My Life As A Man

by Frau Else

This is one of the oddest stories of our time; For more than 25 years Else - Wilhelmine A. has lived as a man. Hard work amongst men this was her fate, which

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she chose for herself. Captivity, escape, sorrow and need shaped the pattern of her fate, since she dug tren- ches in 1944 shoulder to shoulder with men of a con- struction unit while under Russian aerial attack. She was finally taken prisoner by the Russians as a man. Only a very few people got to know the secret of this woman, who felt at home in the rough world of men. Just recently it was revealed under exclusion of the public.

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Because she pretended to be another person and used a false name Else- Wilhelmine A. was summoned to court in Moers (Rineland). The dutiful court servant

who called up Mrs. Wilhelmine A. in the hall outside the courtroom, was left speechless, when a man dressed in a dark brown suit and with hard facial features ap- proached him and declared: "That's me".

This was beyond the officer. Baffled he turned to the chairman: "There is a man outside, who claims to be a woman", he stammered with excitement and dis- gust. He completely was floored however, when the district judge said: "That's alright. Have the man, I mean the woman, take a seat".

This is what happened before the trial: Else Wil- helmine A. had come to a refugee camp near Giessen this past spring as a refugee Wilhelm A. During a med- ical check it was found, that Wilhelm was no Wilhelm, but a Wilhelmine and this for more than 25 years. It was also revealed that Wilhelmine had married as Wil- helm in the first years after the war. The woman was 20 years her junior. Wilhelm and Adelgunde were mar- ried in Torgau.

Prosecutor and court saw the human side of this extraordinary case: 35 marks (about $9.00) was the

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