1944 to 1960 - childhood and youth
From 1944 to 1960 - childhood and youth On the 23rd of November 1943 my parents married. My father as a soldier was posted to Gotha / Thuringia and my mother followed him in autumn 1944. On the 8th of January 1945 I was born there. When the Russian army invaded Gotha in summer 1945, my parents escaped. While my father was taken prisoner by the Americans, my mother reached her home town (Kamen, Westphalia) with me in August 1945. My first event far from home (about 10 km) were some days at my grandparents' in Kamen (Northrhine-Westphalia, Germany), when I not yet went to school. In 1951 I had my first day at school: A couple of years later, in 1955 , I needed a rest cure at the seaside. I went to the Northsea island Juist by train for 6 weeks. It was a wonderful time. I enjoyed it to be far from home! In 1957 cycle tour and camping It was during the summer holidays when my parents started a cycle tour with me. We took a train from Bönen (Kreis Unna, We