The Historical Society in my father’s hometown of Fautenbach, Germany, each year prints a calendar comprised of pictures that folks submit. My cousin, Peter Reinschmidt, is very active in the historical group and this year was happy to send me a notice that I would appear in a photo for the month of January. He followed up by sending me a copy of the calendar.
The year was 1952 when my parents Joe and Anna made plans for returning to their native Germany. He had been here 29 years and she 27 without being able to make a visit back home. This was due in part to the Great Depression here and then WWII in Europe. Several of their family members had died and some were war casualties, so they were eager to see those who remained.
Realizing that nobody in either family had more than a bicycle, or motor bike for transportation, they thought of taking their car on the ship, the Queen Elizabeth. When the cost for that came to about $700 they gave it second thoughts. However, at the time Joe was involved in a compensation case as he had severed the tendon to one of his fingertips while working. He decided not to risk an attempt to repair it surgically as the doctor was hesitant about the success of the surgery. Therefore, the settlement would be a cash award which the judge deemed to be $750. Upon receiving that Joe declared, “the car is going with us.”
It was one of the best decisions he made. Now this car was a black 1950 Chevrolet four-door sedan, a common vehicle here but the hometown folks thought it was a limousine and it served as such. Everybody had one or more rides in it, as well as serving as our transportation. We made a trip to Munich for the Oktoberfest and Joe invited his youngest brother Franz to go with us. Franz had polio as a child and could get around but had a significant limp. This disability kept him out of the war or he might have suffered the same fate as his three brothers. After the trip, Franz thanked Joe and Anna profusely because he probably never would have made that trip on his own. On another occasion my 14 year old cousin Marliese was told by her father to take 300 pounds of grain on her bicycle trailer to the mill for grinding into food for their pigs. Upon hearing this Joe said, “Marliese, forget the bicycle, you and that grain are going to the mill and back in my car.” Upon hearing this Marliese’s father said, “In that case you will be back much quicker,” and proceeded to give her other chores. Joe said, “Forget it. She and I are going to the tavern for lunch.”
As for the picture, that is me standing next to the car in my rolled up jeans, listening to and enjoying the lively conversation between Joe and the ladies. The location was my father’s sister Christina’s farmhouse and she is standing next to the door frame. Next to her is the village midwife. The lady with a bag of fruit likely gathered it after knocking it off the trees with the pole she is carrying. The lady directly in front of Joe is Jineve who could tell you everything about everyone in the village. Some called it gossip but to her it was essential homegrown knowledge. Note the long, dark dress/aprons the ladies are all wearing which was standard for farm women at that time.
It was quite an enjoyable and memorable trip of almost a month. Perhaps it was partly because I missed the first three weeks of my junior year at Aquinas. This had, of course, been cleared with the school in advance. My homeroom teacher said the first few weeks were mostly review and I would learn a lot more on that trip. He was absolutely correct.
