Diary entry by Amalie Eichler on her flight from Munich (USEAAR,#29)

This post is part of an after-action report of Unconditional Surrender! (Salvatore Vasta, GMT Games) and therefore entirely fictitious.

Tübingen, May 21, 1943

Finally, we are in Tübingen! Frieda has taken us in – of course she has, what else can you do when your sister with her children stands before you and you know they have no way to go? Of course, there was no guarantee she would still be here. The war has changed everything. Yesterday’s certainties are today’s gambles. In any case, she seemed happier to see us than she is worried about having to feed another four mouths.
Of course she asked why we had come. After all, to the women and men of Tübingen it seems that they have born the same fate as Munich – when the Italians came three years ago, they took Tübingen soon after Munich, and so did the English last year. But from the rumors we have heard, Russian occupation is different from either Italian or English, and now any semblance of order is breaking down anyway. I couldn’t bear to stay there, if only for Martha’s sake. She’s only fourteen, and yet that would make her a woman in the eyes of the Russians. So I also told Frieda, and I think she understands.

German refugees move west to escape the Red Army. German Federal Archive, image 146-1985-021-09.

She doesn’t understand everything. Nobody could who has not lived under air raids for half a year, who has not made their way over three hundred kilometers on foot whenever we could not get onto a farmer’s cart or one of the rare trains still running. Max’s bad leg has slowed us down, but without it, he could never have made it through the army and SS patrols everywhere which are very suspicious why a twenty-year-old lad is not wearing a uniform. Like this, he only shows them the holes in his calf, and says „Carpathians“. It is perverse that I, his mother, should be glad for it.
Little Gertrud keeps asking where her father is. I assure her he will come soon. She does not quite believe it. Neither do I.
We do hope he comes here. Or, at the least, that the Americans will get to Tübingen before the Russians do.

You can see the current state of affairs in the game in the Twitter thread:

And most decisively, the Soviet forces in the south led by 1st Guards Tank Army advance deep into southern Germany, annihilate the last German troops in Bohemia, and take Munich from the rear. The Soviet spearheads reach the Main. #USEAAR @gmtgames pic.twitter.com/ZoQYdTtxuR

— Clio's Board Games (@cliosboardgames) June 20, 2020