Roland returned from America in 1954, two years after he and his family left. At some point we had renewed our “pen-pal relationship” and I learned that he was lucky enough to have drawn a tour of duty in Germany. He was to be stationed in Aschaffenburg, located about thirty kilometers southeast of Frankfurt. IContinue reading “Katharina’s Story – Chapter 22: Roland Returns”
Category Archives: Personal Narrative
Katharina’s Story – Chapter 20: Love Found, Lost, and Revisited
My Mutti once wrote a poem to Papa, when she was young, at home with small children, and he away serving the German army in World War II, possibly in Greece at the time, circa 1942. I would have been about eight years old then, and the family living once again in Kalthof with Papa’sContinue reading “Katharina’s Story – Chapter 20: Love Found, Lost, and Revisited”
Katharina’s Story-Chapter 19: At Odds
Here was the time in my life when my teenage attitudes started to get me into trouble. I had always been a bit bull-headed, and the tiniest bit of a black sheep. I had the idea that when I graduated, I would be running off to America to join Roland (which I did eventually do,Continue reading “Katharina’s Story-Chapter 19: At Odds”
Katharina’s Story – Chapter 18: Roland
I was sixteen when I met Roland, in the summer of 1951. Our school celebrated its 350th anniversary, and this event included several days of sports and recreational activities for the students. A special train excursion for the upper classes to the cavern in the Sauerland was part of it. This train, the Samba-Zug, featuredContinue reading “Katharina’s Story – Chapter 18: Roland”
Katharina’s Story: Chapter 16 – Wanderings
I have always been curious about the world around me. Rarely was I intimidated, and if I was, I forged ahead anyway, just to see what might happen. I was eager to learn about anything and everything. I tried to take charge of my environment; succeeding I think, but at the time of the challenge,Continue reading “Katharina’s Story: Chapter 16 – Wanderings”
Katharina’s Story – Chapter 15: High School Years
Now that I have my bicycle I can start riding to school, the fourteen kilometers to Büdingen, during the warmer Spring and Summer months, instead of having to take the train and getting up before six in the morning. From Altenstadt, my route takes me through Lindheim, Düdelsheim, Büches then Büdingen; the beautiful, quaint villagesContinue reading “Katharina’s Story – Chapter 15: High School Years”
Katharina’s Story: Chapter 14-First Kiss
1948 brought an important change: the Währungsreform, the currency reform. The Reichsmark, which had been the currency during Hitler’s time until now was declared valueless and replaced with the Bundesmark, or the Deutsche Mark. This meant that any cash one had was worthless, savings accounts were inaccessible, and this money might (at some unknown time inContinue reading “Katharina’s Story: Chapter 14-First Kiss”
Katharina’s Story: Chapter 12 – A Refugee Family Settles in
Our aunt Dori — my Mutti’s (Nora’s) sister — took us in for the first few days. She lived on a farm; actually, it was more an estate, a complex with buildings and walls all around a large courtyard, and a tall solid gate like a fortress. There was a large garden; there were milkContinue reading “Katharina’s Story: Chapter 12 – A Refugee Family Settles in”
Katharina’s Story – Chapter 11: The Allied Occupation
The fact that the Podack family had arrived intact in Austria after leaving our comfortable life at Opa’s farm in Kalthof, arrests my attention to this very day. The credit for our survival goes largely to my mother, Nora Podack, who was brave enough and tenacious enough to take the risks necessary for our survival.Continue reading “Katharina’s Story – Chapter 11: The Allied Occupation”
Katharina’s Story – Chapter 10: Becoming Refugees
In that winter of 1944, an awareness began to steal over me that soon we would have to leave Opa’s farm in Kalthof. Yes, we could hear the grumbling of the Front, and at night, we could see the sky lit up by artillery fire over the horizon. The community was abuzz with talk ofContinue reading “Katharina’s Story – Chapter 10: Becoming Refugees”
Ingrid Petty 