Dads stories

Sent: Sunday, 22 October 2000 3:49 PM
Dear Harald,

The answer to your letter is coming a bit late. I have so much to do. Considering I have to warm up my own food, that Hedwig cooked for me. The other day I even made fried potatoes. I could be a good cook if I had to be. But I wouldn’t want to do Hedwig out of a job. The kitchen is her one and all.

So you will meet them tomorrow. Susie is our youngest daughter, Inge, Helga then Susie. She is Robert’s twin. She is marrried and has three dear daughters. Our sons are Gerd, Robert and Peter.

„which as an old man I could do without“. But please! Maybe at the beginning of middle age! What will you call yourself when you are 90? Ancient?

Recently I got to thinking. I wanted to construct a verse for the class reunion, but then changed my mind. In thinking about the teachers, who we made fun of years ago, that they were still all young rascals, compared to us, I mean my 70 year old class mates, even though in those days they appeared old to us. They were over 40, because of the war. The young teachers were at the front. Don’t think the relationship between teacher and student was any different then! When we were 10 and I was in Marianbad, staying at the Hotel Walhalla,  as part of the „Sending Children to the Land“ Program. Our teacher often took us out for walks. We of course figured out why. He had a „fried potatoe“ relationship. After a short period he allowed us to run around in the forerst and disappeared. I don’t know how come we figured it all out at 10 years of age, but we knew exactly what was tempting him. One day we went out with the Hitler Youth. But before we left, we moved a wardrobe in front of his door, to stop him from going to his darling. I won’t write the full details because you would never forgive me. But one day he asked the class, who can tell me which birds are not migratory. One who normally never opened his mouth, put up his hand. Delighted the teacher asked him to stand. And this awkward loaf said thoughtfully: „ Spatzen, Sperlinge, Mueschen „ (see below for explanation) .....We slid under the tables with laughter. I think because of the circumstances we were much older. The poor teacher of course, had to return to Reuschenberg with us. And it never bothered us that he had had a love affair in Marienbad, somehow we saw this as normal. Despite the fact that we knew his wife.

But that was not only our class. My brother Willi was 7 years older than me. And he used to tell me at night when we were in bed, how his class drove his poor teacher crazy. One day, he was quite disturbed and he told me, that the man jumped out of a window. And that was 1938. But these were rare cases, people who allowed themselves to be bullied around. Normally teachers knew how to obtain respect.

Somehow the feelings left by a burglary linger on. It is not because of the material things that were stolen and then paid for by the insurance. What you can’t get rid of is the feeling of intrusion of total strangers into one’s private domain. You are left feeling insecure and violated. And you feel so helpless. How great it was here 20 years ago. Nothing was ever locked up. But the later generation has turned out differently.

Enough with all that. I need to tell you about my email english lessons. They are working out well. All the best and kind regrards to Anne. Peter.

Translators’ note: This is a case where translation absolutely kills the joke. When I looked up Spatzen the english word is sparrow. Then I looked up Sperlinge and the english word is sparrow.  So I thought....that Mueschen must be something really funny and sent Mum and email to ask her what it meant. She came back and said it was platt deutsch for Spatzen. So if I were to translate this it would read: „sparrows, sparrows, sparrows“. Somehow doesn’t sound so funny does it!