Childhood in Germany

We lived in 3 different places in Europe: Bamberg, Erlangen and Nurnberg. In the first 2 places I remember living in spacious apartments but Nurnberg has the most memories. We lived in a house that had been bombed and repaired. We had a pretty fenced in back yard with a cherry tree in the middle and shrubs against the fence. There was also a cute little playhouse where Victor and I played for many hours. In the front there was a sidewalk that wound around to the back yard. It was lined with the most beautiful colored pansies that awed me even as a child. For many years pansies were my favorite flowers. I can remember squatting down like kids do to get as close as I could so that I could study them. Carl was the coal man and the gardener. He would catch mice in the basement and show them to us before he disposed of them. He would also pick cherries from the tree and in general keep the yard nice. We had 2 maids: Elizabeth and Gabby. Elizabeth was the mom and Gabby about 22 years old. They did the housework, cooking, and babysitting as my parents traveled a lot when in Europe. Neither woman knew English so I learned German pretty quick. I remember them showing me objects and naming them. Elizabeth’s husband used to be a diplomat before the war. When I was older I thought how hard that had to have been to be in domestic service to a 25 year old American Army Lt.

The highlight of those years was our German Shepard, Binno. He never was a puppy and I don’t know where my dad got him, but he was my companion. He was trained as a watchdog but I never knew that part of him. He stayed with us kids always when we were outside. My dad had an English friend, John Moss who was a bachelor and came over occasionally. John would always put me on Binno’s back and ride me around like a horse. It was great fun and I always looked forward to John coming to dinner. When we left Germany, dad turned Binno loose at the airfield to have the men look after him and let him chase rabbits. For years after I always felt a sense of loss about Binno. I must have really loved him because I missed him so much. Mom said he was so intelligent that he would open the refrigerator and help himself to the roast or whatever was on the menu for the evening. I just remember this big old dog that was my friend. One day I didn’t want to go to school so I sneaked to the back yard as the bus was pulling up. Binno grabbed my hand and tried to pull me around to the front and I fought him. Mom comes out and I try to say Binno bit me but she saw the whole incident. Boy, did I get in trouble.

This was when I was in the first grade and my report card says at the second semester that I was just beginning to talk to the other students. For some reason I was very shy. My favorite part of school was band where I played the sticks. The older kids in the school put on a play – The Princess and the Pea. I remember walking out so proudly playing my sticks. It was the first program I was in. Unfortunately there was a little step that I missed and severely sprained my ankle. Not wanting to make a fuss I bore the pain and walked out in the line when it was over. Never a tear did I shed but the pain was great. At recess we would all go to the school yard which was full of pine trees. We took old pine branches to use them as brooms and swept the needles into areas to make pretend rooms of a house. That is how we played with a lot of pretending to be the mom or dad or child.

Living in Germany was a peaceful existence from my perspective. Mom and Dad traveled a lot and left us with the maids. They went to Italy – Pisa, Venice and other places that I don’t know, but I remember the pictures they brought back. They brought me a gold cross and doll from Italy, which I treasured. I remember the day Mom gave it to me. The doll was porcelain and broke in one of the moves. I wish I still had it. The cross I left hanging on a nail in the closet of a house we had rented and moved out of. We went back but it was gone.