KURT

Kurt Wolf was the oldest of the Wolf siblings. Trying to find information or documents on him has been interesting. I find them in the strangest of places.

Kurt was, from what I’ve been able to find, a very intelligent, kind and handsome young man. He had a close knit relationship with his mother and his siblings. When his siblings were born, he took on the responsibility of being a good example for them. He always supported Felicitas’s designs, and read Otto’s poems.

Kurt was born on February 13, 1915 in Lipnik, Czech Republic. Being the first born, he was the pride and joy of the family.

His family lived in Lipnik. Lipnik is located in the North East of Moravia in the Czech Republic. From what I’ve found, the city of Lipnik, also called Lipnik Nad Becvou is a small town where farmers lived. Lipnik had a large Jewish community and unfortunately, because of the Nazis and their collaborators, the community was destroyed. Lipnik was a beautiful place to raise a family. Felicitas, Kurt’s younger sister was born there also.

Kurt not only saw one war, but two. When Kurt was born, WWI was in full swing. He was born in 1915, WWI started in 1914 and did not end until 1918, when Kurt was three years old.

Kurt was a Jew, and according to Felicitas, she said that before the war, they did not really observe any of the Jewish holidays, rituals or keep kosher.

After Felicitas was born (March 27, 1920), they moved to Mohelnice, Czech Republic. Kurt commuted to elementary school in Litovel. Kurt’s education continued after he graduated on June 14, 1935. After he graduated, he went to study medicine at the University of Brno. In trying to find which University he went to, it was actually the Masaryk University, which still stands in Brno. I emailed them to see if there were any records of Kurt going there. One of their faculty, Jarsolva Kacetlova, got in touch with me.

She said this: “Kurt Wolf was the student at the Faculy of Medicine of Masaryk University from autumn 1935 to summer 1938. He didn’t finish his studium of medicine. He was born on 13. 2. 1915 in Lipník nad Bečvou and at the time of his studium he had his domicile in Úsov (district Zábřeh). He graduated at grammar school in Litovel on 14. 6. 1935. His father Berthold Wolf lived in Olomouc (street Smetanova Nr. 8) and was sales representative and disabled pensioner.There has been no other university in Brno, where the studium of medicine has been possible.

Yours sincerely.

Jaroslava Kacetlová.” Jaroslava also said to me that when Kurt was going to Medical school, his degree plan was five years, not the usual four years as it is here in the States, but it still was ten semesters long. She also said that before 1948 and 1949, there was not an entrance exam. Now there is an entrance exam for the University.

In 1933, the Nazis came to power. In March of 1939, the Germans annexed the Czech Republic, which was then CzechoSlovakia.

When the war seemed looming over the country, Kurt decided that he was not about to die, especially by the Nazis. He decided he would pack some of his things and he headed to the Soviet Union. WHY? He said this: “A life in exile would be well worth it.”

While in the Soviet Union, he used his incomplete MD to help in Russian health care, which made sense, since he was becoming a doctor. He also was a teacher in Kazakhstan.

On February 20, 1942 he joined the forming Czech Unit in Buzuluk. This is where it gets tricky of what he actually did in the Czech Army. I have read he was the Army’s doctor and a soldier. From what I have discovered, the official website of Lipnik has stated that Kurt was, because of his medical knowledge, (I mean, he was getting an MD), states that he was assigned to help with the medical side of the army , but he said he wanted to be up front and center, meaning he wanted to be in the line of duty. But from other sources I have found, he was the army’s doctor. In the book Jews of Bohemia and Moravia by Livia Rothkrichen (Yad Vashem Press, 2005), Kurt is referred to as DR Wolf.

Kurt fought in the Battle of Sokolovo. The battle was fought in Sokolovo, near what is now Kharkiv, Ukraine. The Battle of Sokolovo lasted from March 8, 1943 until March 13, 1943. Kurt died on the second day of the battle.

Kurt was a refugee, but he wanted to fight for his country and rightfully so, since the Czechs wanted to get even with the Germans. The Germans murdered so many of their people already in a short span of time.

In the book Jews in Svoboda’s Army In the Soviet Union, by Erich Kulka, Kurt is mentioned a few times.

Kurt is mentioned on pages 114, 126, 194 and 206.

Kulka said this of Kurt:

“Kurt Wolf, born in 1915, had been forced by the German invasion to flee Brno shortly before he had finished his medical studies. He crossed the Polish border secretly near Ostrava. He worked in a transit camp for political refugees and fled to Russia when the Germans occupied the city. In Russia, he went around to Kolkhozim, treating patients who were impatiently awaiting to see Dr. Kutik, a well known Czech Doctor. ”

Sadly the book does not go into detail what Kurt’s role in the war was. But the book does give him his title “SRGT- Sergeant.” From what I have been able to find is that Kurt was both a doctor in the army and a Sgt in the Army. On page 206, the book states this:

“In our units the following men serve: Czechoslovak natiations, Czechs, Slovaks, Ukranians from Carpathian Russia, Jews and others. All of them are unified in a joint effort to destroy the enemy as quickly as possible. There is no distinction between nationalities in the army. Questions of religious beliefs are likewise the private affair of each officer and soldier.

This is the first time women volunteers have been allowed to take part in active service, and they distinguished themselves in battle. The Czechoslvaks did not hesitate under fire and fought heroically. They did not renounce one inch of territory to the enemy, and when they fell, they died bravely. Among the fallen were Captain Jaros, First Lieutenant Lom, Master Sergeant Stejskal, Lance Corporal Spiegel, Sergeant Kurt Wolf, and others.”

As it said in the book, Kurt was made a Sergeant, not an army doctor. So in the research that has been done, he used his medical experience to help with the medical field of the army and was promoted to Sergeant.

In an article written by IDNES.CZ News, it said this about Kurt:

“He got into it when, like thousands of other people, he first fled the protectorate, until then he lived with his family in Mohelnice. As a Jew, Kurt Wolf had a legitimate fear for his life. He was born on February 13, 1915 in Lipník nad Bečvou, at the time he was leaving he lacked only one exam to graduate from Masaryk University in Brno and become a doctor.”

This is new to me. I had no idea he was that close to completing his degree.

The article also states this:

“During his escape, he first went to Poland, after his German occupation, he continued, as did a number of refugees to the Soviet Union. Here, thanks to his knowledge of medicine, he first began to work as a healer in the countryside, making him very popular among the locals.”

Kurt’s knowledge of medicine did not go unnoticed by the locals. I think he used it for good and a way to support himself while he was away.

The article also gives me more evidence that thwarted the other sources I found of him being the Army’s Doctor.

It says here:

“His courage is also evidenced by the fact that when the battalion command offered him a position in the medical unit due to his medical education, he refused. And that may be a doctor after the war, but now he wants to settle accounts with the Nazis in the fight”

The other sources I have read have claimed that because of his medical knowledge, he was the Army’s Doctor, but a few sources, such as this article, has thwarted that claim and has stated, he wanted to fight.

NOW! The author of this article, Rostislav Hanys, goes into detail about what Kurt actually did during the war.

“His task was to prevent the Germans from advancing on Kharkov. Wolf and his comrades-in-arms were in charge of a ten-kilometer-wide belt on the Arťuchovka — Sokolovo line. The Association for Military Places of Worship then states that Kurt Wolf was one of those non-commissioned officers who encouraged soldiers primarily by his own example.

On March 9, 1943, the second day of the battle, his company received an extremely dangerous order: a surprise attack on German positions. The risk of them falling was enormous for Wolf’s soldiers. The main enemy forces were to follow each other, while units of the Soviet 25th Guards Division were to strike a decisive strike on the neighboring section.”

His role is finally revealed! Other sources just say he fought and died, but never went into details of what he did. The article continues to say how he fought in the Battle of Sokolovo.

“Wolf’s group advanced across the icy terrain directly at the head of the attacking wave. But the soldiers came under heavy fire. Hell broke loose, and they faced dozens of tanks.

When Wolf ordered the attack, he was severely wounded by mortar shrapnel. The last cruel moments of his life were later described by his comrade-in-arms Alexander Beer, with whom Wolf became friends during training.

He had a terrible wound in his stomach, his uniform soaking in blood. As he tore his blouse, his intestines were exposed. He asked me to shoot him, that as a doctor he knew very well that he was done and that he did not want to be captured by the Nazis in any way,”Beer said a few years ago. But Beer took his friend with him as he retreated and dragged him across the frozen river. A bloody smudge ran across the ice. Wolf kept urging Beer to shoot him. But he was in a terrible dilemma. He himself was at the end of his strength, but he did not want to leave the dying friend.

Eventually, he left Kurt with a rifle and stumbled to the other side with his injured leg. Even after decades, he did not stop blaming the decision to listen to his friend to leave his friend and survive on his own. Only a few steps behind him, he heard a shot.”

This is new information to me. He basically ended his own life because he was in so much pain. As someone who was getting their medical degree, he knew that he had to make a terrible choice.

This article was written recently, only on March 28, 2021. The fact that Kurt was still relevant, even now.

Kurt’s death was revealed to the surviving family a few days after liberation. Felicitas remembered:

“They immediately brought us straw bales so that we could have something to lie on. Meanwhile, Dad talked to the major and asked him if he had ever heard Kurt Wolf ‘s name . The major thought about it and said that on March 9, 1943 , a Czechoslovak unit near Sokolov was deployed to fight under General Svoboda, and Kurt Wolf was one of the hero commanders who laid down his life there. Crying and crying, my parents fell from one heart attack to another.”

Kurt’s death was a big blow to the family. After hearing this news, his mother, Ruzena, suffered a horrible stroke that she never fully recovered from.

After the war, Kurt was posthumously given the Sokolov Memorial Medial, the Order of the White Lion, the Czech War Cross and the Order of the Red Banner, all very high honors ever awarded to someone in the military.

On February 15, 1947, four years after his death, the faculty of the medical school that Kurt attended (Masaryk School of Medicine in Brno), gave him the title of MUDR, which is a Doctorate in Medicine in his honor. Kurt was not properly buried. He is buried in an unmarked grave in what is now Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Kurt’s other brother, Otto, wrote about Kurt in his diary. The family prayed for his safe return. But what Otto and the remaining family did not know, by the time that Otto was writing these entries, Kurt had been killed.

(Kurt in the Army. Here he is as a soldier, ready to fight. This is the only known photo of him in the Soviet Union. Kurt was killed on March 9, 1943. He was twenty-eight years old) .

His brother, Otto, remembered him in his diary. Otto wrote how the family wished that Kurt was alright and how they hoped to see him again. Kurt is twelve years older than Otto and is five years older than Felicitas.

In 1995, the then seventy-five year old Felicitas decided that she could no longer handle Kurt’s presence, and donated his photo to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.