Looking back, I am thankful for my home in the U.S. I will never forget Germany, but home is here with my family and my dear friends and neighbors. My life has been enriched and influenced by two German cousins. One was Erna Grosser/Antony. She lived many years in Florida and passed away in 2004. The other is Dora Nier, who has been an invalid all her life with a hip ailment, and who still lives in Hamburg, Germany. A big thank you also goes to my friends and cousins in Berlin, Goerlitz, Kleve, Hamburg, and Duisburg. I still meet with my friends and classmates from my high school and enjoy our yearly reunions.

I am so very grateful to friends and neighbors that supported me and showed me love daily in so many ways. They stood with me in both my triumphs and moments of despair - you know who you are and i have treasured you in my heart. You made all of this possible by being my rock.

My deepest gratitude goes to my deceased husband, Marvin, who brought me to this wonderful country. Together we raised three caring and loving sons. Some of my greatest joys are now the grandchildren for whom I have written my memories. I really feel blessed and would like to close with these words from "America the Beautiful."

"America, America, God shed thy grace on thee."

Your loving "Mom" and "Omi",

Annelies Clauson

May 2006

Kirkland, Washington

I retired in 1991, but did not quit teaching. I have continued to work with students from Juanita High School and Lake Washington High School here in Kirkland, WA. I have worked with several interesting students and one recently sent me a thank you letter. In it he wrote,

"She taught me to be intellectually alive."

During my 27 years of teaching I also had received the following:

1. L.W.S.D.’s Foreign Language Department Coordinator 1967/68

2. Delta Phi Alpha, U.W. German Honor Society 1969

3. Golden Acorn Award - 1969 -P.T.S.A Finn Hill

4. On ballot for Teacher of the Year 1970 L.W.H.S.

5. First JHS teacher to have the Yearbook dedication 1974

6. Certificate of Merit - Goethe Institut 1977 (1 of 10 best German teachers in U.S.A.)

7. Nominated for Jefferson Award 2977

8. WSASCD Service Award for Outstanding Educator 1978

9. Washington Association of Foreign Language Teachers Board of Directors 1978 - 1980

10. American Association of Teachers of German, Washington Chapter President 1978 - 1980

11. Outstanding Teacher Award L.W.S.D 1979 with a $25 scholarship for a student

12. Board member of Lake Washington Ski Council 1980 -

1985

13. Delta Kappa Gamma - Honor Society for Education - 1981

14. "Bundesvierdienstkreuz" - one of the highest peace time awards/medals offered by the West German government - 1981

14. Public Awareness Award for State of Washington – 1983 awarded by A.A.T.G.

15. German Foreign Exchange started in 1967 - over 1,600 students exchanged by 1992

16. "Bundesverdienstkreuz" First Class - the highest peace time German award/medal offered by the West German government - 1988

By 1988 parents and friends had organized a 20-year exchange reunion. Juanita’s "picnic" was attended by approximately 60 German guests, former students, and principals of the 11 German schools. The dinner party held the next day, was at the Union Station in Seattle, and was attended by approximately 600 people. On that evening I received the highest German Peace Time Award for a civilian, the "deutsche Bundesverdientskreuz Erster Klasse" (German Federal Service Cross First Class). The "deutsche Bundesverdienstkreuz Zweiter Klasse" (German Federal Service Cross Second Class) I had received in 1982 honoring my desire and work for peace between our two countries. By that time I had been responsible for exchanging over 1,600 students. A student wrote once,

"The experience you made possible through the exchange program taught me a greater appreciation for all that I have, and for what one really needs to be truly happy. I’m finishing my final year at the University of Washington, where I will soon earn my B.A. In Philosophy, with minor focuses on Comparative Literature and Germanics. You are a strong, loving, and empathetic woman and through the lives you’ve touched, have passed these qualities and your integrity on to your students."

H. Foreign Student Exchange

1966 was also the time that I started my student exchange with Germany. The first student was Carl Dietz. He lived with my relatives. The next year I wrote a letter to the Hamburger Abendblatt looking for families willing to host my American students. They published the letter and 10 of my students went to Germany in June of 1967. Most of them stayed for the full 6 months. In January of 1968, the German exchange students started coming to stay with their exchange partners.

Other German schools heard about the successful program and within five years I had 11 schools in five different German cities all exchanging students with my students. I moved to Juanita High School in 1971, because it promised innovative programs for students.

G. Christine Kliesche

While I was trying to fit into my new life, I was continuing an active letter exchange with my friends and relatives in Germany. One day I was notified that one of my female cousins had died and her sick husband had been left alone to care for three teen-age children. Because I was godmother to the youngest girl, Christine, I asked Marvin if we could give her a home for several years until she finished high school. That is how Christine came to live with us and attend Lake Washington High School where I was teaching. She graduated from LW in 1968.

She had to take American Government during her senior year from Jake Rufer and George Brazel. (They were famous or infamous for team teaching this class which a student had to pass in order to graduate from LWHS.) One day she came to me in tears, and said Mr. Rufer had asked her a question about Hitler’s Germany, which she couldn’t answer, because she had not been born until 1949. Rufer said to her, "You don’t know anything about Hitler, but you Germans know how to kill 6,000,000 Jews!" Needless to say I could not start a discussion with him about ethics and teaching.

D. Return to U.S.A.

In 1961 I decided that, in order to feel at home in the U.S., I needed to obtain a college education.

F. University of Washington Education

I went to the University of Washington starting in 1961 and received my Bachelor’s Degree in 1964. I was immediately hired to teach German at Lake Washington and Redmond High School. The next year I had so many students I had a full-time position at LWHS. By 1967 I had my Master’s Degree in Germanics.

During these years, my husband, Marvin, retired from the Army. He had served 22 years and was tired of moving around to different parts of the U.S. and the world. He finished his university education in 1967. He had started his education in 1939 in Missoula, Montana, but had interrupted it to enlist in the Army during World War II. In 1967 he received his B.A. and taught science and social studies at Redmond Junior High in the Lake Washington School District.

My sons, Marvin and Mike, attended a German school for several weeks and were getting along well with their classmates and the German language. Little Mark had to stay home and one day he said to me,

"Mom, I want to go home to Dad, and want to go to Shi Shi Beach to go camping."

At that moment I knew I had to return to the U.S. The boys would be happier at home and have a better education there with their father.

C. Kleve

During the following years, my growing homesickness for Germany made me physically ill. The doctor advised my husband to send us all to Germany and live there for a little while. My husband, Marvin, told me that if I could not take life in the U.S. he would go to Germany and look for work over there. Needless to say, I was touched by his kindness and caring attitude.

We went to Kleve to stay with my aunt and to also meet with my mother who had been given permission by the East German Communist government to visit us in Kleve. She was thrilled to meet her grandchildren, but frustrated that she only spoke German and they only spoke English and she could not communicate with them.

A third transfer changed our living quarters to White Plains, New York where Marc Christian was born February 2, 1957. That day we had been married for 5 years and we had three boys. The doctor said, "Three boys in five years. In ten years you will have six!" But his was the doctor’s dream, not ours. We did not like New York and requested a transfer to the West Coast, where Marvin’s parents lived. This brought us in 1958 to Washington State where we stayed with his parents until we lived in our own house in Kirkland.

B. El Paso, New York, Washington, Germany

A transfer moved us from College Park, Maryland to El Paso, Texas where our second son Michael Andrew was born March 28, 1955.

2. Sanitary Commission

Another incident showed our misinterpretation of the function of the Sanitary Health Commission. At that time our water bill was very high in our College Park house, so my husband wrote a letter to the Sanitary Health Commission (SHC). He asked them to check the accuracy of the water bill. Consequently two people from the SHC knocked on our door and asked about the daily water usage.

When I heard they were from the SHC, my thoughts went back to Germany and my work on the Army Base where an inspection team came and checked the shop for cleanliness. So I asked myself, "Do they check people here in their own houses, too, for cleanliness?" I was determined to exaggerate my cleanliness.

The conversation went like this:

They asked,

"Are you doing laundry every day?"

I answered,

"Yes, between two and three loads per day."

"Does everyone in your family take a bath every day?"

they asked.

I replied,

"Sometimes two or three a day when it is very

humid here."

After this, the two gentlemen smiled very politely at me, and my husband received a reply from the Sanitary Health Commission: "We talked to your wife and according to her information this great amount of water usage is justified."

1. Hamilton Beach (everything in America is so practical)

The first year in Maryland was a very educational one for me. I knew American customs and social behavior from books and newspapers only. Marvin and I bought our first house in Maryland and a German girlfriend came for a visit.

Marvin’s parents had given us a Hamilton Beach mixer as a wedding present, which my girlfriend and I had never seen or used before. So one day we decided to bake a chocolate cake and were very delighted with the looks of the dough the mixer produced. The mixer became splattered so we decided to clean this wonderful machine. My girlfriend recalled reading in Germany that everything in America was very practical. So we decided we could immerse the whole thing, motor included, in the dishwater. A few days later my husband wanted to use this mixer and was shocked to see sparks flying from it. He questioned us, and we told him what we had read about America in a German newspaper.

A. College Park

We left Germany by boat in July of 1952 and headed for New York. From New York we drove by car to Tacoma Washington. Marvin’s parents address was P.O. Box 712, Tacoma, WA. The word "Box" in German is a shoe-box sized box and I was very relieved to discover the address did not mean Marvin’s parents lived in a "shoe box", but in a very nice house.

We had a wonderful week with them, and discovered we liked each other very much. We spent 4 weeks touring the United States. Marvin was finally stationed in College Park, Maryland, so that was where we ended our tour. A year later on July 11, 1953 our oldest son Marvin Carl was born.

C. The Honeymoon

Our first evening in Switzerland, not being familiar with Swiss customs and since it was quite cold, we went to bed very early. About ten minutes after we retired, we heard a knock on our bedroom door. Without waiting for us to answer the door, the maid came in with a warming stone for the bed, came over to the bed, lifted the covers at our feet, and put the stone into our bed. Imagine our shock!!!!

Everyone looks better after one of these…

A year later we were married in Erlangen, Germany on February 2, 1952. Marvin’s friend from Army Headquarters, Del Coger, and his wife stood as witnesses. Right after the wedding the four of us went south to go skiing.

B. Proposal (or When I Married Your Father)

A month later he came into the dry cleaning shop and put a jeweler’s box on the counter in front of me. He said, "That is for you," and walked off. The shop’s secretary looked at the box and told me,

"This is an engagement ring. It shows that he wants to marry you."

A. Cafe

After the "party", we were on talking terms again, and he persuaded me to meet him at a cafe on the outskirts of Erlangen. He wanted a chance to get a little better acquainted with me. I agreed, but decided to play "hard to get". I arrived thirty minutes late to the cafe, but did not see Marvin. A waiter hurried over to me and handed me a little note.

"I’m sorry to miss you, but I waited 15 minutes and I think that is enough. M.C."

Now I was mad at being stood up. A few days later he came again to the dry cleaning shop and told me he had bought a car and we could drive away from town.

H. Army Inspections and an American Wedding

The good life on the army base continued for many years. Many German girls who could type and speak English had obtained jobs at the First Division Headquarters. One of them married a G.I. in 1948, and I was invited to her wedding. That was the event where I met your dad and grandfather, Marvin Clauson. I recall a few episodes of this courtship, which I think you might enjoy hearing about. From the lucrative ice cream shop I advanced to be a manager of the dry cleaning and tailoring shop on the base. I had no business experience, but my German friends advised me constantly in all business matters.

One day the army had an inspection due the next day, and the tailors and I worked overtime tailoring and pressing all the uniforms. Your dad, Marvin Clauson, was asked 4 times that night to return to the shop before his clothing was ready. Most soldiers were mad if they had to return several times, but your father stayed calm. At that time I thought the girl who would marry him would be lucky to live with a man who could control his temper so well.

We got socially acquainted when one of the secretaries married an American. She was actually an American citizen, who had a German mother, but was trapped in Germany when the war started. At the wedding Marvin was in the wedding party, the escort of one of the bridesmaids. I noticed that the girl asked him for the loan of a handkerchief, and he kindly obliged so I assumed they were together. Since I was an acquaintance of the bride, she asked me to sit with her and her friends at the reception dinner, and I was placed near Marvin and the bridesmaid he was escorting. Although I believed they were together, but I wanted to get to know him, too, because I had seen his behavior in my drycleaning shop. I did my best to get his attention. At the end of the party, he wanted to get a taxi and take me home, but I declined, because at that time no well-raised German girl could be seen with an American G.I. without incurring lots of criticism from the whole town. My well-considered refusal infuriated him, and during the next few weeks he sent friends with his clothing to the shop to have it drycleaned instead of coming himself.

A couple months after the wedding he came back to the shop and invited me to a going-away party for the young couple. When I arrived at their place, no one was there except the young couple, Marvin Clauson, and I. He told me later he had arranged the so-called "party", because he knew I would not have met with him in a public place.

G. Dr. Kraft’s Parents’ Arrival in Erlangen

In 1946 Jochen’s parents were forced to leave Silesia, and so they came to live with me and my husband, their only son, in Erlangen. At that time we had a small apartment with only two small rooms. His parents were never successful in obtaining their own living quarters. After months of "togetherness", problems accumulated and occurred. We all often had to suppress personal needs. My husband’s father was an upright protestant minister, and the old couple completely disapproved my survival skills such as "finding" potatoes and using American cigarettes and Nescafe to trade for bread, butter, and some sausage on the black market, however, they did not refuse to eat anything I managed to bring home. The year and a half that I was married to Jochen was one of the most intellectually stimulating and rewarding times in my life. However, the obstacles became unbearable. I discussed the matter with Jochen and he understood. At first I only asked to separate, but later I asked to get a divorce.

F. Lt. Buehler

That first Christmas after the war in 1945 will forever be in my memory. Our group went into the woods on December 23, stole a Christmas tree, and wrapped it up in a potato sack to sneak it up into our apartment, because cutting trees was not allowed. My husband and Dr. Erlhof "organized" wax and some kind of red dye from the hospital’s pathology department, filled small test tubes with wax and put a string in the middle of each. We had candles for the tree.

My supervisor from my ice cream parlor felt very depressed being away from home for the holidays. With the consent of the males in our group, I invited him and his wife for a coffee hour in our little apartment. When Mrs. Buehler saw our candles, an achievement and invention of which we were so proud, she exclaimed, "Oh, in the States only the poor people have candles. The more wealthy ones have electricity." This remark must have stung Dr. Erlhof, because he answered quickly, "Oh, in Germany it is just the opposite. Here the rich people have candles and the poor ones have only electricity." This was my first lesson in cultural differences.

E. Dr. Erlhof’s Care

1. Bratkartoffeln (Fried Potatoes)

A 60-year long friendship started that time with my nextdoor neighbor, Dr. Helmut Erlhof and his fiancee "Truschi." Both worked in the hospital. At that time every person was on food ration stamps and everyone received two potatoes per day, including people who had just come out of surgery. Since the recently-operated-upon could not enjoy their potatoes, my husband and Dr. Erlhof brought home the potatoes. We had an old iron cooking pan which we greased with an often used and re-used bacon rind and we cut and fried the potatoes in that pan. Half burned, dry potatoes tasted wonderful to us, and for one evening we had a full stomach.

Another problem at that time was the heating situation. There was no wood or coal to be purchased anywhere to heat our apartments, much less fry potatoes, or bake anything. So our little group went to a nearby wood, gathered a couple sacks of pine cones and little pieces of wood. We had to walk by a farmer’s potato field to get to the wood and on the way home each one of us filled their pockets with potatoes. At home we had pan-fried potatoes using our old friend, the bacon rind, to grease the pan. It was wonderful to have a full stomach.

The Bible says, "Thou shalt not steal", but laws are considered differently if it is a matter of survival.

2. Textiles and Trade

In addition to food, textiles were also rationed. Every woman only received enough points in half a year to buy an overcoat or a dress or two pair of warm hose. I remember that a tailor made an overcoat for me out of an old suit of my father's. I was very proud to wear it, and I had enough points left over to buy a dress. The shortage of textiles was very hard on young people, because we often outgrew the clothes we owned.

My husband and Dr. Erlhof had a brilliant idea. They brought home gauze bandages which were left over in the hospital from the war. We picked lots of grass, made a brine out of it, and died the bandages green. Then we cut them into strips and knit or crocheted sweaters for all of us. Since only one color would have been dull, we also used dirt to dye the gauze brown and made brown sweaters. We were ready to go to a style show.

The years between 1945 and 1948 were the hardest to survive on the food ration stamps.

Working for the American soldiers, I sometimes was given a package of cigarettes or even some Nescafe instant coffee. I took these to the black market and traded them for food for all of us. I will never forget the heavenly feeling of eating a white roll with butter, a slice of ham and drinking a cup of good coffee. Blessed be America!

D. "Manna" From Heaven or The Ice Cream Parlor Job

I was running out of the money I had brought with me when I left home. The only jobs to be had in Erlangen were on the American military base. So I went and talked to an American captain interviewer. I had studied English for 6 years in school and could tell him that I would like to have a job cleaning officers’ quarters.

He asked me, "Why?"

And I answered,

"In the morning the officers leave and I come in and clean. And when they return at night I have gone home."

At that moment he jumped up and said furiously, "We also have mothers at home." I was lucky and got a job working in an ice cream parlor, which was "food heaven" for me. I would arrive in the morning, and I had:

1. ice cream for breakfast,

2. ice cream for lunch, and

3. ice cream for supper…

before I went home. It did not take long for the scrawny young girl to develop into a well-proportioned young woman. The highlights were the doughnuts made with white flour and sugar. We were not allowed to take any food home with me and our bags were searched every night by guards as we left. I stuffed some doughnuts into my brassiere and took this new delicacy home to my friends. Sharing during those hard times bonded us for a lifetime of friendship.

C. Undernourished Children

By the end of April the Americans invaded and occupied Erlangen. They treated the conquered people very courteously and kindly. Tall, healthy, young G.I.s sat in their jeeps and tanks and distributed their own food, Krations and candy, to many starving German children, winning a place in the German hearts and consciousness forever. The children’s faces were lit up as if Christmas had come in spring. I will never forget the contrast of how thin and undernourished they were and how happy they looked. Adults also had a chance to benefit from this generosity. This his how I came to eat the first peanut butter I had ever eaten in my life. My first thought was, "What sticky stuff!" And then, "How can people like it?"

Today one of my favorite sandwiches is still peanut butter and jelly.

B. Dresden

While in Erlangen, the news had come of the horrible destruction of Dresden during the nights of February 13th and 14th. This was in 1945 just before the end of the war. American and British planes bombed the city mercilessly while over 500,000 inhabitants and 600,000 additional refugees camped in the open. These people had just begun to feel safe after escaping the Russian War Machine. The bombs turned the inner city into an inferno where approximately 35,000 people died and the streets’ asphalt buckled, melted and boiled. Six hundred fifty thousand fire bombs were dropped on a defenseless Dresden. Some people tried to escape the horror of the inner city by jumping into the Elbe River only to have the phosphorous and ozone mix with the river water creating a mixture that stuck to the skin as it burned. Estimates suggest that approximately 35,000 people died.

A. Arrival in Erlangen

After my miraculous escape from Prague, I arrived safely in Erlangen, a university town in Bavaria. There I found my friend, Dr. Kraft (see 8.b.), in the hospital, and he introduced me to some of his friends in Erlangen, where I could rent a room. Out of our six-year friendship love slowly developed, and we married in the beginning of April, 1945.

A. Hiding in the Chimney

In looking back on the Waldenburg occupation by Polish and Russian soldiers, I feel I was protected by the best guardian angel. None of us living in the American occupied areas were ever forced or raped. However, terrible incidents happened under the Russian and Polish occupation. My mother told me their soldiers were looting the houses and raping women and children of all ages. My parents lived in a building with four apartments. One family had two young girls. During the day the girls hid in the chimney and came out at night only for a few minutes to use the bathroom and eat briefly.

B. Parents Mistreated and Home Ransacked

One day a group of soldiers entered the apartment where my mother and her second husband were living. First they ransacked all rooms looking for jewelry and watches. "Uri! Uri!" they shouted. They especially wanted the watches. When they did not find enough they took the bank books, ripping out the front pages so my parents had no records with which to claim bank accounts at a later date. This did not seem enough so they pushed my mother into the bedroom. The three wanted to rape her. My mother, being very energetic and not easily frightened, yelled at them, "Ich bin Mutter; du bist Kind. Ich bin Mutter, du bist Kind." She repeated this several times showing them with gestures that they were only children and she was a mother so they left her alone. Going out of the bedroom one soldier used his gun to knock my mother unconscious to the floor. They seemed to want revenge for my mother’s successful resistance and took it out on my step-father by beating him until he was unconscious.

C. Performing in the Nude

My closest girlfriend and other girls in our city did not leave home, but stayed with their parents in a sixfamily apartment house. During the first occupation days a group of about 16 soldiers and some officers entered the house. The parents were all forced up to the top floor of the house while the soldiers kept the 5 younger year girls and women, who were between the ages of 14 and 25 years old. What followed was not pretty. The girls were forced to cook for the soldiers in the nude and every time a soldier wanted to rape them they could not refuse. Only the oldest girl was married and had an intimate relationship with a man. The Russian officer raped the girls first, and the soldiers followed. What a degrading and humiliating experience.

Some of the girls were infected with venereal diseases and some never married as a result of this experience. This kind of treatment was common where Polish and Russian troops occupied parts of Germany. Knowing what had happened only made me more convinced that wars bring out the worst in most human beings.

D. Treatment of Minister’s Wife

Another incident was told me by one of my girlfriends. She lived in Renten, a suburb of Waldenburg. One day a horde of Russian soldiers broke into the Lutheran Church, raped the minister’s wife more than 20 times until she died of the abuse. During her ordeal, her husband was forced to stand at gunpoint against a wall of the church and watch the whole thing. He probably endured this only by hoping his wife would survive and that in the end he could help her, but his hopes were in vain.

C. Christmas Lights Over Prague

No engine ever appeared. Dawn was approaching, and I became frightened. I decided to leave the refugee train and board a regular train to Eger, a city in Franconia in Bavaria. This train was overcrowded and people climbed in and out through windows. Passengers were riding on train steps for a chance to escape from the Russians, whom we all knew were coming soon. I handed my suitcases through a train window and did not care if I ever saw them again or not. For the second time I experienced the strong will to survive and climbed onto the lowest step of the train as it began to move onto Prague. Two men held onto me and prevented me from falling, asking other passengers to squeeze a little closer just to give me a little more standing space. It was an inner force of mine which demanded that I leave Prague no matter what.

The train was only half an hour out of Prague when we suddenly heard American bombers roaring over us, dropping "Christmas lights" on Prague. Right away Prague was as bright as if it were daytime and the Americans flattened the train station. Why? German troops were there in trains heading for the Russian front. This must have been why our train never received an engine. I will never forget the young mother and her baby. This was the second time my guardian angel protected me against an early death.

A. Preparations to leave

One February day before the Russians entered my hometown, Waldenburg-Dittersbach, a Nazi Party member was driving through the streets using a megaphone to deliver the following message:

"Waldenburg cannot be saved, and the Russians will conquer the city by noon tomorrow. Anyone trying to get out before the Russians come in must leave today or tomorrow morning early. You do not need to take all your belongings with you, because in a short time our V-2 rockets will be successful and you can return. Busses are available to drive people over the Riesengebirge mountain passes to Prague."

Panic broke out among the people. My mother decided that she would stay and endure the attack of the Russian war machine. Remembering her treatment in Upper Silesia, Prinzengrube (now Poland), she felt that I should leave the next morning by bus and stay with friends in West Germany. Neither one of us believed in a safe return and so we packed two suitcases with family table linens, family silver, and enough personal clothing for three days.

The latter was stashed away in a rucksack, which also had a small blanket and a pillow. During the night we wrapped my mother’s good china and silver in old newspaper, dug a hole in the garden, and buried it. Greedy neighbors, who had watched us, betrayed us to the Russians soldiers as they ransacked all the Germans’ houses. They were hoping to save some of their own valuables, but it didn’t work. The Russians got everything.

B. The Bus Ride to Prague

On February 5, 1945 the flight from Waldenburg began. My mother and I arrived early at the marketplace. I secured a seat on the first bus and a spot for my two suitcases on top. Later on older people arrived and the bus was filled. I wanted to offer them my seat. That is when my mother got angry and said, "Remember, you NEVER separate from your two suitcases until you are in Erlangen, Bavaria."

Her own experience might have influenced her to give me this warning. These last moments with my mother were very painful, and we did not know whether we would ever see each other again. We did not know if she would survive the Russians, nor did we know whether or not I would survive the trip through war-torn Czecholoslovakia into Bavaria.

Within a short time two busses rolled away from the market square taking the more difficult route over the mountains. The route was supposed to take us west to Schmiedeberg and then south to Prague. We hoped our route would allow us to escape from the Russians. We were on top of the mountain pass when suddenly Russian gunfire was aimed at our busses. The tires of the second bus were hit, and the driver signaled to our driver to stop and help him. Our driver’s face turned as pale as a sheet, and he looked paralysed. Probably he was afraid of falling into Russian hands. Trembling, he said, "I have to get out of here." Then he sped the bus downhill. When your own life is at stake, all feelings of altruism go away and other people do not matter very much. All of us were frightened, and felt lucky to have escaped the Russians, but we also felt guilty for not being able to help the second bus.

We made it safely to the Prague train station which was occupied at that time by the Germans. The driver unloaded all the suitcases and found that some of the luggage belonged to people who had been on the second bus. He hurried off again, and I waited there still hoping that the second bus would arrive safely. I waited an hour or so, but the bus never came, and when I left the suitcases to continue my journey, they were immediately carried off by anyone (Czechs?) who wanted them. It crossed my mind that the Bible says, "Thou shalt not steal." This command is not respected in war, and resentment against the war grew in me.

In Prague at the train station we were told to board a special refugee train which was supposed to take us to Bavaria, but the designated train did not have an engine. We were told it would be there soon. This message never became reality. I sat in my compartment with a young mother holding her six month old baby. She tried to warm the baby food by holding it over the light of a candle. The baby fell asleep, and we sat and waited there for hours.

F. Werner von Braun’s Rockets

In December of 1944 Hitler made a last attempt to slow down the advancing enemy by staging what he called "an offensive" on French soil. He also told us at that time that our rockets invented and developed by Werner von Braun were destroying England. He tried to assure the German people that after all the military setbacks, victory for Germany was within reach.

G. Digging Trenches

Our Nazi Party Silesian governor tried to slow down the advancing Russian army. Factory workers, housewives, and students were all enlisted to dig deep trenches across the Silesian countryside on the weekends. The hope was for the trenches to incapacitate the incoming Russian tanks. So we dug and dug. Early mornings at 6:00 a.m. would find me with shovel and lunch bag waiting to catch a special train along with hundreds of other young and middle-aged women headed to the closest chosen sites out near the German/Polish border to dig trenches to try the advancing Russians. As we boarded the train, our names would be off a list. We were never sick and we never skipped a work day, because we were terrified of the consequences, that we might be sent to a concentration camp.

All day long we dug, women, side by side. We dug for approximately eight hours a day regardless of the blisters. And we talked. Could our little trenches really stop the Russian tanks? New rumors from those who had already been overrun by the Russians and escaped spread a deep fear of Russian capture and brutality. We knew the war would be lost. What a delusion! The Russians conquered more and more sections of Silesia, and horror stories were spread by people who were successful in escaping the invading Russians.

The radio reports were saying constantly that our troops were going "back" to strengthen positions, but our troops were retreating across the entire Russian front, no matter how often the radio reported "back" to strengthen positions, and we knew we were losing.

We watched to make sure we were not overheard by our organizers, and we dug and talked and dug some more. Nights we went home exhausted only to get ready for more digging the next weekend. Deep down we knew those Russian tanks could not be stopped by our trenches and we were afraid. The radio reports kept coming in: our troops kept moving back and the Russian troops kept advancing.

H. Mother’s Invitation to Appear at the Nazi Headquarters

At this time my mother was in trouble with our local Nazi organization, "Kreisleitung". Displaced Polish families were living nearby in camps. They were there to provide extra workers for the war industry. These families had even less food than we had and the children needed clothing. Some of these youngsters went begging to German homes and my mother gave them some clothing and food. One of our "faithful party members" must have seen this and my mother was ordered to appear before a Nazi court. Her day in court was set one day before the Russians conquered our city. She was saved from this dangerous meeting, but the worst time of her life had just begun.

E. Listening to "Verboten" (Forbidden) Radio Stations

Every time I visited my mother we pulled down the apartment window shades, put a blanket over the radio to lessen the chance of being overheard, and put our ears close to the speaker. I had one hand on the tuning knob in case someone knocked on our door. If anyone had been caught listening to these stations, they probably would have been shot for treason.

We heard about the actual positions of our German troops and about our defeat at Stalingrad, where thousands of our soldiers had been killed. We were already sure we had lost the war. It was also mentioned over these stations that front line soldiers were defecting to the Russians while the German radio stations were filled with victory talks by Propaganda Minister Goebbels. To avoid the word "retreat", the news reporters mentioned the necessity of pulling the front lines back in order to gain a better position.

We were also able to learn about the Allies plans for Germany. By listening to the radio we were well informed about the "Yalta Conference" and what Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin planned for the German people. One proposal was to destroy Germany and enforce the American "Morgenthau" Plan. This would have meant that Germany should be reduced to an agricultural society. In the end, Germany was divided into four sections: a Russian, an American, an English, and a French Occupation Zone.

Our home area of Silesia was also mentioned and President Roosevelt proposed that Silesia become a Polish territory and therefore be a part of Poland. We were furious, because Silesia was developed and settled by Germans and had been German territory for longer than the last seven hundred years.

From that time on, fear was our steady companion. We were worrying about survival under the terrible conditions which would be caused by any of these decisions. Many people in Silesia contemplated suicide, but more than once I found that the will to live is the strongest asset in humans.

C. Concentration Camps

I have only a few memories of the political scene from 1942-1945. My father was a very loyal German. Political views could not be discussed in the home or socially. It was known that if people disagreed with the Nazi regime they would be forced to go to a concentration camp where Jews and dissidents were held.

I would like to point out that none of our friends or acquaintances had any idea of what was going on in these camps. Himmler, a top Nazi leader, was in charge of these terrible institutions. Faithful Nazi "fathers", strong party members, were selected to guard the camps. It was understood by them that if any information reached the general population, both they and their families would be killed. I assume that some of these "fathers" were upset by the wrong-doings in the camps, but which of these "fathers" would deliver their children to the firing squad? I think most of them were sorry and ashamed of the atrocities they had to commit and witness by the end of the war in 1945.

D. Assassination Attempt on Hitler

Many of us had started doubting Hitler when the radio news in 1943 started reporting that the troops on the Russian Front were pulling back "better fighting positions." For months and months the troops kept pulling back to "better fighting positions." We really began to worry in July of 1944 when Hitler announced the failure of the Attentat (asasination attempt) against him. We all knew the would-be assassins were our best generals. Nearly everybody lost faith in our winning the war, and we were all scared of the consequences of a lost war. We were also very upset and sad when the radio news reported the fates of the Hitler’s attackers. Although Rommel was allowed to shoot himself, many of the other would-be assassins were tortured and killed to Hitler’s satisfaction. The radio made glowing reports about how they were hung upside down and killed like animals in a slaughter house. More and more of us were worrying about where this all would lead.

B. Social Work - Werfürsorgerin at Fa.Dierig (Dierig Factory)

A new avenue opened for me when the textile industry was looking for social workers to help women and children with their employment while the men were at war. The future social workers were trained in factories and I started my training with the well-known textile firm, Dierig in Langen-Bielau, only 40 kilometers from from Waldenburg. I spent 2 years training, first in the "Spinnerei" where yarn was produced, then in the "Weberei" where the yarn was woven into cloth, and finally in the "Ausruestung" where the finished products were packaged and shipped to customers. During these two years I had to take a train to Breslau, the capital of Silesia, once a week and in the center for social work education I took classes on the theory of social work.

The last step was learning how to take care of young people in all these areas. Girls and boys from ages 14 through 17 were called "Lehrlinge" (apprentices. I had to visit them at their workplaces and make sure they had a favorable and healthy environment. The management believed that if people liked their workplace they would produce more. I also had to visit their homes and report to the factory management if their families needed money or personal help. This job was very interesting. After the two years of training I was called "Werkfürsorgerin für die Jugend" (Social Worker for the Young). I stayed at this job until February 1945.

In August 1944 I was again in Breslau traveling on the streetcar to my Learning Center, when I suddenly saw an old friend on the street and got off the streetcar to talk to him. I knew him from Himmelwitz and my time in the Arbeitsdienst. By sheer chance he was in Breslau on a two week furlough from the Russian Front. After the furlough he was assigned to a hospital in West Germany, in the city of Erlangen, to start working there as a medical doctor. His name was Dr. Med. Joachim Kraft. He impressed on me the certainty of a lost war and a Russian occupation of our home area, Silesia. He said,

"Come to Erlangen. I can help you find a place to live."

These were his last words to me as I left for the Learning Center.

A. Changes after Father’s Death

In August 1939 Propaganda Minister, Mr. Goebbels, was constantly on the radio preparing people for a war he said was imminent and unavoidable. (Hitler was determined to create a strong Germany. Europe and England rejected his attempts to rewrite the post WWI limitations imposed on the building of a strong German military. Hitler attempted to pull in England as an ally, and England refused.) The first troop movements began in Upper-Silesia. Our "Arbeitsdienst" camp was relocated closer to my home town in Waldenburg.

We again had to help farmers with their work. At that time, the imminent war was on everyone’s mind. During the first days after war had been declared, we were  allowed to go visit parents.

When I returned home, my father had become a whitehaired gentleman. He was sitting at his desk with tears rolling down his cheeks. This upset me very much, because I had never ever seen him cry. He said to me,

"Child, we are involved in the second world war and we will never win it, because money is against us. We have offended too many people and we are too few to win the war. What a bleak future."

I was very upset, but also felt now was a chance to discuss my future with my father so I asked his permission to postpone my wedding and wait until the war was over. I did not want to end up a widow. He thought it over and agreed that I could wait to marry and start my studies to become a teacher in the fall. I could have jumped for joy thinking of being free of darning socks.

On the 4th of September I returned to the camp and on the night of September 9th I had a frightening dream. I saw my brother in a casket. I still remember thinking, "Why is it him? He is still so young!" The next morning my brother called from home and told me Dad was very ill and that I should come home right away. I knew at that moment that my father had passed away. I had seen the casket, only the person had changed. I loved my father dearly and deeply.

My fiancé, Jochen Henschke, was at the funeral and wanted to be engaged as he had promised to my father. He had already bought the rings, but I said, "Please, let’s wait until the war is over." He "agreed" to this, and this was the last time I saw him.

The next weeks were very hard for my mother and so I decided to stay with her and give up my dream of studying at the university. I started working for a bank and after one year, I couldn’t take the banking business any more. It was not what I wanted. I needed more life and excitement, not papers and numbers. No, no, that was not the correct livelihood for the girl who scammed her way through the math exam on the Abitur.

Life back at the camp 

After the Abitur (graduation exam), no boy or girl could begin to study at a university or prepare for a job until they had worked for half a year in Hitler’s "Arbeitsdienst," his labor camp service program. I served at the camp "Himmelwitz" (translates as heaven’s joke, but a better meaning is a village close to heaven) in upper Silesia and so did 60 other girls. We all had to help farmers with their daily chores. Every morning we went to the assigned places at the farms and every evening we returned to camp.

I had a farmer’s family with 5 children. These people were among the poorest people I had ever experienced. Each child had only one set of clothing. To keep them clean I had to wash their clothes in a tub with a washboard every day while the children ran around naked or just covered their bottoms with some rags. Later my mother sent some old clothes of mine and then all of those children had a second set of clothes to wear. The children called me "La Gerka" , which was half German and half Polish and meant "the girl from the camp" and were very happy to see me.

The 5 children only had two beds between them. The mattresses were straw-filled sacks. They never experienced nightgowns or brushing their teeth at night. Their meals consisted mostly of potato soup which consisted of a little flour, a little salt, a few potatoes, and water. They all dipped their spoons into one big bowl and always invited me to eat with them. I always found a polite excuse to be excluded. I always told them I could only eat at the camp.

One day the old farmer had traded some corn for a pig, which he slaughtered himself. He asked me if I knew how to divide the pig into two parts. Even though I shook my head, he gave me a knife and I had to cut the pig into roasts. He took care of all other intestinal cuts. I never forgot the eyes of the kids when they finally could eat some meat and their dad’s homemade sausage. My stomach turned thinking about the dad’s homemade sausage, because he put in everything, wasting nothing.

My world changes

4. A Real Marriage Proposal (Joachim Henschke)

During our teen years we never received any kind of any sex education. The subject was taboo, so we had to learn from hair-raising tales told by our maids, our older sisters, and other classmates. My mother was well aware of the fact that our hormones had begun to flow so she told me that as soon as I kissed someone my nose would show a little dent at the tip of my nose where the two nose holes fit together. I also should know the fact that if I were to start "loving" a male, I would do it over and over again and get pregnant. A baby would be a great shame for the whole family. So I vowed not to kiss anybody unless I was ready to marry him. Whenever one of my friends tried to kiss me, I would slap his face. Sometimes when I was at home, sitting and doing my homework, my mother would come from behind, touch my nose, and acknowledge my innocence and the perfect condition of my nose.

One day, when I was about 18, I met my master. I had known this young man for several months. He was an architect, "Baumeister", from another city. He visited me and proposed marriage. At that time my mother was on a visit to her parents in Horka, 70 miles away from home. She had to use a train to get there and was not due to come home until the next day. My friend and I went for a little stroll and suddenly I felt two strong arms holding me and kissing me. I was upset and cried for the longest time, and he was puzzled by my behavior. I was worried that my mother would find out about this matter. When I told him why I was concerned and what my mother had told me, he laughed for the longest time. When we left for home, he advised me not to blink an eye when my mother would proceed with her next "kiss-checking" procedure.

Two days later, my mother, not knowing that the young man had been to visit, again performed her "medical" nose exam. She felt my nose again and acknowledged "no change" in my nose condition. I was happy at my "sins" remaining unknown, but I felt misled and did not say anything at that time. From then on, my sense of trust was broken.

Some time later, the young man asked my father for permission to marry me. The engagement date was set for my birthday on October 5, 1939. The would-be bride groom was telling me that he was collecting all his socks with holes in them. When I asked why, he said it takes about nine months after marriage to have the first child and he did not want me to be bored, so he thought I could darn his socks for nine months. That did it! Needless to say, from that day on I was determined not to marry him. Yet my father would not have accepted my reasoning because he had given his consent. So I hoped for a miracle, and it came in the form of the beginning of World War II.

3. Abitur (Graduation)

A successful Abitur was the crowning of nine years of high school. We had two weeks to show our gained knowledge. There were 4 written tests and 4 oral examinations. The examiners consisted of the teacher of each subject, the principal of our school, the Superintendent of the State of Silesia (this would be the equivalent of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Washington State), and approximately forty teachers from neighboring high schools. We all could choose to be tested in one subject area and I chose math. Why? I certainly was not a genius, but it was known that the Superintendent was not a math genius either, and I, herefore, would not have to fear a lot from her questioning.

I still remember that I had to solve a problem in trigonometry. All the while, I knew her weakness so I decided to develop the two formulas for the problem on two blackboards. When I was finished, I found myself standing in front of laughing and smiling teachers. They were admitting in this way that they knew what I had done to capitalize on the Superintendent’s math weakness. She asked me about my future plans, and I answered, "I want to be teacher." Now she smiled and said, "This is the right profession for you. You have given us a good math presentation." That made me proud and made me think about my future.

Our final grades were reported to our local newspapers and were, therefore, very important to us and to our parents. German schools graded differently from the U.S., perhaps harder. Out of the 16 girls only one girl received an "A", and only 3 girls received a "B" grade. I was one of the lucky three to receive a prestigious "B". The rest of the girls had to be happy with a "C" grade.

2. Marriage Proposal: The last prank!

During the last three years in school we had lots of homework in all our classes. Entertainment in class was badly needed, but not provided by the teachers. One day one of our classmates suggested that we put a want ad for a marriage partner in our daily newspaper, "The Waldenburger Tageblatt," to see what would happen. The text went approximately like this:

"A young educated girl wants to become acquainted with a young, sincere ,cultured, and loving gentleman. (Marriage not excluded.) It might be a bit unusual to use a newspaper for this request. Answer please under Number 0016."

It was fun for us to read most of the answers. A widowed carpenter with two children was looking for a new wife. He sent a photo of himself sitting in an easy chair next to a table with a radio on it. With this picture he tried to show he was a culture-loving person, because only a few people had a radio at that time.

The grand prize was the answer from our English teacher’s student teacher. He wrote of being lonely in Waldenburg and would love to share his cultural interests with a young educated lady. He also wrote that marriage might be possible at a later time. He signed it with his full name and gave his address. At first we were all very embarrassed and did not know what to do. Each one of us would have liked a date with him, but decided that we all would go on the date. He received an answer from us asking him to stroll along a specific street at a specific time with a white carnation in his hand.

On the day and time of the date 16 girls were hiding behind a building each holding a white carnation in her hand. We anticipated the moment when he would be close enough to our hideout and we could come out to greet him. The plan was as follows: The first girl in the alphabet would go out to greet him first. As I was the second in the alphabet, I had the opportunity to watch this in detail. His head turned red when he recognized his student. As soon as he seemed to catch his breath, I came out with a white carnation in my hand and smiled at him with a very friendly smile. Again embarrassment and silence greeted my appearance. A moment later the rest of my classmates appeared, each carrying a white carnation in her hand.

When he realized what had happened, he tried to overcome his embarrassment by inviting us all to go eat cake and ice cream. We all assured him that nobody in school would hear of his mistake, but in return, none of our girls would flunk his course. The last months in his class were fairly easy and I think he was relieved when the school year was finished and crowned by the Abitur (final exams.)

1. Principal Dr. Ryll

The principal of our school, Dr. Ryll, was a highly educated, intelligent, kind, and understanding man. The "Hitler" government had demoted him from a prestigious high school in a bigger city to the smaller Lyzeum in a coal-mining area called "Waldenburg." Every time a teacher from an upper-level class was absent, he came to our class and taught us in his own subject area: history and philosophy. Ugghh!!! Being teenagers, we were not thrilled to learn about Descartes, Locke, Hume, Hegel, Schopenhauer, etc. And, yet, this was the greatest gift for my later life at the University of Washington. When I took some of the thought provoking classes in psychology, history and literature, I always managed to include some of these "grand masters" in my college tests and often earned a higher grade because of it. Mind training in these early years has been beneficial all my life.

Dr. Ryll felt strongly about opening our young minds to an appreciation of cultural performances. Our city of Waldenburg could not provide us with many enrichments although we had performances of operetta productions in a little theater. This theater was also used by our local small philharmonic orchestra. One time Dr. Ryll decided to take the 16 girls of our class to a cultural enrichment program in the city of Dresden. He organized a bus for us, and we were "cultured" for three days and nights in the city. We stayed in a youth hostel. Wagner’s opera "Tannheuser" was my first encounter with opera and this love for opera has remained with me all my life.

The second evening of our trip we went to the famous Dresden philharmonic orchestra. That evening they played Beethoven’s "Fifth Symphony" and Schubert’s "Unfinished Symphony." A whole new world opened again for me during these hours. I still like the "Unfinished Symphony" so much that I would like this to be played at my funeral.

After two evenings of cultural intakes, we persuaded our Dr. Ryll to go with us to a fashionable 5 o’clock tea -dance. Imagine a gentleman with 16 beautiful teen-age girls entering the restaurant! It didn’t take long, and some young gentlemen asked us to dance with them. And it was fun for us to watch our eagle-eyed principal. Every time we wanted to go to the restroom we had to ask his permission. After two hours of dancing, he decided that was enough and he marched out of the room followed by 16 young ladies. What a sight! This trip made a great impression on all of us. To this day we still reminisce about these times when we have our yearly class reunion.

A. Frauenoberschule/Ober-lyzeum (All Girls High School)

After 6 years of high school, 62 of my classmates quit the "Lyzeum" to enter a business career. I didn’t want to do that so I persuaded my father to spend the money from my future dowry on my schooling. Only these last 3 years of high school gave a student the opportunity to attend a university and pursue and area of study.

One female cousin of mine, Erna Grosser, who was extremely intelligent, had succeeded in getting into a high ranking boys’ school, a "Gymnasium." This school had college preparatory curriculum with Greek and Latin, French, English, and higher level math. My uncle, Erna’s father, stated once that his daughter was not pretty enough to "catch" any husband, so she needed a university career.

In our Frauenoberschule (advanced high school for girls) we had to take the following subjects once a week: religion, history, German, music, drawing, biology, chemistry, physics, geography, math, and English (which I disliked immensely and did not study much.)

Once a week in the afternoon we also had to take classes in cooking, sewing, knitting, and child psychology. Hitler wanted us to be good housewives and mothers.

Occasionally my father helped me with the upper-level history and math in our school. Our math teacher was Frau Doktor Schubert, who was a brilliant woman, but could not explain trigonometry very well. Most of the girls in my math class were at a loss and so was I. When I got home, my dad showed me how to solve the problem and I went back the next day and taught all the girls how to do it. That is where I got my first teaching experience. The math teacher expressed her thanks to my father in many ways.

to be a girl in Germany in the 30s…

4. School Dance

Dating was not a serious matter when I was in my teens. We girls loved flirting, but did not go on single dates, because no one had a car. In order to get to and from school we had to use the tram or a bike. Since most boys in my neighborhood rode a bike to school, I convinced my parents it was cheaper for me to also use a bike. Therefore I was in the "in" group of the boys. When I was fifteen, we had a school dance, and the three boys with whom I rode to school in the morning each asked me to go to the dance. I accepted all three invitations thinking I could probably provide two of them as partners for my girlfriends, because nobody had asked them. On the special evening when we were waiting for the streetcar, what a surprise for them when they found out two of them were my girlfriends’ dates. They were nice enough to come to the dance anyway, but didn’t speak to me for months afterward. When the dance was over, I had a surprise coming. My father picked me up from the ballroom and my chosen date had to walk home alone.

3. Konfirmation

Although he was a free spirit in church matters my father definitely wanted me to participate in a Protestant Confirmation at church. This was a big social event for all families. We had to prepare for that special day by attending Bible classes once a week for a year. These classes were taught by our church ministers.

My "pigtail-in-the-inkwell" friend, Bruedi, from the first elementary school year was the minister’s son and also participated in that class. One day before class Bruedi said really loudly about me,

" Her legs are so bowlegged it’s as if someone had used an iron and pressed them over a barrel."

That did it. For the remaining time in class I had only one idea. I no longer listened to the minister, but thought about how to get even with Bruedi. My father had once told me to fight back when I came home covered in ink, and I was not going to take this lying down. When the class was out that day, I raced through the door and outside. As soon as Bruedi came out we started fighting and only the minister’s threat of kicking us both out of confirmation class stopped this fight. We never became friends.

2. My Father’s First Radio

My father was always very quiet, but interested in the latest technology. He tried to build his own radio several times. I remember one incident in the early 1930s. At that time only a few people owned a radio. My father had built his own and it played beautifully, so one day he decided to invite all the relatives to come admire his masterpiece. After they had arrived and been seated, the radio burst into smoke and flames without having produced a single sound. This was the end of radio invitations. Later he built a new one which worked beautifully, but no more relatives were invited.

Most vividly comes to mind my Sunday morning walks with my father. When the weather was good we would spend at least an hour walking through the hills and natural surroundings he enjoyed. He seemed to like teaching me about plants and nature as well as revealing some his thoughts about God and religion. He saw God in nature, but not in church institutions. He had his own beliefs about Christ’s place in religion.

B. Social Life

1. Life and Hope Under Hitler 1933-1939

The time from 1933 - 1939 was an incredible time to be a German and to be alive. I vividly recall standing with other girls watching the boys march by in their new uniforms and seeing the look of pride on their faces. That look became our look as well. We were Germans, and we could once more begin to dream. (This part is critical for Americans to try to understand, but it will also be very difficult. You, as Americans, have never had to try to overcome the feeling of being a second class person.) The defeat of Germany at the end of World War I had left Germans feeling completely humiliated as well as bringing a time of poverty, hunger, and extreme hardship for many. What Hitler offered for many was a chance for Germans to finally have pride again.

He understood the basic human need: to believe in yourself. He knew that the German people would work unbelievably hard and do anything to have their self-respect back again.

I clearly remember seeing my brother at home for a short visit on several occasions. He stood there so proudly in his Nazi uniform. I still remember the conflicting feelings inside of me as I looked at him and my father. On the one side he represented new pride and the new hopes for Germany.

On the other side my father’s voice whispered his opinion of Hitler and the new Reich. My father, a soldier in WWI, remembered the destruction of Germany during and after WWI and predicted that it could happen again if Germany continued on its present course.

Many in the community had the same conflict within their families. It felt good to have jobs and food on the table and know that we were finally resurrecting ourselves, but what the price would be?

9. BDM Sports

During these growing-up years I also had to be a member of the Bund Deutscher Maedchen (BDM), the Hitler Youth program. We had to choose between weekly political training or a sports program. Naturally my father decided I would participate in the sports program and I remember a ski competition between our town and a neighboring city. I was chosen to compete in a Slalom which I had never done before. So I fell down a lot, came off the slope last, and my ego was crushed. I stayed in the sports program until I finished high school. During the summers we competed in track events, and I found them less stressful.

8. Extracurricular Sports

Beginning when I was ten years old, my father encouraged me in many different sports. During the next years I became an avid ski enthusiast. We lived in a hilly area and skiing was mostly pursued by boys. This didn’t bother my father. He bought me my first wooden skis. They had leather bindings which always stretched when they got wet. "Ski boots" were the winter shoes I used to walk to school. Dad hammered a few nails into the backs of my shoe heels to hold the bindings. It was my father’s opinion that ski clothes were not necessary during the first years of learning to ski, so I skied in my school coat and a dress. One day my father saw me falling down the slope and the dress and coat did not protect me from view. The boys on the ski slope were very interested, so he bought me a sweat suit, and my mother knitted me a cap and gloves. I skied in that outfit for many years. His eyes would pop out if he could today’s ski equipment and clothing.

My father did not enjoy my skiing alone on the slopes with all those teenage boys so he took up skiing. We made little ski tours to neighboring villages. There were no ski lifts and we had to climb up all those hills for a downhill ride. When a slope was too steep for him, he put the ski poles between his legs and used them as brakes. What an unforgettable sight. The highlight was always a return trip by train. I was so proud of my dad and naturally happy to know he cared so much for me.