May 2025 News Release
The Kriegie Foundation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kriegie Kids: On Our Fathers’ Trail -- Film Explores Through the Eyes of their Children, WWII POWs and a 600-mile Death March Across Poland and Germany in 1945
(Atlanta) May 6, 2025--The Kriegie Foundation, a newly formed foundation dedicated to preserving and honoring the memory of WWII Prisoners of War, announced the release of its hour-long documentary entitled Kriegie Kids: On Our Fathers’ Trail. The film will debut on Memorial Day, May 26, 2025, on WABE TV, Atlanta, (PBS-30) and other PBS stations.
The film follows five strangers, brought together almost eighty years after the end of World War II, to follow the paths their fathers endured as German prisoners of war. They call themselves “Kriegie Kids,” children of US airmen who were shot down and taken as prisoners of war by German forces. The Kriegie Kids follow their fathers’ trail through Germany and Poland, learning about their fathers’ closely guarded secrets. Their search for the truth honors the collective experience of the airmen who fought in the deadly skies over Nazi Germany and acknowledges the impact such events have had on subsequent generations.
All the Kriegie Kids are sons or daughters of airmen who were imprisoned at Stalag Luft IV, a POW camp for non-commissioned Air Force officers located near the Baltic Sea in what was Pomerania (now Poland). Part of their quest was to follow the path of the brutal forced march from that camp, often referred to as the Death March or the Black March, which lasted as long as 86 days and covered 600 miles. The conditions were horrendous. The prisoners marched on and on, day after day, carrying all their belongings on their backs. Many developed severe frostbite. They had very little food and lost a massive amount of weight. At night, they were locked in drafty barns, packed tight, side-by-side. Some nights were spent outside in freezing temperatures. There was no ability for the men to keep themselves clean. All became infested with lice and fleas. No clean water was provided. Almost all developed dysentery. The story of this march chronicles the sufferings of a patriotic and heroic group of young men who sacrificed for both American and European freedom. This story is not part of most WWII history books.
Michigan natives and sisters, Laura Edge and Ellen Bett-Witt, are daughters of T/Sgt Lawrence Lee Witt, who flew with the 8 th Air Force as an engineer/gunner aboard a B-17 Bomber. He was shot down on his seventh mission and spent eleven and one-half months as a prisoner of war. Laura spent years researching her father’s story and this culminated in her book, On the Wings of Dawn: American Airmen as Germany’s Prisoners. It is available on Amazon.
Ellen Weaver Hartman, from Atlanta, GA, is the daughter of Joseph D. Weaver, who flew fifty- two missions as a B-26 radio operator/gunner for the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces. His final mission came on August 6, 1944, when FLAK caused his B-26 Marauder Bomber to crash near Trouville Sur Mer, Normandy. Joe and two of his crewmates escaped the plane through a side window. The pilots jumped through a malfunctioning bomb bay, and they were all captured immediately and spent nine months in captivity.
Jim Hemphill is from Mississippi. He is the son of James V. Hemphill, Jr., or Vic to his friends. Jim’s father was a young, 15th Army Air Force B-24 gunner flying from southern Italy when he was shot down on February 23, 1944, over Austria. Imprisoned in Stalag Luft VI in East Prussia, he was later evacuated with other POWs in the terrifying hold of a rusty Baltic coal scow to Stalag Luft IV. He was then forced to run two miles shackled to a buddy and urged on by bayonet stabs and guard dog bites to the prison. The trip on the Baltic became known as the “Baltic Cruise” and the run simply “The Run Up the Road.”
Rich Ruben, originally from Philadelphia and now living in South Carolina, is the son of T/Sgt Manuel (Manny) Ruben, 8 th Air Force radio operator/gunner on B-17s. He was shot down on his 27th mission when his plane exploded with him in it. Apple TV’s 2024 epic series Masters of the Air inspired Rich to learn more about his father’s fate as a POW.
Laura Edge speaks for the Kriegie Kids when she shares her impressions: “This trip was beyond our wildest imaginings. Our director, Christine Rütten, and historian Susanne Meinl, made so many contacts with local dignitaries and historians who answered so many of our questions and took us to so many sites related to our fathers’ POW experiences. Because of our fathers, we were welcomed and embraced with open arms everywhere we went.” This documentary was created by the award-winning director Christine Rutten, and produced by ACAM Network in cooperation with Hessischer Rundfunk and PBS Station WABE. “The Kriegie Foundation is proud to have enabled the production of this fine documentary,” said Edge.
For more information, or if you would like to learn how to exhibit the documentary for non-commercial purposes, please inquire at Info@kriegiefoundation.org
To view the documentary click this link:
About the Kriegie Foundation
The Kriegie Foundation is a newly formed foundation dedicated to preserving and honoring the memory of WWII Prisoners of War. For more information, or if you would like to learn how to exhibit the documentary for non-commercial purposes, please inquire at Info@kriegiefoundation.org or visit www.kriegiefoundation.org
About WABE
WABE is Atlanta’s original, independent, non-profit source for news and local stories and the choice for NPR and PBS. Our stations deliver fact-based journalism and inclusive, engaging,
cultural content that informs, inspires, reflects, and empowers the millions who call the Greater Atlanta area home. WABE’s programs, podcasts, and events make Atlanta’s stories and storytellers accessible and relevant across various platforms for our diverse audience. WABE original programming, along with national NPR and PBS content, is available on WABE 90.1FM, WABE.org, WABE TV (PBS-30), and WABE-HD1/WABE-HD2, as well as streaming on the WABE Mobile App, Hulu + Live, YouTube TV, Chromecast, PBS.org, Local Now, Roku, Android TV & mobile, Amazon Fire TV & tablets, iOS, tvOS, and Android TV live streams. Visit wabe.org for more information.
Media Inquiries:
Sherri Daye Scott, sdayescott@wabe.org, 678-686-0331
Ellen Hartman ellen@hartmanpr.com, 678-399-3335
Christine Rutten christine.ruetten@hr.de
