|
Refugee in search of a homeland
German currency. Over night our savings had shrunk for each RM10 to one Deutsche Mark, or DM. As a sop, each West German citizen received DM100. It turned out to be a severe blow to me personally, as with the devaluation I was not going to be able to carry on my plans to study agriculture at Göttingen University. At that time, however, all these implications had not dawned on me yet. All I could see was that the black market had disappeared over night and one could walk into any shop and buy goods which hadn't been seen for years.
As Onkel Werner and Tante Margaret were going to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary on 8 August 1948, Mutter was intending to come for a visit. She planned to come illegally, like I had at Christmas. This was known as 'black crossing of the border'. It had never become legal, nor were permits issued in those days, and at times it was quite dangerous. We were glad when she arrived safe and sound.
The silver wedding anniversary was a memorable occasion, especially as Mutter had come. She and I represented the wider family. It was very sad though, that Oma and Vater were not there. Bernd and I each spent the DM 100 from the devaluation on two easy chairs for Onkel Werner and Tante Margaret, which pleased them no end.
After Mutter had returned to Emersleben, my parents must have received a letter from a Klaus Henning, who had gone to school with me in Posen. He had just returned from a Russian POW camp and had mentioned that he had some news about Günter:
|
205