Dancing for the Russians

By Denny Fritz

This is a story about Germany. It happens in the 1940’s and 1950’s. There were regular people like you and me and also political parties like Nazis and Communists. Some families were torn apart by political opinions. To survive, families kept to the straight and narrow. Mostly, people led normal lives in the environment they were given. This is the time in which I grew up. Families did their best to give their children normal lives.

Parents kept as much dignity as was afforded with the situation at hand. Basic survival started with food and shelter. were obtained thru scrimping and saving, barter or scavenging. All food was rationed. Normal jobs and work remained unchanged.

Children play the cards that they are dealt. No worries, just play. Things happen all around them and they adapt readily. A bombed out building reduced to rubble was as much a playground as the sandbox on the next block. This was the scenario in which I was reared.

It all started with the wedding of my parents.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796075052

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by Denny Fritz. 806256

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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ISBN:       Softcover               978-1-7960-7506-9

   Hardcover              978-1-7960-7507-6

                 EBook                    978-1-7960-7505-2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019919356

Rev. date: 12/10/2019

CONTENTS

Preface

Berlin – Tempelhof

ONCE UPON A TIME IN GERMANY

BLACKOUT BIRTH

Baby Goes On Vacation

ESCAPE TO MUNICH

ANNUAL GOOSE CHASE

BOMB SCARE

WINDOWSILL ENCOUNTERS

ROCK-A-BYE BABIES

AIR RAID SHELTER

OPA WILLIE’S BIG HEART

SAFETY IN NUMBERS

HUNTING FOR PINECONES

LEADING MY LITTLE FRIEND ASTRAY

LIVING AND EATING

THE STRUWWELPETER

MY OMA’S SEWING BOX

DANCING FOR THE RUSSIANS

PAPA’S HANKIES

AT THE RUSSIAN PRISON CAMP

WAR’S END

WHAT TO DO WITH A DEAD HORSE?

A FINE WEDDING

Berlin – Friedenau

A NEW START

TERRIBLY SAD NEWS

BALCONIA

COAL DELIVERY - ALL ABOARD

COWS IN THE CITY

EARLY TO BED - EARLY TO RISE

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, 1947

OUR FAMILY’S FIRST CAR

VACATIONING THE GERMAN WAY

JUNE BUG DELIGHT

FISHERMAN’S CATCH

RABBITS ON THE BALCONY

THE GYPSY CIRCUS COMES TO TOWN

PLANES OVER HINTERHOF

FLOWERS, WALLS AND AMBER

PLANE CRASH SCENE

Care Package Drop

LIES HAVE SHORT LEGS (A FAMOUS GERMAN SAYING)

WINDOW WATCHING

OMA ANNA AND TANTE LENCHEN’S GARDENS

OUR HINTERHOF

HOLLYWOOD’S ALLURE

THE KAISER OAK AND THE POOL

ST. NICHOLAS DAY

THE CHRISTMAS OMA DIDN’T DIE

ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS EVE

SYLVESTER

SAXONY 1950

COURT SINGERS

WANNSEE

SCHOOL FIELD TRIP

DANCE STUDIO KELLER

WOODLAND EXCURSIONS FOR FAMILY FUN

CITY SIDEWALKS

WAITING FOR GUESTS

LAZY TEENAGE SUMMER

WANGEROOGE

BEACHFRONT PROPERTY

HUMMING

ICE IN THE SHADE

UNEXPECTED TRAIN MISHAP

BRONZED

FAREWELL TO CHILDHOOD

EPILOGUE

To my Oma Anna and my Oma Gretchen for giving me an enchanted childhood.

Preface

003-Preface%20001.jpg

This is a story about Germany. It happens in the 1940’s and 1950’s. There were regular people like you and me and also political parties like Nazis and Communists. Some families were torn apart by political opinions. To survive, families kept to the straight and narrow. Mostly, people led normal lives in the environment they were given. This is the time in which I grew up. Families did their best to give their children normal lives.

Parents kept as much dignity as was afforded with the situation at hand. Basic survival started with food and shelter. were obtained thru scrimping and saving, barter or scavenging. All food was rationed. Normal jobs and work remained unchanged.

Children play the cards that they are dealt. No worries, just play. Things happen all around them and they adapt readily. A bombed out building reduced to rubble was as much a playground as the sandbox on the next block. This was the scenario in which I was reared.

It all started with the wedding of my parents.

BERLIN – TEMPELHOF

005-Berlin%20-%20Tempelhof.jpg

ONCE UPON A TIME IN GERMANY

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I t was love at first sight. She was 16 and he was 21. He spotted her walking on the street and was instantly struck by her charms. She could not help but notice how often he would magically appear on the street where they lived. Even walking with her mother, she would avoid him at all costs, even including crossing the street. One day he caught her mother alone and asked her to introduce him to her. Her mother was instantly impressed by his mannerisms as he was extremely polite. This led to their meeting at the Turners Hall, a sports center. She was soon taken by his charms and the courtship went on for five years. Unfortunately, the mid-thirties foreshadowed oncoming turmoil in Europe. War was inevitable. All able males were conscripted in the German army.

My Father, Guenter, did not want to get married before the war was over. He was fearful of coming home missing an arm or a leg. He didn’t want my Mother to be tied to him if such an event occurred. I guess she convinced him otherwise. So, they married over the objections of my uncompromising Grandfathers.

Here is some background. Emil, my Father’s Dad, was a staunch communist. He was well acquainted with some of the underground communist leaders of that time who later on became communist party bosses in post-war Berlin. His consent was not needed as my Dad was of age. I can imagine the disparaging conversations they had at home. Young men lived with their parents.

Wilhelm, my Mother’s Dad, was a Nazi supporter. In many official party holiday parades you would see him in the front line. His prominent 6 foot 2 inches height made him ideal for carrying one of the many political banners. The marching band followed in step.

‘Willie’ had been born and raised in Russia during the time of the Czars. In 1904, he was conscripted to serve in the German Kaiser’s army. He left all his relatives and family business. When World War I started or soon thereafter, the Communists won over control of the country.

In 1918, the now ruling Communist regime forced all non-Russian citizens including his Mother, Marie, out of Russia. Her farm, homestead, and well-going business were confiscated by the ruling party. The trip by horse-drawn wagon all the way from Kazan, Russia nearly broke her spirit. She arrived in Berlin vermin infested and fiercely clutching all that was left of her belongings packed into a hatbox. My Grandfather was notified by the authorities that his Mother had arrived from Russia. Never in a million years did my Opa Willi imagine that kind of reunification with his Mother. She died, four years later, in 1922 in Berlin, heartbroken from sorrow, pain and old age.

So, those were the different political family situations my parents faced as a real obstacle to not only their marital bliss, but family harmony as well. It did not sit well with Willi that Emil was a staunch communist. He believed that their takeover of Russia, which robbed him of his inheritance, most assuredly contributed to his mother’s early death.

Due to all this, my Mother’s Father, Willie, refused to give his consent for her to marry into a Communist family. When she turned 21 years of age in March of 1940, she no longer needed her father’s consent.

My Mother, Edith, started planning the wedding. Her mother, Gretchen, had already started on the long white lace dress.

The beautiful wedding was two months later in July and they were married. Our families’ political differences were shelved for sake of family unity.

My Father was in full military dress uniform with his saber for the civil ceremony. My Mother wore a celebrity style wide-brimmed hat to compliment her navy suit. Later that afternoon, he changed into his tuxedo and top hat for the church ceremony. Edith wore her mother’s lovely creation which included a long veil and wreath of myrtle.

Dinner and reception followed for the family and two dozen or so guests. A group of musicians played waltzes, tangos and foxtrots throughout the evening.

During the midnight dance, the bottom of the bride’s twelve foot veil was snatched by each of the female guests. As was customary at weddings, they ripped off pieces to keep for souvenirs and good luck.

Soon after midnight, the newlyweds retired to their newly acquired apartment. It was only two apartment houses down the street. As was the custom, early the next morning, and after