By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Karl Kuepper, who survived three years in a Russian labor camp, will celebrate his 100th birthday on Wednesday.
Kuepper, who lives in Bowling Green Manor, recalled the difficult years of his youth in Dusseldorf, Germany. As a teen, he was drafted into the German Army and fought on the Russian front.
His daughter, Caroline Kuepper, of Bowling Green, said her father had little choice in the matter.
“You were stuck. Either you were drafted or it was the gas chambers,” she said. “That was the choice.”
Kuepper was captured by Russian troops and labored in the prison camp in Perm, Russia, until the war ended in 1945. Despite the cruelty of the camp, he recalled acts of kindness by the Russian guards – who also had little choice during the war.
‘“It was part of the gulag system of forced labor,” Caroline Kuepper said.
But her father had a remarkable way of viewing people positively.
“He just thought the best of people. He saw the humanity in people even during that horrible time,” she said. “The guards shared their food with him. He saw they were stuck in a situation just as he was.”
Her father also witnessed Germany’s euthanasia program leading up to the systematic murdering of Jews. For two years before WWII began, people with mental and physical disabilities in Germany were killed.
“He has nightmares. He still talks a lot about that,” Caroline said. “They didn’t talk about Post Traumatic Stress back then,” but she has no doubt that her dad is haunted by what he witnessed.
World War II shaped her parents’ lives. Her mother’s first husband was killed in the war, and she struggled to keep her two children safe. Her father lived through years in a Russian gulag.
“They persevered no matter what,” their daughter said.
Kuepper and his wife had three more children. Caroline was born in Germany in 1960. In 1970, the family moved to Toronto, Ontario, and later to the Cleveland area. Her dad was an electric engineer.
“He was a very hard worker, and he persevered,” his daughter said.
And he continued to find good in the world.
“He was a nature lover. He loved people, his animals, and his friends,” she said.
On the verge of his 100th birthday, Karl Kuepper still looks on the bright side, saying he does not feel close to being a century old.
“No, that’s the problem. I don’t feel like 100,” he said with a smile.
