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Wartime Experience In A Haunted House

 

Greetings. As English is not my native language, I would like to beg your forgiveness for my dull writing. I'm willing to discuss it later in the comments, so feel free to ask.

This experience happened not with me but with my grandfather, back in 1944 or 1945. At these days, he were serving Germany in the last years of the war. He was stationed with his unit in eastern Germany, and as far as I know it, it was winter time, or at least a cold period. Foreign soldiers like himself would usually find their comfort drinking and smoking while the enemy was coming. It was in a German bar that he heard a creepy story about an old abandoned noble household which was haunted.

First of all, some information that I know about the overall situation: As far as I know, the estate was abandoned long before the war, I don't know when it was built, but I would bet my money in XVIII century or earlier. Second, I can't tell you the region where it all happened. I know it were eastern Germany, and that my grandfather also pointed out, in his Catholic mentality, that the reason for this haunting is that in this particular region, noble families married with close relatives, or even brothers\sisters. I hope that someone more versed in German geography than me could point out the region, or even tell me if this practices were common in the countryside.

Anyway, he heard this with a friend, also a soldier, who was serving alongside him. They decided that the best course of action would be, bored as they were, to go to this house, and so they went. They drank to give them courage, which would explain the paranormal phenomena in part, of course (or it were a very well made German prank on the two foreigners), packed their cigarettes (as back in the day, grandpa used to smoke 8 packets a day), and went to the house. As he told me, it were far from the town where they were stationed, and, as rationing of fuel were in place, they walked the distance by foot, even to let the beer run off in the way. When they came to the house, it was dilapidated. Hailing from the petty military nobility, my grandfather could not explain the style of its facade, which is a pity, as the probability of identifying the estate would be greater. A thing he did note, as a good soldier, was that the house wasn't pillaged. Its windows weren't broken, door knobs in place, anything a peasant (or an Hungarian hussar) could take was still there after all that time. He thought that strange. As he recalled, there was a small stair leading to the front door. He remembered testing the wood, and the creaking were acceptable, so he went in. Someone had forced the front door, probably some earlier adventurer or brave drunken soldier, which made his work easier.

He entered the house with his friend, into a small hall. Again, things were dilapidated, but the objects were in place. There were many richly made Austrian plates, some antique weapons, but I do not know what else, as he didn't say. Well, they proceeded to a living room, with a fireplace. I mostly remember the fireplace being mentioned, and some more plates, cutlery and some chairs. He sat in one of them to wait for the thing to happen, as the peasants told him that the supernatural events only took place at midnight. They probably started talking or something, and were nearly giving up when they heard a rasping sound at the fireplace. When they looked, a plate was moving by itself. Startled, they rose up only to find that some things were levitating. They heard the sound of footsteps and an oppressive sensation of hatred towards them. My grandfather tells that the chair in which he just sat started levitating as well, and that objects were thrown at him with full force. Most of them weren't heavy, but some were furniture. He entered in a state of fear in which he did nothing more than run for his life. Such was his terror that when he recollected his self control, he was outside the house, squatting near the stairs in fear. Without knowing how much time had passed, he realized his friend was still inside the house, so he went inside just to find that things were scattered through the floor, and his friend was in fetal position, without making a sound, in a corner of the room. He rushed him out, and they returned to the town, in complete fear.

He says that this friend, later, started to grow white hair, and that the stress of the situation (and the war), made him look a lot older than he was. Later, he moved to the US with his family, and they never met again. Anyway, that's the story. I'll wait for feedback.

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, Thureos, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will participate in the discussion and I need help with what I have experienced.

TimeTravellingStoryteller17 (4 posts)
 
6 years ago (2018-12-25)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64ivyfhBbp4&t=53s
Hello hope to hear from you soon. I am going narrate your story in my podcast, hope that is okay.
Jetson (2 stories) (67 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-08-04)
Thureos, when I was in school Robert Hughes' Shock of the New was a fascinating series and take on art of the 21st century. Here is the link to the first episode...

Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3ne7Udaetg
Jetson (2 stories) (67 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-07-25)
Hello Thureos... I'm not on Facebook but please feel free to email me... You can find my email by clicking on my profile.
Thureos (1 stories) (12 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-07-24)
You'll like it, I'm sure. As for me, I'm an anthropologist. And my area of study (Islam) has nothing to do with it. But, I'm fascinated with vanguard art movements, as english literature from Wilde to the interwar guys. Anyway, if you wish, we could discuss it via-facebook or something.
Jetson (2 stories) (67 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-07-24)
Thanks Thureos... All I can say is that although my family's history had some quite prominent and interesting people in it who lived during the 20s and 30s my parents and grandparents took a rather Victorian attitude towards me and children in general (i.e. They should be seen and not heard) and any questions I might have had about those times were answered with our family motto "never complain and never explain". Sad really. But I certainly will look into this man's poetry further. I am a student of art/art history and architecture/design and I always have had an affinity for the ideas, movements, and personalities of those who lived between the great wars.
Thureos (1 stories) (12 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-07-21)
You should read Counterattack and other poems, from him. Sassoon were an anti-jingoist and anti-nationalist back at the WWI trenches. He writes marvellously. And I'm glad you liked. He's the product of a generation of intellectuals that were somewhat forgotten because of WWII. But the vanguard movements of the interwar periods have much to offer beyond the visual arts.
Jetson (2 stories) (67 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-07-21)
Thanks Thureos... I looked up the poem you quoted and was very moved to read it in its entirety... Thanks for sharing it.
Thureos (1 stories) (12 posts)
+2
7 years ago (2017-07-20)
Yes. I perfectly understand the feeling. My grandfather would rarely speak about those years. Even being a member of hungarian military nobility. My father said that he would sometimes say that if he could passe a sponge on his memories and erase his warring years, he would gladly do it. Fighting in Leningrad would break anyone, I belive. As Sassoon once wrote, "You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye/ who cheer when soldier lads march by,/sneak home and pray you'll never know/the hell where youth and laughter go"
Jetson (2 stories) (67 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-07-20)
Yes 'Unexplained' Many years ago I asked my Oma (grandmother) about the war (s) as she had lived through the First World War, the Second World War as well as the Russian Revolution. Her comment to me was "I'd like to tell you what happened but you wouldn't believe it"... And that was that.

Her statement however always made me feel that her experiences were beyond belief... I can only add that my father and his sister spoke about their experiences living in Berlin during the Second World War only on rare occaisions. And during these times, I have to say that what they briefly spoke about could be movies on their own... Making me wonder given what they endured... How lucky I am to be alive today.

Thanks for your comment.
Unexplained (2 stories) (122 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-07-19)
Hi again 'Jetson', I know exactly what you mean about that wartime generation. My grandfather never talked about his experiences either and I get the impression that people who didn't talk about it probably saw too much.
Jetson (2 stories) (67 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-07-17)
thank Thureos... Next month I'm in Sint Maarten for three weeks... And that's unfortuantley still 11 hours by plane from Rio... But maybe next year... Never say Never I say

Hello Unexplained... Yes... I feel that the story is even more awesome given who told it to me... Meaning that my father's generation were the type never to exagerate or mislead... They actually were people of little words when it came to their wartime experiences... And so when I heard this retelling one night it really gave me the shivers and goosebumps... As I could only imagine my father hearing this from his brother and what it must have meant for him... As he was just a small child at the time
Thureos (1 stories) (12 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-07-15)
I am brazilian-hungarian. After all my family blood spilt for the magyar country, I am not ready to give away my identity. Diaspora may have taken the tongue, but not the pride.
You should come, man. It is a beautiful country and the food is great. Hot as hell, but still, good food. I'm from Rio, so, feel free to ask if you come here. I would be very much obliged in showing the historical part of the city. Or the alcoholic one, of course.:)

Good comment, Unexplained. I feel happy for so many vet descendants from both sides coming around with their stories. Sadly, I do not know the city, and grandpa's been dead for some years. The only clue I got is that it were countryside, and old abandoned noble estates from before the war.
Unexplained (2 stories) (122 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-07-14)
'Jetson' I've only just read your story about the Spanish galleon. That was awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Unexplained (2 stories) (122 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-07-14)
Thureos that was an awesome story. Love it. A shame you couldn't pinpoint the location of this haunted house in E. Germany. If you could locate where this bar was, where your grandfather and his friend first heard about the haunting, then you could use a map and a compass to see roughly the distance he would have travelled with his friend on foot. The house wouldn't have been too far away if they got there on foot. If only you had the place name where the bar was located.

My mother told me about her father (my grandfather) who served in the RAAF, in the Pacific, and he had this seance with a group of fellow servicemen while serving overseas. They had to hold hands at a round table. At first, it didn't work and the guy that was leading the seance asked the person who didn't believe in it to leave the circle. One of the guys left and another came in to replace the guy who left. They joined hands again in a circle and after a while my grandfather noticed the table that they were sitting at began to levitate. He looked underneath to see who was making it lift up and there was nobody fooling around. The table was lifting up by itself.
Jetson (2 stories) (67 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-07-14)
Hello Thureos... Pardon my assumption about your German ancestry... If I am reading your commentary correctly I understand that you have grown up in Brazil and have Hungarian ancestry. My father had an uncle who immigrated to Brazil after the war but sadly he lost contact with him so I always wanted to visit your country. I have German/Russian/Italian ancestry so I have similar stories from my family of the hardships which they suffered and survived over the war years, Russian revolution, etc. I sometimes wonder given what they experienced, how am I alive today?
Thureos (1 stories) (12 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-07-13)
perfecionist* damned keyborad. And quite the troll, too. Haha 😆
Thureos (1 stories) (12 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-07-13)
Thank you for your kind words, my friends. I am quite the percecionist, and can get quite frustrated at grammatical errors, like the few I commited at the text. In fact, I do not speak one word of German as well as my mother tongue, Hungarian. Grandpa served the Hungarian forces, fought at Leningrad and, back in 1944, my family got executed by Soviet soldiers. A daughter survived, just to be killed back in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. In 44, Grandpa joined the 25th SS Division "Hunyadi" and surrendered to american soldiers. So, Grandpa migrated to Brazil and here we Horváth-Stansiths have been since then. He never visited Hungary again, nor have seen his daughter.

About the hangar story, I have heard similar ones and always find them quite curious. What could have happened there for such a haunting? Did he told anything more? Maybe an accident or an enemy air raid?

Jetson, man, I can't even answer to this properly. It is beyond anything that I have ever heard. It is simply creepy. A whole spanish galleon submerged and sailing? Maybe some remnant of the Grande Armada that tried to invade England back in the XVI century? You MUST write this down! It is an amazing story!
Jetson (2 stories) (67 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-07-13)
Great story... I have German ancestry and I have to say that I envy your ability to write English as I have no ability when it comes to speaking or writing in German.

With that said, as ForceAwakens, I would like to mention that my father told me a wartime ghost story that happened to his brother which I'll share.

Here goes... My father's brother was named Egon and served on the infamous battleship Bismarck and sadly lost his life when it was sunk. Before its sinking however, and while his brother was in his Kriegsmarine training, his brother came home on leave and told him a story that haunted my father for the rest of his life. My father being only 6 or 7 years of age at the time.

Egon served on a Schnellboot, or S-Boot, meaning "fast boat" in the English Channel 1940. The mission of his service was to try to rescue downed Luftwaffe airman who were at that time fighting England in the Battle of Britain.

One evening during a nighttime air offensive, Egon's Schnellboot left France and sailed into English Channel. As they cut their engines and waited to perform their service of rescue they soon became aware of Spanish voices. Thinking that this might be fisherman from neutral Spain they decided to see if they could pull alongside their boat or move closer as to not have a collision. As the voices grew louder very soon the Schnellboots searchlight came upon what could best be described as a 16th century Spanish galleon under full sail with crew.

My father told me that Egon and his crew were paralyzed with fear as this 16th Century vessel sailed past them. He said that the ship's details, e.g. Planks, rigging, cannons, etc. Were all distinguishable; including some of the crew who took no notice of them. The vessel proceeded leeward from their point of reference until it vanished and could no longer be seen.

On return to port, Egon's captain made a report which prompted the crew's separation (break-up) and re-deployment. They were told that the incident was not to be spoken about.
ForceAwakens81 (2 stories) (8 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-07-13)
Great story - your English is really good (better than my German!) Wie Gehts?:) That sounds so scary and unexplained... No amount of alcohol has led me to experience those type of events.

My Granddad had a similar thing occur many years ago. He used to be in the RAF and there was a well known hangar containing a couple of airplanes. Him and another guy had the only set of keys to this one hangar. Lot of people had ghostly experiences so one evening, they set up a tape recorder, said the date and time, put it on a shelf then locked up. An hour later, they came back, checked the recorder and as soon as they were heard locking up and walking away, the tape recorder picked up loud footsteps, multiple voices, whispering, dragging noises, things smashing then silence. The tape recorder then has the sets of footsteps coming towards the door, unlocking the padlock and stating the time and date again. Very odd and totally unexplained.

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