Wartime satchel returned to soldier’s son
TEARS welled yesterday as the son of a World War 2 German soldier reclaimed his father’s satchel, more than 70 years after it was brought to New Zealand by a Kiwi soldier.
Walter Chissell, of Whangarei, returned from the war with the leather satchel containing photographs, books and letters which belonged to Eddi Fickeis.
Little is known about how Sgt Chissell came into possession of the satchel, and his family and descendants spent decades trying to find Mr Fickeis.
Despite searching ‘‘all his life’’, Sgt Chissell died in 1991 without solving the mystery.
More recently, the satchel has been in the hands of Sgt Chissell’s daughterinlaw, Elainee Witehira, of Dunedin.
In their bid to continue the search, Ms Witehira’s daughter Xzenia suggested posting information about it online.
Purakaunui resident Wiebke Finkler saw the post as she was about to make a return visit to Germany to see her dying father.
While there, she did some research and managed to find the German soldier’s son, Axel Fickeis (69).
The path to finding the German family seemed so unlikely, Mr Fickeis initially thought it was a scam.
Only when he saw the photos from the satchel did he believe the story was true.
Mr Fickeis was in Dunedin yesterday to reclaim the piece of family history.
‘‘I was deeply touched and close to tears,’’ he said through a translator.
‘‘To imagine that the last time my dad held this satchel in his hands, was during the war, possibly even when in fear of death, it really moved my heart.’’
Mr Fickeis said his father died in 1974.
‘‘He was a very kind and loving dad, who could be strict but always fair.
‘‘He was a teacher by profession.
‘‘During the war he was a simple soldier and radio operator.
‘‘In 1941, he was ordered to be stationed in Africa. Early on, he was arrested at the Libyan border.
‘‘How his bag ended up in Walter’s hands, we don’t know. Eddi only very rarely talked about the war to us children.’’
Ms Witehira was delighted the satchel had finally been returned to the Fickeis family, but was sad to see it go.
‘‘I’m over the moon, although at the same time, it’s bittersweet.
‘‘I became so attached to the photos in the satchel that the people in them became like family to me.
‘‘Two to three times a week, I would take the photos out of the satchel and say, ‘Who are you, where is your family?’’’
Ms Finkler said she was so ‘‘blown away’’ by the story of the satchel, she planned to produce a documentary about it, and was attempting to raise funds to make the film.