“Liebert Annals in Deutschland” Volume 1 “Felix, Helene & 21 Garten Strasse” contains two stories I’ve written about my family’s German roots that are on Kindle.
1) Helene at Mama Henney’s Boarding School for Girls.
2) The Curse of the Witch of Zahlendorf.
Also included is family history not previously published, received from my grandmother, Helene, my father Joachim (Joe) and my aunts Rosemarie, and Eva. Where necessary, I’ve created details. Although this history is based on real events the book is creative historical nonfiction.
Starting my sophomore year of high school, I was taking a second year of German. I’d not done well in German One. I should have failed, but Mr. Marx, our teacher, was generous giving me and my friend, Carleton Erwood “C”s.
My dad suggested I get help from my grandmother with my German by having lunch with her on Saturdays. My parents wanted her health monitored, however, being a hardheaded German, she wanted NO “spying on me” by anyone! She loved telling stories and speaking German with me so she didn’t object. to my monitoring. Her health, at 76, was faltering because she had only one working lung and smoked cigarettes and cigars secretly. The tobacco smell in her home was blamed on her husband or after he died “visitors”, or a neighbor. So, I began a 2½-year adventure learning about my family’s life Germany.
During my junior year my father’s sister Rosemarie came to visit the US. By the time she arrived in 1957 I was reasonably fluent in German. She stayed with my grandmother, who lived in the small town, Copiague, 5 miles east of Amityville. I continued my Saturday lunch appointments so I was able to get a lot more family history from my aunt Rosemarie.