Dieter Artur Konitzer, 24 Nov 1929 - 29 Dec 2013

KONITZER, CARROLL, CARLSON

Posted By: Sandy Ficken (email)
Date: 3/1/2014 at 15:56:20

MIDDLE AMANA

Dieter Artur Konitzer passed away peacefully Dec. 29, 2013, with his family at his side.

Dieter was born in Sadowa, Krs. Labiau, East Prussia on Nov. 24, 1929. The days of childhood ended in the RAF Blitzkrieg of Konigsberg in August 1944. Working in the shipyard as a student and staying with a host family, the night air raid incinerated the capital of East Prussia. He survived the inferno and returned home to his mother and sister. The mass exodus of German civilians from the eastern territories began as the Red Russian Army advanced. Dieter, his mother and sister joined other refugees from January to March 1945, walking on foot, by horse and cart, and later by packed railroad boxcars toward western Germany.

In Haltern, West Germany, he met and married Frieda, who coincidentally had been on that same train out of East Prussia. He worked in the dangerous coal mines those first post war years.

In a memoir he wrote, 'The poor socioeconomic conditions in the aftermath of this war, the uncertain future and the prospect of another invasion by the Soviet Union prompted us to seek a better and safer place to live and raise a family in PEACE.' Sponsored through St. John's Lutheran Church, Homestead, Iowa, Dieter, wife Frieda and little daughter Rosemarie were allowed to emigrate to Iowa in 1952. The U.S. armed forces ship The General Harry Taylor took 11 days to cross the Atlantic. They passed through Ellis Island and boarded a train to Chicago and another to Iowa City, where their church host family, the Erwin Maas' met them.

Dieter worked at the Amana Refrigeration plant and later at Cherry Burrell as electrical service engineer which took him to job sites worldwide. His most challenging and rewarding job in this capacity was acting as a plan building manager in Saudi Arabia for three years.

In Middle Amana, he and wife Frieda proudly built their own home with their own hands. Here they lived and raised their family in PEACE.

Surviving are his wife, Frieda, of 63 years, Middle Amana; children, Rosemarie Carroll, Los Angeles, Calif., Renate Carlson, Mankato, Minn., and Dieter Konitzer Jr., Walcott, Iowa; grandchildren, Lisa, Joshua, Tony and Andrea; and greatgrandchildren, Alan and Anya.

The Gazette 01 Jan 2014