history

My mother left several close friends behind when she escaped to West Germany, and stayed in touch through letters and frequent visits. There was one couple with whom she and my father were especially close: They became godparents for each other’s children, and we visited regularly once a year. This meant that once a year…

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the German reunification, I want to share with you some bits of my own family history. My mother’s family originally stems from the former German Democratic Republic, which was part of the Soviet-controlled Eastern bloc; my father’s family lived in the Western part of Germany. Although I grew up…