The rainbow never sets

be careful when you go skating again, so that you don't get into those ruts, otherwise you will fall and hurt yourselves."

"Maybe we won't go skating tomorrow," said Günter, "There is so much snow now, we should really be skiing."

"That's a very good idea," said Vater, "now go to sleep. Good night." I thought of skiing, that most wonderful feeling of sliding down the hill, with the wind biting my face as I gain speed. I remembered the time when first I learnt to ski.

*

It was January 1938, before the war. Gerda was born on 10 December 1937. Mutter was still feeding her and needed a rest from us boisterous boys. A couple of weeks earlier, we had received a pair of skis each for Christmas and a track suit. The gift came with a note, on which we read:

THREE WEEKS HOLIDAY IN ZAKOPANE

Zakopane was a ski resort in the Karpatian Mountains in the south of Poland. We couldn't wait for the day when we would leave on these special holidays.

We went there by train in second class, which had soft, green upholstery, as we had to sit up all night on the train. Günter and I had a window seat each, sitting opposite each other. By the time the train left Poznan, our compartment was full. The door was closed and inside it felt quite cosy.

When it was getting dark we heard Vater say: "Let's have something to eat now."

He got out a packet of sandwiches each, which Mutter had carefully cut. We munched these happily, as we were speeding through the countryside.

"Shut the curtains," someone in the compartment said. "It will keep us warmer".

The steam of the engine was heating the whole train. Each car was divided into single compartments, all connected by a long corridor. Under each seat was a pipe running parallel to the seat. It was frequently used as a foot rest, but actually, it was the only heating for our compartment. The pipes were quite hot, and at that time of the evening it was almost too hot for us, but we didn't say anything.

When the other people in the compartment were getting tired, someone suggested: "Please, everybody, stand up from your seats. Each seat can be pulled towards the middle! It will leave only a narrow gap between and everybody can put their legs on the opposite side, shoes off,

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