On the same card, Frederick’s position in the German military was listed as “SAN. SOLD” and his division as “LW SAN.G. 1/1,” which seems to indicate that he was a low-ranking medical soldier in the Luftwaffe. Of course, errors were made in paperwork all the time, but it’s unlikely that a paratrooper would be listed incorrectly as a medic. The most reasonable explanation was that in an attempt to impress his children, Frederick told them that he was an elite paratrooper. Perhaps he still longed to be the hard-core military hero he had wanted to be in his father’s eyes.14

In all likelihood, Frederick’s unit was en route to Africa, but he just never made it there. In 1942, the United States began a lengthy surge in northern Africa against the Axis powers. More than 100,000 soldiers under the leadership of Generals George Patton and Omar Bradley joined forces with British troops led by General Bernard Montgomery to wage intense battles against German troops under General Erwin Rommel along the Mediterranean coast of Africa, comprising Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia. The casualties were extensive, thousands of men died, and several thousand German soldiers were taken prisoner.15

Germans captured in Africa were first detained in makeshift processing camps hastily erected by Allied forces in places such as Marrakesh, Casablanca, and other North African cities and towns. Soldiers captured in Europe, as Frederick said he was, were detained primarily in France and England. The seriously wounded were transported to hospitals. Other prisoners were held there just long enough to receive a medical examination, get inoculated and deloused, be stripped of their possessions, and then be processed and assigned a serial number before being put on a ship for the transatlantic journey to the United States. Prisoners also had to complete a form that required fingerprints and a medical history; the form was sent to the International Red Cross and Swiss authorities so that their families could be informed about the status of their loved ones.16

Frederick must have been detained for a few weeks in one of the transitional camps. Karl and Margarete Albert didn’t know where he was, nor did his sister, Charlotte. When he joined the Luftwaffe, Frederick lost contact with his family. At some point, when the bombings in Austria intensified, the Alberts temporarily left Vienna, so for a time Frederick didn’t know how to reach them either.

Although Frederick had no way to know how long he would be in the transitional camp or where he would be headed for the duration of his captivity, his proficiency in English was an asset. At least he was able to listen to his American captors and pick up clues from time to time.