found in the future more than in the past.

[Suzanne Rico]

And then ends with a little strategic ass kissing.

[Thomas Lesser]

Heil Hitler. You're a very devoted Lusa.

[Erhard Milch]

It's a way of saying I'm a good guy.

[Suzanne Rico]

Let's work it out.

[Erhard Milch]

Let's work it out. I want to work for you.

[Suzanne Rico]

It always makes my stomach turn a little bit when I see him sucking up to the Nazis.

[Erhard Milch]

Yeah, he was part of the game. I mean, that's for sure. He was always part of the game.

[Suzanne Rico]

In this dangerous game. The memorandum turns out to be a brilliant tactical move. The Field Marshal summons my grandfather to the Air Ministry. But he doesn't want to talk about war crimes or hangings. Instead, he hands Robert Lesser the designs for a top secret wonder weapon. Something so important it's caught the attention of Adolf Hitler himself. But no one's been able to make it fly. My grandfather wrote about what happened next. Years later.

[Lutz Boudras]

Whoa. This is like straight from beyond the grave.

[Suzanne Rico]

And Stephanie and I found a copy in our mom's office.

[Lutz Boudras]

I was asked if it might be possible to design a flying bomb powered by a pulse jet engine, controlled by autopilot and launched by a catapult.

[Suzanne Rico]

Make this happen, and the court martial, the blood judge, and the specter of hanging in the courtyard of the Air Ministry all goes away. On the long train ride home from Berlin, my grandfather's mind whirls.

[Lutz Boudras]

On the train, the problem kept passing through my mind of where and how to attach the terribly vibrating red hot pulse jet engine to the airframe.

[Suzanne Rico]

Outside, the German countryside scrolls by unseen as he begins to play with the physics of flight.

[Lutz Boudras]

For hours, I doodled in the margins of a magazine. Suddenly, I found the most promising configuration.

[Suzanne Rico]

By the time the train pulls into the station, he's got the answer.

[Lutz Boudras]

The head of the engine attached to the back of the fuselage and hinged to the fin with a shock absorbing strut.

[Suzanne Rico]

Oh, my gosh. He figured it out on a train by just like Doodling. And not only does Robert Lesser get his neck out of the noose, he's suddenly top dog again, hired to head the Luftwaffe program to create the world's first guided missile.

[Lutz Boudras]

And there you go.

[Suzanne Rico]

There's the V1 Vergeltungswaffen. Eins Vengeance weapon number one.

[Lutz Boudras]

And then he had to make the whole thing fly.

[Suzanne Rico]

The city of Kassel sits on the Fulda river, surrounded by lush mountains dotted with waterfalls. A statue of Hercules, the Greek demigod known for strength and protection, has stood guard here for more than three centuries. But three years into World War II, with tank and aircraft manufacturing major industries here, there was no way to keep this city safe.

[Gabi Lesser]

In 1943, my father moved our family to Kassel, home of the Gerhard Fieseler aircraft factory. Only in looking back can I understand how difficult this period was in his life and how much he needed to get back to work.

[Suzanne Rico]

For the Lessers. Kassel was a desperately needed fresh start. Money was coming in again from my grandfather's new job. And after giving birth to her first boy, baby Ulrich or Uli, my grandmother Hilde received the Mutterkreuz, or Mother's Cross. It's literally a medal for producing Aryan babies for the glory of the Reich. But not all the kids were living at the Lesser's new apartment. Heidi and Troutie were at Hitler Youth Camp.

[Heidi Lesser]

It gets me that the people say, you were in the Hitler Youth. And I said, listen, you guys, it wasn't like the Girl Scouts. You didn't have a choice when you were 10, on April 20th, that's when you went in.

[Suzanne Rico]

April 20th was Hitler's birthday. And participation was indeed mandatory under Germany's Youth Service law, enacted in 1939. By the time Heidi was conscripted, the organization had eight million members. One of their main activities was running camps outside German cities under attack. What's the German word?

[Heidi Lesser]

Kinderlandverschikungslager.

[Suzanne Rico]

And that means the camp to be safe from bombs.

[Heidi Lesser]

Yeah.

[Suzanne Rico]

So the Kinderland Verschungslagers had a two pronged Keeping Germany's Aryan children alive while indoctrinating them into the Nazi ideology. And they tried to make that fun.

[Heidi Lesser]

We did marches and we collected herbs for the soldiers. We sang these nationalistic songs. Gruse die Fahne, Gruse die Zeiden. Greet the flag, greet the times, Greet the furniture. Who created them?

[Suzanne Rico]

Can you still remember how it goes?

[Heidi Lesser]

Yeah.

[Suzanne Rico]

Sing it. That is from when you were how old?

[Heidi Lesser]

10.

[Suzanne Rico]

Heidi remembers hating everything about Hitler Youth Camp.

[Heidi Lesser]

I was homesick and I squeezed out a tear Because I was unhappy there. The system always moved the teachers from place to place because they never wanted to establish a real close relationship between camp leader and her little charges.

[Suzanne Rico]

Imagine you're a kid taken from your parents and sent to what is essentially a racism and hate brainwashing camp. But there was one person there that.

[Heidi Lesser]

Heidi really loved and that was Fraulein Buchner, the one I stayed in touch with to the very end.

[Suzanne Rico]

Heidi's teacher was strict but kind. And she was also a resister working at the heart of the Nazis future.

[Heidi Lesser]

It was tough for them to get people and so they had to rehire an anti Nazi teacher who was banned from teaching. And she was from East Germany and she was banned from teaching because of her anti Nazi stance. But they needed her.

[Suzanne Rico]

Fraulein Buchner dedicated herself to the children in her care.

[Heidi Lesser]

She had to de worm us, she had to delouse us, she had to put some discipline in us.

[Suzanne Rico]

All while chipping away at National Socialism.

[Heidi Lesser]

Every Sunday morning we had to come down for breakfast and then we had to do what you call is an appel. That means we had to stand straight and raise our hand and pledge allegiance to Hitler with our like doing the Heil Hitler salute. Yeah, the Heil Hitler thing. And of course I was tall and skinny and malnutrition. And so I fainted and another one fainted and so I keeled over and she decided to do away with appel. She took us to church instead. She took a great big risk.

[Suzanne Rico]

Fraulein Buchner knew what could happen to her, but she followed her moral compass anyway. And it's this young woman who had Heidi under her wing. The night Kassel was bombed TO BITS On October 22, 1943, Heidi and her campmates hear a sound like approaching thunder. It's the engines of 600 British bombers rumbling overhead. And there's. There is no mistaking what comes next. 1800 tons of bombs slam into the city of Kassel where most of the children's families live. Half a million magnesium fire sticks ignite on impact. When Frulein Buchner opens the door to the camp bunkhouse, the girls crowd around.

[Heidi Lesser]

The whole sky was red and it was not just like a fire in the distance. The entire sky and her face was so, so telling. I could see the absolute horror of what she was seeing because the sky could not be that red without the whole city burning.

[Suzanne Rico]

Frulein Buchner closes the door.

[Heidi Lesser]

We were quiet. The kids were not crying. We just sat quietly. And then she turned around.

[Suzanne Rico]

The teacher does her best to stay calm. And lead by example. But she knows the attack has changed everything for these girls. Best case scenario, their homes are damaged. Worst case, their families are dead.

[Heidi Lesser]

It does not go through your mind that you could be affected. I was shocked when she called me in to tell me that our house burned down. I couldn't believe it. And so I said, did they save my dollhouse? Did they save my dollhouse? And she put her head down and cried because it was the last straw. You know, Such a childlike question. Did they save my dollhouse?

[Suzanne Rico]

This is it. While Heidi watched Kasselbern from afar, our mom was right in the middle of the chaos. It's a tranquil hillside neighborhood. The sky above clear and blue. There's a Red Bull car parked out front. The four story apartment building is rebuilt now a pink cherry tree blooming out front. Balconies overlook a city that was nearly destroyed one long ago night.

[Gabi Lesser]

What wakes me? Sirens? Screams? Someone rips me out of my warm bed and runs me down lots of stairs to the dark, smelly cellar.

[Suzanne Rico]

Those were the stories our mom told us as kids. Now we want to see that cellar for ourselves. There's 10. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 10 families.

[Lutz Boudras]

Well, they cut it in a smaller apartment.

[Suzanne Rico]

Okay, Katrina Miller. I buzz every apartment until finally a woman comes to the lobby door. She's annoyed, but when we explain why we're here, she leads us around to the back, opens the cellar door, and just like that, oh, my gosh, we're in.

[Lutz Boudras]

It's crazy to be here in this actual basement where she was.

[Suzanne Rico]

Where's the light?

[Lutz Boudras]

It was scary. She was so little. 1943, she was five and a half. You know, yanked out of sleep. Dragged down here cold.

[Suzanne Rico]

Watch your head.

[Lutz Boudras]

Yeah, it's really low.

[Suzanne Rico]

Mom's memoir describes all of this. Yeah.

[Gabi Lesser]

Yeah. The cellar gets full of people. Only two candles. Shadows flicker on the wall.

[Suzanne Rico]

That's what we're looking at right here.

[Gabi Lesser]

My heart thumps. Nobody talks. Is it night or day?

[Lutz Boudras]

It's certainly what she described as dark and a little bit dank.

[Suzanne Rico]

I mean, everything on top of her was burning.

[Lutz Boudras]

Yeah.

[Suzanne Rico]

Yeah.

[Gabi Lesser]

After a long time, the cellar door finally opens. We walk outside into a kind of silence. A crackling silence. A gold bright silence. Then I see it. A bridge of fire stretches from the roof of our building to the one next door.

[Lutz Boudras]

It started burning way up high.

[Suzanne Rico]

And so they were all able to.

[Lutz Boudras]

Get out and then rescue a lot of their stuff out of the apartment. They had to run up and down the stairs. Once they had everybody out of the cellar.

[Gabi Lesser]

Then the silence fills with music.

[Suzanne Rico]

That story about Dola playing the piano, I mean, that's like, legendary.

[Gabi Lesser]

It's the moonlight music my sister Dola plays.

[Suzanne Rico]

She didn't want to leave her piano, so she ran back in, started playing.

[Gabi Lesser]

The song floats from our high window like the fire that curls around the corners.

[Lutz Boudras]

She started playing with her gas mask on.

[Suzanne Rico]

It's so hard to even just imagine that.

[Lutz Boudras]

Playing the moonlight Sonoda. As the apartment burns.

[Gabi Lesser]

Papa runs into the burning building. I hear crash. A giant fang, like the keys pounded all at once.

[Lutz Boudras]

And as the story goes, you know, he heard her, grabbed her, and as they got out, the beam fell on the piano.

[Gabi Lesser]

Papa runs out dragging a stumbling ghost. He shouts, pulls. It's my sister behind him. She's crying so hard.

[Suzanne Rico]

My mom and her family survived the worst firestorm ever to hit Kassel when 10,000 others did not. But as she sat in the street that October night, holding her baby brother in the eerie orange light, she began to doubt whether her brilliant father, who was working so hard to save his country, would be able to save them. Things were just never the same for them after that.

[Lutz Boudras]

Everything changed.

[Heidi Lesser]

Everything.

[Suzanne Rico]

Coming up on the man who calculated death.

[Robert Lesser]

On June 13, 1944, on the channel coast of Europe, the age of the missile dawns.

[Lutz Boudras]

He was going to use the rockets to take over the world instead of tanks, you know, he wasn't so far away.

[Robert Lesser]

They made a terrible noise, a dreadful noise.

[Heidi Lesser]

Roaring noise, getting louder and louder and louder.

[Tanteheidi]

It's quite extraordinary how close death came.

[Robert Lesser]

To everybody, really, in those days.

[Suzanne Rico]

He was not just calculating the death.

[Lutz Boudras]

Of his missile, he was calculating the.

[Suzanne Rico]

Death of people, of test pilots.

[Thomas Lesser]

You can say we were all a bunch of fanatic Nazis, but we were patriots. We wanted to defend our country, and we were inventors. We were creative.

[Heidi Lesser]

This is Robert Lusso right there.

[Gabi Lesser]

That's Robert Lesser right there.

[Lutz Boudras]

You can see.

[Suzanne Rico]

Yeah.

[Gabi Lesser]

Wow.

[Suzanne Rico]

That's. Next time on the man who Calculated Death, an original series from Discount Sushi, a novel. The show is written, reported and produced by me, Suzanne Rico. And if you're enjoying it, please rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. For more information, including family photos, videos, and archival material, go to the manwhocalculateddeath.com thanks so much for listening.