char duffy
Ch 09. One year Post Covid shutdown - Reflections, March 2021
Pop turned 90 years old on May 13, 2020. The family had planned a big birthday party in Berlin, which due to covid, had to be cancelled....
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Don't Forget Me
Coming of Age in Post-War Berlin
This is the memoir based on conversations with my father and letters to a young man who came of age in post WWII Berlin. Two weeks shy of turning 15 when the War ended, Walter Ernst Bauke faced five years of struggle to find food, heat, family, education, trade craft and work. He was imprisoned, beaten unconscious, shot at, forced slave labor for Russian soldiers, and fled for his life several times. Through family connections and a tenacious spirit, he found a way to get out of East Berlin and get a trade education. He learned self-reliance. He learned that family and relationships matter more than money. He learned that anything is possible, if one makes it so.
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Chapter 8. Memories of a 6 year old: Measles, the Hindenburg, and Getting Lost - August 1936
The Post-War period was not the first time Pop missed out on months of schooling. In the Summer of 1936, when he was about 6 years old,...
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Chapter 7. Imprisoned in Potsdam - January-April 1950
"A few days after New Years Day 1950, around the 3rd or 4th, I had to go back to school. Legally I was a resident in West Berlin at that...
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Chapter 6. The burning of the house in Müncheberg (with Oma inside), April-June 1945
According to Google, Müncheberg was right in the middle of the Russian's final run on Berlin in March - April 1945, during the last few...
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Chapter 5. The fire bombing of the Berlin house and the move to Schoenemark - Feb 9-10, 1943
Conversation with Pop, August 2020: "There are no letters or photographs or documents, or anything material for that matter, left from...
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Chapter 4. Letter from Mutti to Vati - Berlin, December 13, 1942
The following is a letter my grandmother wrote to my grandfather in December 1942. She was at home in Lichterfelde, Berlin, with 3...
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Chapter 3. The Journey that led to being labeled a spy - England Sept-Dec 1949
“In mid 1949, I entered into an essay competition, the winners which would be sponsored by some group for a cultural exchange program to...
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Chapter 2. School 1943-1945
Conversation with Pop August 2, 2020: “The rule about school in Berlin during the war, was every kid had to go to school until age 16. If...
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Chapter 1. The death of sister Gisela, September 1945
Conversation with Pop, July 10 2020: “I remember when my sister died. She was only three years old. I went to the hospital to visit her,...
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Introduction. Letters - July 2020
This is the memoir of and letters to a young man who came of age in post WWII Berlin. Two weeks shy of turning 15 when the War ended,...
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