Fathers'Day
My father as a young man. He had the ambition to study mathematics but there were no opportunities. WW1 had just ended and Germany went into a depression. He found work as a coal miner in Essen, 600 miles away from home. He played in a mandolin orchestra with other coal miners. He was drafted into the German Airforce and spent years taking apart downed airplanes He was in Belorussia, Brest -Litowsk, when he met my mother. He spent 2 years in a Russian POW camp. After the war ended, they made contact again and were fortunate to find a place to live in a former Wehrmacht camp, now used as housing for displaced persons in the British occupied zone. We lived there together with a dozen other bombed-out families. I was born there and we spent 14 years waiting to build our own house.
My Papa taught me how to read at 5. I would read the newspaper to him, and we would debate the major points. He told the Norse legends to me and my brother Gerd and let us know his disdain for the church, especially the Catholic faith. He encouraged me to pay attention to the natural world around me. He used to wake me up so that we used to sit around the radio and listen to boxing matches.
Papa died in 1975. He suffered from lupus most of his adult life.
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What a special story. Reminds me of the All the Light We Cannot See.
I wish I knew as much about my own father who was born in Romania and came over on the Carpathia that rescued the Titanic survivors.
Thank you for sharing the nice story about your father.
Your parents lived through unimaginable times, and you are so fortunate to have that history an d those memories. Happy Father-Memories Day!
Hello Antje, es freut mich Sie kennen zu lernen.
Danke, Mischel.
Fascinating family history.
Your Dad sounds like an amazing father.
everyone has a different story and thank you for sharing!