The former SS soldier who fell in love with a Jewish woman
Traumatised and nearly starved in the aftermath of WWII, former SS soldier Hans Post was brought back to life by two women. ABC Producer William Verity discovers Hans’ transformation and the love of his Jewish wife, Gina Behrens.
Hans Post today Photo: William Verity
Hans Post is an old man. He is also a former SS soldier, twice decorated with the Iron Cross. He celebrated his 90th birthday in January and although he is still passionate and political, there are often times when his mind lets him down.
Hans Post
He will start sentences that fade away before they reach their end. There’s a searching look in his eyes as if he is on the verge of a breakthrough, but it’s followed by a shrug. The memory is gone.
‘I am going to die when I want to die, make no mistake about that,’ he says.
‘I have come to the conclusion that a bullet in the head is too much trouble for the ones that are not dying. But I will find a way. When I want to go, I’ll go. Don’t worry about it.’
Gina Behrens, his wife, is old too, but not so old that the cruelties of age have begun to affect her. She is a Jew— ‘People just hate Jews, I don’t know why’—who grew up in London before migrating to Australia.
To read more visit: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/showcase/the-former-ss-soldier-who-fell-in-love-with-a-jew/7189084
