sport horse snippets The Almost Forgotten Plight of East Prussia By Liz Cornell
in the Bahamas, has devoted the last five years to researching the plight of the Trakehner horses and the families of East Prussia who struggled to survive the wartime atrocities of 1944 and 1945. Inspired by her grandparents, who had owned a reputable Trakehner stud farm in the eastern-most province of Germany, Marina has set out to tell some of the almost-forgotten stories about the mass exodus of both the people of Prussia and their devoted Trakehner horses: she’s authored the new historical, fictional novel The Last Daughter of Prussia released earlier this year. Although the characters in the book are technically
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fictional, she bases them on the lives of her own grand- parents and parents, who miraculously survived “The Great Trek” that frigid winter at the end of the war. Women, children, elderly and the horses had to flee from Stalin’s encroaching army, which had been ordered to “kill anything German.” Russian soldiers were gradually taking over the province and brutalizing Prussian civilians, especially raping the women. Within this chaotic arena of Nazis, Russian soldiers and fleeing families, Marina writes in her prologue that the Trakehner horses — East Prussia’s symbol of excellence and beauty, bred on the land for over two centuries — struggled to save their
Left: Marina’s mother Owanta von Sanden on her Pinto Trakehner, Dandy. Below: Refugees during The Great Trek in early 1945.
urrently Marina Gottlieb Sarles does not own a Warmblood, or any horse, for that matter. Yet, Marina, of German descent who grew up
owners. “My mother owned a Pinto Trakehner called Dandy,” she says. “To this day my mother claims that Dandy saved her life. They had been resting in the forest after a long hard ride, and my mother fell asleep. As loud, rough German soldiers were approaching them Dandy nuzzled her to wake up. It was a narrow escape.” The book was an inspiration revealed to Marina
late one night while surfing the internet. “I came upon a beautiful white stallion named Fetysz Ox from the 1930s. He stood at the Trakehnen stud but
was killed by the Russians,” she recounts. Further research revealed that after fleeing from the enemy, the Trakehner breed was nearly annihilated as the original 1,200 horses from the Trakehner Horse Farm in Trakehnen were stolen, killed or eaten. Only 27 mares, two stallions and seven foals survived. She also had access to her late grandfather’s diaries that described in detail their family, the horses, their friends and the turmoil of war. Besides the East Prussians and the Trakehners, her
research pointed to another group of people living nomadically who suffered persecution from the Nazis: the Romanies, also known as gypsies. Her grandfather had written extensively about them and how he had befriended a particular family and allowed them to settle on his land. The Romanies were amazing horse trainers as well. One night they disappeared, and Marina’s grandfather learned that tragically the authorities had shot some family members and sent the rest to concentration camps. In a phone interview, Marina reveals her prime motivation
behind printing the truths of that era in The Last Daughter of Prussia. “The people of East Prussia were ashamed,” she explains. “After the war, they kept silent since they were embarrassed after learning about the Holocaust and persecution of Jews, Romanies and others. Their unspoken humiliation made it difficult for survivors like my grandparents to heal emotionally.” So after all these years Marina has become the messenger
of the Prussian refugees of World War II and the almost extinct Trakehner breed. She hopes that the book brings compassion for anyone killed in hatred, prejudice and war. She tells the story for “every slain tribe and forgotten soul, and for any unjustly slaughtered animal in the history of humanity.” As it recounts history, the plot intertwines a love story and boasts the heroic efforts of the Trakehner horses, loyal to the bitter end.
You can learn more about Marina and her new book at
www.marinagottliebsarles.com.
68 September/October 2013
Courtesy Marina Gottlieb Sarles
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