I continued scanning old photos—and documents—today. I came across papers left by my grandfather (Opa) in an old briefcase, including official yearly "registration" forms that recorded days worked and taxes paid (something like that). Opa seemed to keep all of them. The earliest one I could find was the one above from 1924. He would have been seventeen years old.
This photo seems to date from the late 20s. That's my Grandmother (Luise) playing the guitar at right. Oma and Opa married in 1930. They lived in Böblingen (the name is a reference to Babylon), which is near Stuttgart.
My guess is that the photo dates from the late 20s or early 30s. My dad thinks that two of the women look familiar—perhaps they are Opa's sisters or cousins. Most of the people who could have answered the question are gone now.
My mother lived in the furthest eastern part of Germany—an area that was swallowed up by Poland after the war (Pommern). Here, she is visiting her father's grave in about 1943 or 1944 (she would have been 10 or 11).
When the Russians advanced a year or two later, soldiers insisted that civilians, especially women, flee to the west. My mother and her stepmother managed to get on a flat car of a train. Most of the trains were bombed or strafed. Mom was among the lucky ones who survived.
In this photo, my father appears to be about 13 or 14, and so the year would have been about 1945 or 1946.
My dad and his pals did lots of camping. They lived not far from the Black Forest.
By all accounts, he was a great friend too.
Mom hasn't been back to her home town since 1945.
(It's in Poland now.)
Mom ended up near Hamburg. Eventually, she left for Canada in 1951 (she was 17). She met my dad on the boat, an old Liberty Ship that nearly broke in half during the Atlantic crossing. (All passengers were rescued by yet another old Liberty Ship.)
