CHAPTER 5

Winter in Sapowice

Winter in Sapowice had a special attraction for us. Living in Poland, so far away from the influence of the Gulf Stream, our climate was far more extreme than in Germany. Our winters were much colder, and if Vater called it a good winter, we would have plenty of snow. This snow cover protected the winter crops and provided the most essential moisture for the soil in spring, in an otherwise very dry climate. For us children there was always something to do, either skating on the lake, or skiing on the few slopes we had, or going hunting. But best of all, of course, was Christmas, which for us children was pure magic.

Our linden tree had lost all its leaves in winter. Where could I go for my dreaming? It had to be somewhere inside, where I felt safe and inconspicuous. In Günter's and my room stood our rocking horse pony. I loved it, and would often sit on it, stroking its fur or its mane, and gently rocking myself into dreamland. I had been doing it for years, and now that I was twelve, I felt I could mount it as always, and slip back in time to the dim past of my memory, where reality and dreaming mingled into a sweet sensation of coziness, security and happiness. I knew, nothing in the world would ever be able to take that feeling away from me.

*

It was the Advent season of 1933. For us it was, in the truest sense of the word, a preparation time for Christmas. It was laced with secrets and magic.

On the evening before the first Sunday in Advent Mutter said to us: "Children, tomorrow is the first Sunday in Advent. Father Christmas is working already, and one never knows, he may pass by your window tonight. If he sees little slippers behind the curtain on the window sill, he might leave a sign behind, that Christmas is near."

"What could that be?" we both wanted to know. "Maybe some Christmas biscuits or something nice to eat." "Oh, can I put out one of Günter's slippers? It is slightly bigger than mine, perhaps I might get a wee bit more from Father Christmas that way?"

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