Fifteen years in a childhood paradise

the one whose egg lasted through all contests was declared the final winner. Then we went again to church. The weather was fine, with a promise of spring in the air.

After church my parents kept up the tradition of hiding chocolate easter eggs. On this beautiful day Mutter called us together and said: "Go looking in the back yard, not around the house, and not beyond the fir trees at the other end, and whatever you find, you will bring to me. I'll watch, and when all are found, we will divide them equally. And mind not to find the easy ones the easter bunny hid for Gerda."

It was fun to look for easter eggs, for as we had grown older, Mutter and Vater had been able to find hiding places which were harder and harder to find. The eggs for Gerda were hidden on a lower level, or were too obvious for us, so we just left them for her to find.

"I think you have got them all now," Mutter said, after we could not find any more, and she called off the hunt.

Mutter had put all our findings in a box. Gerda had found her's quite easily. She was bright for her age. When all were counted, it turned out that three eggs were still missing.

"I can't remember where I put them, Alfred, can you?" "No idea, we will all have to look for them now."

And so everyone joined in the hunt, until all were found. The last one was right on the ground, and as Gerda was so small, she found it, and said: "I found it, I found it. No one else could."

Meanwhile, in the village, Easter was observed in the following way: After the long lenten fast, everybody thought about food. They brought the freshly baked trays of cake and bread, meat, eggs, salamis and other food items outdoors into the street and placed it on a large trestle table. A priest stood there for a brief ceremony, sprinkling holy water over the food and blessing everyone. Only then could the feasting begin.

In the afternoon we went to Strykowo to celebrate Easter with them. We had good food there and, of course, our two cousins, without whom it would not have been a real celebration.

On the afternoon of Easter Monday another treat was awaiting us in the village: an old Polish custom, which we found fascinating, if not a bit scary. It was called: 'The Easter Bear'.

A group of eight people put on some ragged costumes and blackened their faces, so that they were unrecognisable. The 'bear' was wrapped in straw, that had to be twisted into fist-thick ropes, from neck to arms and feet, over the whole body. Over his head was a pyramid-like straw cover. The whole man was totally covered in straw. One of his feet was tied to a long rope which was held by the 'bear tamer' in one hand. In the other he held a long whip, which he cracked on the bear occasionally.

The next pair was 'the man and the woman'. I had my doubts about the gender of that 'woman', as she was tall and strong, but I don't think that mattered. Her female contours, in any case, were duly over-emphasised. It

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